Seck, Coly --- "Foreword by Coly Seck" [2020] ELECD 410; in Tistounet, Eric (ed), "The UN Human Rights Council" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2020) ix

Book Title: The UN Human Rights Council

Editor(s): Tistounet, Eric

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section Title: Foreword by Coly Seck

Author(s): Seck, Coly

Number of pages: 3

Extract:

Foreword
Coly Seck
President of the thirteenth Human Rights Council Cycle (2019),
Permanent Representative of Senegal to the United Nations Office at Geneva




Human rights are the very heartbeat of freedom, which in turn is a
basic right. Every human being born into this world is entitled to these
rights, which are distinct from privileges, by the mere virtue of being
born. It is therefore the duty of every human being to promote, protect
and uphold these values. It is therefore of utmost import to have in
place principles, structures and systems to ensure that these rights that
are provided for and protected under the United Nations Charter and
other international human rights treaties are available to all without
hindrance in order to allow humanity to blossom and flourish to its
fullest potential without fear or favour.

Human nature as it is has internalised and demonstrated a charac-
ter of the more dominant entity bestowing upon itself the privilege,
sometimes interpreted as the right, to control and often exploit the
weaker one. This shortcoming calls for checks and balances such that
the manifestation of freely inherited rights that shape the human
condition ­ liberty and freedom ­ is not only enjoyed by every human
being but is also protected and dispensed justly.

The United Nations Organization as the embodiment of the con-
science of the world has taken due cognizance of this fact, hence the
creation of the Human Rights Council under its aegis with the aim of
promoting and protecting human ...