UN General Assembly
1977

63. And again, how should the existence of real internal threats to civil order and peace within a country influence our expectations concerning respect for human rights? Should we expect the same standards of behaviour from a Government under the pressure of such threats as we expect from a Government having the good fortune to enjoy an essentially peaceful and orderly domestic situation? Is there a legitimate distinction to be made between Governments whose problems are largely of their own making and ones which have inherited deep-set structural and cultural problems? 64. All these are extraordinarily difficult questions. They are made more difficult by the fact that sometimes good arguments are misused and misapplied. But if the concern for human rights is going to find expression in practical, effective terms, and not be relegated to the sphere of Utopian aspirations, they are questions which demand our attention.