Contents

Human Rights : a Possible Reference

Framework for Dialogue among Cultures

Dr. Soulaiman Abdelmonim(*)

In the name of the Egyptian National Council of Human Rights, I greet the attendance and I thank our dear friends in Tunis for their outstanding organization of this symposium and their hearty hospitality. My greetings and thanks go also to the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization -ISESCO- and to its Director General, His Excellency Dr. Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri, for taking the initiative to hold this noteworthy symposium as part of the Organization’s constructive engagement in this issue which constitutes a source of great concern to the present-time humanity whose action is aimed at building appropriate bases for dialogue as well as cooperation and alliance. We seek to achieve a kind of dialogue that would allow us to overlook past memories and draw from them lessons. We need to dissipate our fears and doubts about the present and work in earnest towards disseminating the spirit of confidence and the culture of mutual acceptance. Humanity should look ahead to a future in which reconciliation, dialogue, and cooperation substitute the spectres of conflict, clashes, and suspicion.

As you choose the expressive title "Human Civilizations and Cultures: from Dialogue to Alliance" for this symposium, we are today invited on this remarkable occasion to display a great optimism as much as concern as part of our firm desire to initiate a solemn dialogue based on frankness and reconciliation. We should be optimistic as alliance of cultures, though it appears for many as a distant dream, implies that we break loose with the old legacy of apprehension, doubt, and accusation between the Islamic Arab world and the West. It is a truth universally acknowledged that fear breeds doubt, and doubt leads to accusation, which ultimately causes wars and conflicts. We feel concerned, however, about determining how to shift from dialogue to alliance in a context of disparities and, may be, clashes of interests. Could we, as stakeholders in the process for dialogue, find a common ground for the disparity of specificities and transform the clashes of interests into a space of cooperation ? There is another question : an alliance against whom ? We obviously understand and expect that it would be against threats and not countries or cultures. We also expect that alliance would be against all forms and sources of threats. Terrorism constitutes a threat.. Weapons of mass destruction are a threat.. Racial discrimination and desecration of religion are a threat.. Militarization of globalization is a threat.. The phenomenon of organized crimes is a threat. The awareness of these questions and the agreement about finding an answer to them will make out of optimism a huge space of hope and joint action.

As part of our efforts aimed at building the bases and an agenda for dialogue among cultures which we hope will transform one day into alliance, we believe that the Human Rights’ system, derived from international conventions and treaties, offers a historic opportunity to initiate dialogue among cultures. The proposal of considering Human Rights system as a possible reference for dialogue of cultures and a starting point for coexistence between humanity leaving out the traditional controversial arguments over specificities and contemporary problematic issue of globalization to reach an inalienable common denominator of values and principles.

As we consider human rights as a reference for dialogue among civilizations, we are required to face the following challenges :

First : The way to change human rights system from a set of instruments, legally signed and ratified by more than 180 countries, to a factual and moral binding reference for a positive and a fruitful dialogue between civilizations. It can be achieved only through moving from the framework of intentions and generalities to the stage of initiatives and action plans. It is high time for all partners and parties concerned about the issue of Human Rights to consider translating, into real action and implementation mechanisms, the whole theoretical lot of values and principles and patterns contained in the two international covenants of human rights of 1966 and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, pertaining to collaboration between nations and dialogue among cultures. The same applies to the declarations and instruments that have been issued recently on dialogue among cultures, such as the Berlin Declaration on Dialogue and Coexistence among Civilizations and Cultures in 2000, Tehran Declaration on Dialogue among Civilizations in 1999, the document on Diversity within the Framework of Complementarity in Germany, 2003, Tunis Appeal on Dialogue among Civilizations in November 2001, Damascus Declaration on Dialogue among Civilizations for Coexistence, 2002, and Dialogue among Civilizations and Cultures : Mutual Understanding in Lichtenstein, 2002. The principles and intentions expressed in these declarations and instruments need for their implementation a global initiative. Or, may be we are today in need somewhat of an “international federation of dialogue among civilizations” that involves such parties concerned in the issue of dialogue as international organizations, governmental institutions as well as civil society and intellectuals.

Second, we should be aware of the need of people, more than governments, organizations, and the elite, to confidence and hope that this long-sought dialogue among cultures can take shape, especially in light of development requirements and the increased alarming rates of poverty, unemployment as well as the spread of diseases and epidemics in many societies across the world. In this regard, we are required to attach great attention to societal human rights or let’s say “peoples rights” in the same way as individual or traditional human rights, whether these societal rights concern such domestic rights as combating illiteracy, the right to education for all, the right to employment, and the right to medical care; or international rights like the right to development, right to free disposition of one’s natural resources and fair distribution of food, in addition to the respect for cultural diversity. These rights are enshrined in international bills and conventions and they are part and parcel of international cooperation as stressed by article 11 of the Universal Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This article stipulates “the critical importance of international cooperation aimed at respecting human rights in terms of food, clothing, shelter, and combatting starvation”, as well as in “ensuring an equal partition of international resources of food according to the needs and the problems facing both importing and exporting countries of food”.

