Human rights are what make us human. They are the principles by which we create the sacred home for human dignity. They are endowed with reason and conscience and shall act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. Human rights are what reason requires and conscience commands. They are us and we are them.
Human rights are rights that any person has as a human being.
One cannot be true without the other. The absence of tolerance and human rights is not only a denial of human dignity. It is also the root of the suffering and hatred that breeds political violence and inhibits economic development. If this century's bloody history has taught us one lesson, it is this. When we speak of the right to life, or development, or to dissent and diversity, we are speaking of tolerance.