Parliament joined the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The President of the Assembly of the Republic joined this Sunday in celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, emphasizing that it is one of the “fundamental instruments” of the post-war international order.

In a video published on his account on the social network X (formerly Twitter), Augusto Santos Silva emphasizes that the United Nations is at the center of this Universal Declaration, proclaimed in 1948.

Human Rights Day is celebrated annually on December 10 in connection with the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in 1948.

“In fact, the promotion of human rights represents one of the three core missions of the UN, along with peace and security, and economic and social development. Human rights are really what connects the two,” he said.

The President of Parliament recalled that Portugal only ratified the UDHR in 1976: “It took April 25, it took a democratic revolution and a democratic transition for our country to finally sign this universal declaration,” he noted.

“Since then, we have led by example in the ratification and application of international human rights instruments and defended that human rights are a coherent and indivisible set: personal freedoms, civil and political rights, and economic, social and cultural rights. They form a group that needs to be promoted as such,” he emphasized.

Santos Silva concludes the video by saying that the Assembly of the Republic, which “has exclusive competence in the field of guarantees, freedoms and rights,” joins this celebration of the Universal Declaration.

Also this Sunday, the President of the Republic said that the defense of human rights on his International Day “remains a current necessity, and even more important at this time” than in other periods of history.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa marked the International Human Rights Day, which is celebrated today, with a message on the website of the President of the Republic, in which he joined the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres.

“On this day, the President of the Republic, joining the Secretary-General of the United Nations, emphasizes that human rights are the solution to many of the world’s problems, warning of the many forms in which they can be violated: war, gender-based violence, the climate emergency, the erosion of trust in multilateralism “, he says.