Global ties key to protecting human rights

International solidarity in protecting human rights is particularly important when the world is still suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic, but such solidarity can hardly be achieved when some countries continue to use human rights issues as political tools to suppress others rather than truly caring for people, human rights experts said on Friday.

“Human rights are still often used as excuses and even weapons during global economic and political competition. Many conflicts have been stirred up in the name of human rights,” said He Zhipeng, executive director of the Human Rights Center of Jilin University. “Meanwhile, human rights issues are also used as excuses to turn down actions that aim to boost international solidarity.”

He made the remarks at an online China side event of the ongoing United Nations Human Rights Council’s 47th session.

To achieve international solidarity, the international community must make greater efforts and reach consensus in boosting international cooperation and exchanges to jointly tackle mutual threats, such as security, environmental issues and especially the COVID-19 pandemic, he added.

In fact, China’s proposal to build a community of a shared future for mankind is a pledge to actively contribute to achieving mutual goals and combating mutual threats, He said.

Zhang Wanhong, executive director of the Institute for Human Rights of Wuhan University, said international solidarity is key when the global healthcare system is challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic so that people’s lives can be better protected.

“By sticking to the principle of solidarity, the international community can help one another as well as eliminate prejudice and conflicts, so human rights around the world can be better protected,” Zhang said at the event.

At the same time, faced with the mutual threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, people will feel more interrelated with each other and have more sympathy for others, which could make people more united and less divided, he said.

By sticking to the principle of solidarity, the international community can help one another as well as eliminate prejudice and conflicts ...”

Zhang Wanhong, executive director of the Institute for Human Rights of Wuhan University