Therefore, societal human rights can be considered as one aspect of the possible reference of dialogue among cultures. The result should be the firm improvement of the world state of affairs which is not without many a violation of such rights. Action in this direction may give a great impetus to dialogue among cultures, as it will be translated from theories into facts changing the life of millions of people everywhere in the world.

Third, we should acknowledge cultural multiplicity and protect the right to cultural diversity. This right has been confirmed by the International Convention on the Protection of the Diversity of Cultural Contents and Artistic Expressions, since cultural diversity is a distinctive feature of humankind and a universal heritage. However, we should acknowledge that the issue of cultural multiplicity has been a controversial issue ever since the colonial era between the Arab Islamic world and the West. We believe that this diversity is a specificity that should not be neglected, as it is part of the heritage of every nation, in as much as it reflects their national sovereignty. Our partners in dialogue across the Mediterranean and overseas ascribe, however, to the notion of “cultural specificity” the lag in espousing many of the values and principles of human rights which constitute the basic features of contemporary human civilization.

This controversial question can be resolved through agreeing on an agenda for dialogue. In the start, we believe that the basis for the desired cultural dialogue resides in the fact that we (Arabs and the West) should distinguish between two sets of values requiring a historical reconciliation to be set between them : the first set concerns the common human values; the second relates to the social values peculiar to each society and nation. We, the inhabitants of this planet, have all to set great store by the common human values (the values of the first set) that no body could deny or disavow. These are the values of peace, tolerance, mercy, justice, equality, and human rights. In fact, these values constitute the features of the contemporary human civilization. They are above all the essence of Revealed Messages and religious creeds, and one of the factors for the continuation of human civilization. Nevertheless, such values cannot prevail in the world unless reciprocal. Peace requires justice and human rights require mercy. As in the absence of equality, the values of justice, peace, tolerance, and compassion for all are eclipsed.

Concerning the second set, it includes the social values with all their patterns and forms that differ from one society to another and from one nation to another. Within this set of values, similarity is not required. On the contrary, each party abides by its own notions as far as it sticks to the common human values which should remain our paramount goal. None has the monopoly over the truth about the concepts of education, family, culture, and other cultural patterns. National aspirations, for instance, should not be taken by others as a kind of fanaticism as far as they abide by human universal values. Likewise, the ethical notions of the family reflect the culture of a nation. Such perception would prelude a civilizational dialogue which draws the line between what is common and what is peculiar. The world has to set great store by the common human values and consider them as a civilizational standard binding all humankind, and the sole means to achieve coexistence and reconciliation across the entire world. It should be the natural destiny of a world, close and interlinked, coexisting together in peace within one village! Concerning social values, it would be better to accept the concept of diversity within a balanced globalization. Actually, when priority is given to the first values (the common human values), disparities within the second set of values (social values) would be less important. The more we hold to the universal human values, the more social values become interlinked.

Family values, as well as cultural and religious values in China or Egypt or Mexico, for instance, pose no threat to peace in the world and its civilizations. People shall live in their own. They are independent of their own choice of the songs and proverbs they like. Their dreams and their wishes are their own, since they all believe in the common values of freedom, justice, peace, tolerance, and human rights.

Finally, we are not looking for a eutopian world where the powerful will give the weak their rights of their own free will and abide by the principle of equality. We are not aspiring for a world that would give us more than we deserve but, at least, a world based on the complementarity of opinions, exchange of utilities, with the minimum standard of human dignity; a world where recognition of the rights of the other takes over the culture of exclusion.

Fourth, we should take into account -within the framework of the human rights’ system as a possible reference for human rights- not only of the two International covenants of Human Rights of 1966 and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, but also of other international treaties and covenants that are part and parcel of this system, most important of which are the four Geneva conventions which consolidate and protect human rights in wars and conflicts. A comprehensive and integrated vision of the issue of human rights, despite the great challenge it poses, is the sole means to bring about a fruitful and effective dialogue among cultures. The international commuity is required to protect humanity in time of peace, as well as in time of war. The most important thing that is to result from this integrated human rights system with the four Geneva conventions and their addenda is the rehabilitation of the international law and legitimacy. This is all the more important as it constitutes a cornerstone for a world built on confidence that encourages openness and strengthens the bonds of cooperation at the service of humanity, with less conflicts and more peace.

(*) Member of the Egyptian National Council for Human Rights

Publications of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

-ISESCO- 1428H/2007 A.D