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Democracy is not an end in itself, but a means to achieve the sacred promises of human dignity, justice and peace.

Alfred-Maurice de Zayas

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Alfred-Maurice de Zayas
Age: 77
Born: 1947
Born: May 31
Historian
Historian Of The Modern Age
Jurist
Lawyer
Peace Activist
Poet Lawyer
Translator
Havana
Cuba
Ends
Dignity
Human
Sacred
Humans
Promise
Mean
Achieve
Democracy
Justice
Peace
Means
Promises

More quotes by Alfred-Maurice de Zayas

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The unfair composition of the Security Council is largely acknowledged. The principal defects are the anachronistic privileges of the five permanent members of the Council and the Council's insufficient representativeness.
Alfred-Maurice de Zayas
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The diagnosis is clear, but changing the status quo has proven difficult, because often those who are elected do not govern, and those who do govern are not elected.
Alfred-Maurice de Zayas
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It is time to reinvigorate the UN General Assembly so that it can exercise a more decisive role in peace-making and peace-keeping, consistent with the will of the international community.
Alfred-Maurice de Zayas
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The Independent Expert is persuaded that recognition of peace as a human right will promote a democratic and equitable international order and that national and international democratization will reduce conflict, since peoples want peace. It is Governments that stumble into war.
Alfred-Maurice de Zayas
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This new declaration which emphasizes the necessity of global disarmament is based on the purposes and principles of the United Nations, in particular the prohibition of the threat and use of force, and on the obligation to negotiate disputes in conformity with the UN Charter. It is a strong and positive example for the entire world.
Alfred-Maurice de Zayas
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One of the problems that we have in the human rights community is that special interests often forget the interests of other victims, and there's competition among victims expressions that are unnecessary.
Alfred-Maurice de Zayas
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Specific protection must be granted to human rights defenders and whistleblowers who have in some contexts been accused of being unpatriotic, whereas they perform, in reality, a democratic service to their countries and to the enjoyment of human rights of their compatriots.
Alfred-Maurice de Zayas
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No country has a perfect report card. While some countries have strong points in specific areas, they may have serious lacunae in other areas. For instance, some countries have made enormous progress on civil and political rights, but lag in the implementation of economic, social and cultural rights.
Alfred-Maurice de Zayas
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Education is necessary to unlearn privilege, unlearn exclusion, unlearn discrimination, unlearn prejudice, unlearn war.
Alfred-Maurice de Zayas
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The United Nations is the best hope to spare humanity from the barbarity of war, from the senseless death, destruction and dislocation it brings about.
Alfred-Maurice de Zayas
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As far as domestic democracy, all here present know that democracy means government of the people by the people. While we agree that consultation and participation are essential to every democracy, this is seldom achieved in practice.
Alfred-Maurice de Zayas
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Attention must be given to the penal consequences of violations of the right to peace, including the punishment by domestic courts or in due time by the International Criminal Court of those who have engaged in aggression and propaganda for war.
Alfred-Maurice de Zayas
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Representative democracy betrays the electorate when laws have no roots in the people but in oligarchies. Studies on the concept and modalities of direct democracy are therefore becoming more topical
Alfred-Maurice de Zayas
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If you censor yourself, if you cannot articulate your needs, if you cannot articulate your priorities, then whatever you do, putting a little cross in a ballot box, etc, does not represent your view. It is an act of desperation.
Alfred-Maurice de Zayas
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It is the responsibility of all of us to remind governments of their commitments to settle disputes by peaceful means and to negotiate in good faith under the UN Charter, and to denounce war agitation particularly by the media.
Alfred-Maurice de Zayas
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Peace is not the silence of cemeteries, but the song of social justice.
Alfred-Maurice de Zayas
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Global military spending levels constitute an unconscionable use of resources and remain at an all-time high, reaching a total of USD 1.75 trillion in 2012, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Alfred-Maurice de Zayas
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I condemn the lack of proper investigation of the massacres and the impunity of those responsible for them.
Alfred-Maurice de Zayas
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Democracy is not the end product, but the means to the end, which is the enjoyment of human rights by all.
Alfred-Maurice de Zayas
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I urge Governments to considerably reduce funds allocated to the military, not only as a disarmament issue, but also as a potential contributor to social and environmental protection and call for the holding of referenda on this issue worldwide.
Alfred-Maurice de Zayas