Draft Statement of the CIS Heads of State on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights agreed

On 29 August 2018, the CIS Executive Committee in Minsk hosted a meeting of the expert group on drafting and finalizing the draft Statement of the CIS Heads of State on the occasion of the 70^th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 10 December 1948.

The meeting brought together representatives of the Azerbaijan Republic, the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, the Republic of Uzbekistan, and the CIS Executive Committee.

The experts considered amendments and proposals to the draft Statement, finalized the document and agreed it through a majority vote. It will be submitted for the consideration of the forthcoming Council of the CIS Heads of State.

The document features the commitment of the CIS Member Nations to the rule of law in the international relations, including human rights.

The CIS Member Nations believe that no global shifts of international political and economic environment can justify changes to ensuring human rights and freedoms set forth in the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other fundamental international human rights instruments.

The Statement focuses on the need to promote awareness of the fact that all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated, and that the international community should treat them fairly and equally paying the same attention to all categories of rights. The promotion and protection of one category of rights should never exempt or excuse States from the promotion and protection of other rights.