Balance between two major human rights covenants crucial: UN official

Human Rights Council president Choi Kyonglim said on Tuesday human rights could not stand alone in isolation, and the enjoyment of one right was linked to the enjoyment of others.

Choi made the remarks at a high-level panel discussion marking the 50th anniversary of the international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights and the international covenant on civil and political rights.

He said the balance between the two covenants was crucial and their implementation should be placed on an equal footing.

The UN General Assembly unanimously adopted the two covenants which brought force of law to the principles laid out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1966.

"Humanity's collective experience of genocide, devastating warfare, colonial oppression and financial devastation had driven home the fact that respecting human rights ensured that nations and people could live in peace, with development that was sustainable and long-standing," said Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner for human rights, during the panel.

According to the UN human rights head, the rights protected by the two covenants were "inseparable."

"The covenants helped to extend the rights of people crushed by tyranny and discrimination for generations, and sustained the force of grassroots activism by ensuring that governments could be held to account," Al Hussein said. Endit