YouSaid · the spoken record

De Venecia

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8

first

2004-10-06

most recent

2004-10-06

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1

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un-security-council

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1. “Indeed, we think it would be a good idea for such a special committee for inter-religious or inter-faith understanding - mobilizing for the first time a crucial but neglected sector, the inter-religious sector - to engage religious leaders to work with political leaders and leaders of Government and civil society to contribute to peace and understanding and help resolve difficult ethnic and politico-religious conflicts such as those in Mindanao in my own country, in the Balkans, in the Middle East, in North Africa, in South Asia and South-East Asia and other areas of the world. We believe that the creation of an inter-religious council or a specific unit on inter-faith understanding in the United Nations system is an idea whose time has come.”

   2004-10-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5052 (2004) · source

2. “Last year, our delegation introduced a draft resolution in the General Assembly proposing the creation of an inter-religious council or a special committee in the United Nations to help address the problem of conflict resolution, reconciliation and the achievement of justice and the rule of law.”

   2004-10-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5052 (2004) · source

3. “I believe the religious sector has the moral influence to help the Security Council's efforts, particularly in conflicts with religious undertones. Because of its moral authority, the religious sector is well situated to deal with community-based issues, such as justice and the rule of law. Not only does it exemplify international society's respect for human dignity and individual worth, but often enough the religious sector is the only grouping in conflict and post-conflict societies that continues to function coherently enough to serve as the foundation for rebuilding shattered communities. The religious sector could and should become an effective tool in achieving the international community's peace-building agenda. To date the international community has not fully tapped this sector's potential.”

   2004-10-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5052 (2004) · source

4. “I believe we must all learn to create space for alternative faiths if we are to find an alternative to so much violence and hatred and if we are to respond to the crisis of values that so pervades today's planet. During the last two years, we in the Philippines have been strenuously promoting the need for global inter-religious understanding, supporting a dialogue among civilizations and cultures, specifically Christian-Muslim dialogue at the regional levels. Such dialogue should take place not only among political leaders but also among religious leaders and leaders of civil society to try to reduce the politico-religious and ethnic tensions and conflicts that have bedevilled regions and nations, societies and communities for hundreds of years and that have now exploded onto the scene in the first years of the twenty-first century.”

   2004-10-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5052 (2004) · source

5. “We must never forget, however, that the record of successful State reconstruction thus far is very insubstantial. Let me thank a good number of United Nations delegations for considering the Philippine proposal in the General Assembly for an inter-faith dialogue in the United Nations system to promote civilizational reconciliation at the global level. Reconciliation always comes easier in an atmosphere of spirituality and faith. I recall a statesman memorably saying that the twenty-first century will be defined by a simple choice that nations must make: whether to emphasize their ethnic, ideological and religious differences or their common humanity. Nations, however, can never make the right choice as long as their peoples insist "Our faith must reign supreme", since that claim can be affirmed only by the negation of all other faiths.”

   2004-10-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5052 (2004) · source

6. “We must emphasize this, even if we recognize that retributive justice is not always feasible at the beginning of the process, if only because the transitional institutions are too weak to exact retribution. The Philippine delegation broadly supports the recommendations contained in paragraphs 64 and 65 of the Secretary-General's report. We are confident that those recommendations will be carried out with both wisdom and patience, and with the realization that there are no quick fixes or one-size-fits-all formulas for restoring the rule of law in post-conflict societies. The Philippines supports United Nations involvement in rebuilding post-conflict societies because we know its sole objective is to build sustainable peace, a peace that will endure even after foreign peacemakers have left.”

   2004-10-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5052 (2004) · source

7. “Well-meaning outsiders often assign the highest priority to demobilizing irregular militias and organizing new security forces to rebuild the peace and punish the guilty. Historical experience suggests that raising the issue of past crimes prematurely may only induce warlords and gang bosses to resist, with force, being called to account for their past actions, thus breaking the fragile and tentative peace. Pushing retributive justice too quickly can be both damaging and destabilizing to the still-fragile post-conflict State. Justice must certainly be a key element in any process of national reconciliation in conflict and post- conflict societies.”

   2004-10-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5052 (2004) · source

8. “I would like to thank the delegation of the United Kingdom for organizing this meeting on the important topic of justice and the rule of law. My thanks also go to the Secretary-General for his comprehensive report, issued in August, on "The rule of law and transitional justice in conflict and post-conflict societies" (S/2004/6l6). Nations typically emerge from civil conflicts traumatized by their collective memory of genocidal crimes, horrendous abuses of human rights and mindless social violence. It is often the case that very few in those societies emerge untouched by the humanitarian disasters set off by the collapse of political order, the rule of law and the mechanisms of justice. It therefore becomes extremely difficult to reverse the collapse of the State and restore its legitimate authority.”

   2004-10-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5052 (2004) · source