U.S. Delegation Members after Passage of Freedom of Assembly Resolution
September 30, 2010
Excerpt From the White House Blog:
"Today, in Geneva, in a landmark achievement for human rights, a diverse group of countries – large and small, rich and poor, north and south, east and west – came together to create the first-ever Special Rapporteur on freedom of assembly and association. This new position will collect critical information about how these rights are exercised, identify best practices that promote and protect these rights, and help hold governments accountable for their restrictions on civil society activity. The geographic diversity of the 62 countries that co-sponsored this resolution – including original co-sponsors the Czech Republic, Indonesia, Lithuania, the Maldives, Mexico and Nigeria – are but the latest testament to the universality of the right to assemble – a right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and acted upon every day by citizens around the world who mobilize on behalf of good government, more inclusive politics, cleaner air, media freedom, and the full stable of human rights. Most notably, many of these cosponsors were nations that emerged from tyranny in the second half of the last century. Together this group conveyed our shared belief, in President Obama’s words, that “part of the price of our own freedom is standing up for the freedom of others.”
U.S. Mission Photo / Eric Bridiers