UN General Assembly
1993

involved in the defence of human rights show that we are still far from attaining that objective. We are pleased that the Vienna Conference on Human Rights allowed encouraging progress to be made. The universality of human rights was clearly affirmed. Specific proposals were made for ensuring broader knowledge of human rights, promoting them and respecting them. It is now for this Assembly to approve those proposals, including the establishment of a High Commissioner for Human Rights. There is an indissoluble link between respect for human rights and the promotion of democracy. Within the United Nations system this link takes concrete form in the Organization’s growing activities in the area of technical Forty-eighth session - 29 September l993 33 assistance and international supervision of electoral processes. I support the proposals by our Secretary-General to broaden these support activities to include the establishment of a free press, political parties and an independent judiciary. In this context, I welcome the decision taken by President Yeltsin to organize free elections in order to ensure democratic legitimacy for all State bodies in Russia.