This is a statement on Human Rights adopted by the International Democrat Union, Liberal International and Socialist International during their meeting in April 1995 in Ottawa, Canada. This is the 50th anniversary of the United Nations. While noting our important philosophical differences on other matters and noting the joint statement made by three of the political international in Vienna in June 1993, we wish to affirm our steadfast and unanimous commitment to democracy, to the universal and indivisible nature of human rights, and to the vital link between democracy, development and rights.
Democracy is both a form of government and a type of society.
Representative political institutions cannot flourish in a society where human rights are not an integral part of everyday life. And human rights, grounded on the equal claim to dignity of all human beings, can be best protected by governments chosen through free and fair elections. We strongly reaffirm our support for the principles enshrined in the International Bill of Human Rights and urge all countries that have not ratified the International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights and the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to do so. We further recognise the importance of promoting women's rights as human rights and affirm that cultural and traditional practices cannot be invoked to deny women their internationally recognised human rights. While acknowledging the importance of economic development , a lack of economic development cannot be invoked to justify the abridgement of human rights.