MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/. Encouraging extremist movements, as has been observed in some countries, erodes the international human rights system, explained Anatoly Viktorov, Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department for Humanitarian Cooperation and Human Rights and Commissioner for Human Rights, Democracy and Rule of Law.
What’s important to remember is that "the creation of today’s human rights system and the fostering of international cooperation in this area directly stemmed from the victory over Nazism in World War II," he stressed.
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"Abetting extremist movements that propagate Nazi ideology and support the veneration of Nazis and their collaborators under the guise of concern for freedom of speech and peaceful assembly that we have recently observed in some countries directly undermines this system," the senior diplomat stressed. This is why each year Russia introduces a draft resolution on countering the glorification of Nazism to the UN General Assembly sessions, Viktorov pointed out. "We are pleased to note the unfaltering and broad support given to this Russian initiative along with the growing number of its co-authors," the diplomat emphasized.
He pointed out that "there is not a single state in the world in which everything would be ideal from a human rights perspective.
"Still, some countries believing in their own infallibility and prefering to turn a blind eye to their own existing human rights problems, feel free to preach to others," Viktorov noted.
"The practice shows that mentoring and labelling do not help improve the human rights situation locally, but only push states farther from cooperation, driving them into isolation."
"Efforts to force on others their own positions and values and fetishization of external manifestations of democracy, while totally neglecting the cultural traditions and specific aspects of historical and socio-economic development of those countries have had tragic humanitarian consequences in the Middle East and North Africa. This has resulted in many people being deprived of their right to life, while religious and ethnic tensions flare up and the rights of millions of people to housing, water, food and access to education and healthcare are infringed," the Russian Foreign Ministry’s commissioner noted.
"This unjust and reckless policy has resulted in a migration crisis that swept across Europe," he said.