Lenah
Follow us
Justice Hub
  • My Justice
  • News
  • Insights
  • Justice Explained
  • About Us
No Result
View All Result
Justice Hub
  • My Justice
  • News
  • Insights
  • Justice Explained
  • About Us
No Result
View All Result
Justice Hub
No Result
View All Result

Dutch Human Rights Ambassador Kees van Baar on justice

January 29, 2015
in Justice Explained
0
0
Home Justice Explained
FacebookTwitterLinkedInWhatsappEmail

By Niklas Jakobsson

Kees van Baar was appointed the Dutch Human Rights ambassador in 2014. He previously spent time as the Dutch Ambassador in South Sudan, being part of the team that set up the embassy in the then newly-established country. He shared his thoughts on Human Rights, what justice is to him and the ongoing situation in South Sudan with Justice Hub.

“For me the essence of human rights is human dignity. Every human beings right to human dignity. And of course for me living in the Netherlands there are so many things you take for granted. But when travelling around the world and living in different parts of the world you find out that it’s nothing to take for granted.

“You should have human rights for every person, not just for the whole community, but for each person so that you are not being crushed by the state or by other more powerful people.

“For us, human rights are for everybody. That’s why, in the Netherlands, we talk about our human rights policy. The top priorities are human rights defenders, it is women rights and it is LGBT rights. I would like to stress, it’s not a policy that works towards extra women rights and LGBT rights – it’s to make clear to the world that human rights are for all human beings.

“These are the top three priorities, but I would also like to stress that we have freedom of expression, and protection of journalists goes with it. It is freedom of religion, right to development, freedom online, business and human rights and the most gross violations of human rights, such as mass atrocities.

“One of the biggest challenges right now is that human rights are universal but is in a lot of countries being considered as being western. But why is that? A lot of western countries took the initiative and were very key in it – after the Second World War. We try to make clear that it is not western, it’s universal.

“We [The Netherlands] try to lead by example. I think that wherever you are, whichever country, you always have human rights issues. They are always being discussed. I think that the good thing is, especially what was introduced eight years ago in the human rights council, that there are human rights exams – the universal periodic review. Every country is being scrutinized, it has to report and it is being scrutinized by other countries, they have to answer questions, they have to take recommendations, and that makes it much more on an equal position. Every country goes through it, every country has issues on human rights.

“Justice is justice for all. I think it was Martin Luther King that said that when injustice is done to one person, then it concerns us all because then you are on a sliding scale. I think that this is what you should prevent. That is why it’s important that justice is independent as such. Justice is to uphold human rights as such, as well. The whole judicial system should make it possible that human rights are upheld.

“When something happens like that, like the violence we have seen in South Sudan and Juba as well, when that starts it’s really confrontational and what you see is people you know yourself – they are victims. That affects you. It makes you more aware of how vulnerable people are and also a society can be. That is of course what we would like to prevent.

“It’s a mass atrocity what has happened in South Sudan, and I think, and I’m even more convinced, that we as the Netherlands should say what we would like to see is a three P policy. Prevention of it. If you cannot prevent it, then make sure that people are protected. If even that fails then it’s prosecution. Hold people accountable. I think that like in the case of South Sudan, I’m very pleased that the African Union took the initiative to set up a commission of enquiry.”

(Photo: Michiel Bles / Justice Hub)

My Justice highlights the stories of individuals who work in the field of international justice or who have been affected by it and asks what does justice mean to them. 

Tags: human rightsjustice
ShareTweetShareSendSend

Justice Hub

Justice Hub is an online platform connecting conversations about international justice.

Related Posts

A legal path to justice emerges for Myanmar
Featured

A legal path to justice emerges for Myanmar

by Sean Bain
October 7, 2018
0
56

On September 27 a partial but significant foundation was laid to provide accountability for gross human rights violations in Myanmar,...

Read more
Lawfare: Iran-US nuclear deal row to play out in Hague Courtroom (Part I)

Lawfare: Iran-US nuclear deal row to play out in Hague Courtroom (Part I)

September 26, 2018
56
A trial for history: Thomas Kwoyelo in Uganda

A trial for history: Thomas Kwoyelo in Uganda

September 25, 2018
67
Celebrating women in peacekeeping

Celebrating women in peacekeeping

September 24, 2018
56
Iran wants Hague court to dull the impact of US sanctions (Part 2)

Iran wants Hague court to dull the impact of US sanctions (Part 2)

September 22, 2018
52

Justice Hub

Justice Hub is an online platform connecting conversations about international justice.

Justice Hub

Justice Hub is an online platform aimed at a worldwide audience of 18-35 year olds, especially in countries where people are looking for sustainable and innovative solutions to problems of justice, peace and security. Justice can feel too abstract, too often owned by experts. We make the conversations lively and accessible.

Follow Us

Quick Links

  • Featured
  • My Justice
  • News
  • Insights
  • Justice Explained
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

 

  HPPJ Forum Login
Creative Commons Licence
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
No Result
View All Result
  • My Justice
  • News
  • Insights
  • Justice Explained
  • About Us

© 2018 Justice Hub

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Fill the forms bellow to register

*By registering into our website, you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Login

Lost password?
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.

REPUBLISHING TERMS

You may republish this article online or in print under our Creative Commons license. You may not edit or shorten the text, you must attribute the article to Aeon and you must include the author’s name in your republication.

If you have any questions, please email nsharafa@gmail.com

License

Creative Commons License AttributionCreative Commons Attribution
Dutch Human Rights Ambassador Kees van Baar on justice