Editor's note: An international symposium with the theme of "Respecting and Promoting Human Rights and Constructing a Harmonious World" was held in Beijing from November 22 to 24. Officials and researchers had heated discussions on human rights issues at the symposium. The following are excerpts from the speeches of some participants.

Dang Dung Chi, Viet Nam:

It should be affirmed that without peace, security and harmonious development there will not be any truly human rights. The above factors are very essential for the implementation of human rights. However, the harmonious development is considered central. Harmonious development is both a condition for human rights protection and a component of human rights. It means that when protecting its needs and interests, each individual, group, community and state/nation also protects the needs and interests of others. Equality in opportunity is, therefore, the best solution to meet these needs and interests.

Accordingly, peace, security and harmony are important factors to be considered as a precondition for human rights protection. On the other hand, the respect for and observance of human rights shall create a fundamental foundation for peace, security and harmony in society and the world as a whole. If people get equality and freedom, there will be tolerance. Tolerance helps to resolve any kind of contradictions or conflicts among individuals or communities and even disputes between countries. It is only when human dignity is respected, each person will become a brick contributing to building the avenue toward peace and progress.

In order to maintain a world of peace, security and development in diversity and to harmonize interests and relationships, all institutions should contribute their voice and activities. It is, however, more important that the international community respects the voice of every country, especially developing countries. Things should be done to ensure that states are equal in international economic relations. Every state and individual shall enjoy the benefit of economic, scientific and technological development equally.

Inonge Limbambala, Zambia:

A harmonious society, in essence, could be thought of as one that holds in very high esteem the rights and equality of all people while abiding by the principles of human civilization and the laws of nature.

Poverty still continues to wreak havoc among more than a billion of the world's population around a sixth of the world's inhabitants are living in extreme poverty. The ever-widening gap between the rich and poor directly contradicts the notion that all human beings are born equal in dignity and rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights treaties hold out the promise of life with dignity, where every person enjoys an adequate standard of living and access to those essentials that give practical meaning to such a life, including food, water, shelter, education, work and healthcare.

The UN Millennium Declaration and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) include the halving of extreme poverty, and promoting women's equality by the year 2015. It would be desirable for many if the MDGs could be seen as a stepping stone towards broadening the range of economic and social rights obligations applying to all, as well as to providing the context for the promotion of transnational human rights which should in turn enhance international decision-making on policy and practice in the areas of debt, aid and trade.

The recent establishment of the United Nations Human Rights Council formally assumed all mandates, mechanisms, functions and responsibilities of the UN Commission on Human Rights. It is hoped that the Human Rights Council will execute this mandate most efficiently. This would indeed be a great compliment to the unrelenting global fight, in its numerous dimensions, for a better, and indeed harmonious world through the upholding of human rights and freedoms.

James Oliver Williams, United States:

In the past decade, there has been considerable advancement in the trend towards injecting human rights issues in global trade. In the business world, public opinion, non-governmental organizations, and trade organizations that have become a leading source for business throughout the world have worked to raise the expectations of companies in social and civil rights. This has led to the adoption of business codes of conduct in many of the world's largest companies. Significantly, Western businesses have included many of the rights considered as universal rights in the United Nations declaration. Harmony on human rights has been impeded by conflicting value systems toward universal rights between Western nations and the economically advancing nations of Asia. It remains to be seen if global trade will become a vehicle for bridging the gap these basic human rights divide.

Juan Carlos Arjona Estevez, Mexico:

During the last two decades, the promotion and protection of human rights as recognized in international human rights law has been a tool to promote peace and security, but has been limited to sanctioning crimes and taking action against impunity. Nevertheless, there has been no action to prevent violations on human rights, and one of the main reasons is that some countries are not willing to comply with international law. For example, three of the main actions at the international level were the reforms to the United Nations, in particular to the Security Council and on the human rights issue (the reform only saw the creation of the Human Rights Council as a subsidiary body of the General Assembly), and the creation of the International Criminal Court. It is a shame that the countries that had to be more constrained to maintain peace and security have not supported these initiatives in order to maintain its status quo.

Makarim Wibisono, Indonesia:

Human rights are indeed still unfamiliar as a concept to many people in East Asia. Although we have all accepted them as universal norms, there are still lingering suspicions about human rights in many parts of the region. This is partly due to the fact that human rights have often been perceived as a Western creation designed to put pressure on developing countries in the past. However, many human rights concepts or notions are in fact already fully present in our traditional customs and norms without our actually calling them human rights. Here comes the importance of regular exchanges, briefings and promotional activities on human rights. They should be encouraged and emulated because it is important to have an understanding of human rights in our region if Asia is to contribute to the development of human rights in the world.

I believe that respecting human rights is of significant importance for the creation and maintenance of harmony in the era of globalization. Indeed, human rights are one of the most tangible issues of globalization. The reason for this is that the wave of globalization has empowered individuals in every country reached by it. As individuals have become empowered, they want human rights to be strengthened and implemented. The cause of human rights has therefore been promoted and strengthened by globalization, and in turn globalization has disseminated it and made it a global issue.

I strongly believe that there are two major paradigms on which the world needs to concentrate in order to promote the culture of human rights that will ensure that the concept of human rights can become a visible and tangible reality, which can grow and be emulated. The first is genuine dialogue and the second is education.

The only correct way to tackle the problem of incomprehension born of "difference" is through dialogue. In order to be effective, dialogue should focus on one obvious objective, namely the attainment of greater understanding and harmony between communities of different faiths and cultures.

Education in human rights is a process that must start in childhood and continue right through the various stages of life. Moreover, it must be a systematic exercise that integrates the principles of human rights in a holistic manner, at all levels of society in the government and the administrative institutions, in the judiciary and the courts, in the army and police, in schools, universities and youth organizations, in the world of business, and right through civil society through the action of NGOs and individuals.

Sergey Arturovich Kalinin, Belarus:

The aim of human rights realization is to minimize the number of conflicts and help world harmonizing processes for every individual without any limitations on the basis of sex, race and religious differences to realize his or her rights as a world citizen.

Ethical, international and certain judicial aspects of the human rights concept allow entities to choose different points of human rights that don't meet reaction or disapproval from citizens or states, as well as lay blame by lobbying individual mercenary interests.

The human rights concept should not be described as just the product of civilization, it needs to be rooted within other cultures through finding in such cultures their equivalents and avoiding and smoothing likely disagreements. We especially should avoid conflicts over the international explanation of human rights and national, religious and cultural traditions. In that case the world community is required to foster a tolerant attitude to national customs, but of course without upholding obvious human rights violations.

Realizing human rights is a very long process and one of its main aims should be achieving a positive attitude to human rights in certain states as well as simpler attitudes to this process from the world community.

Seyed Mohammad Mirzamani, Iran:

To protect and promote human rights we practically should put emphasis on equality and mutual respect rather than a dual standard policy and politicization. We should recognize the specific conditions of various countries and actively collaborate with different international organizations involved in human rights affairs, or at least promote bilateral human rights dialogue. According to our thoughts, administering justice is of paramount importance, especially the role of government is highly emphasized rather than that of individuals.

Moreover, equality and justice should be considered in all areas of human activities, public or private, such as economic, social, political and cultural affairs. In this way, we may strengthen the rule of law and promote administration of justice by applying the governing law and regulations.

Finally, in order to establish a harmonious world, all human rights concepts should be guaranteed with due regard to local, regional and international conditions.

Source: China Daily