Mary Robinson
Mary Robinson
Mary Therese Winifred Robinsonserved as the seventh, and first female, President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, from 1997 to 2002. She first rose to prominence as an academic, barrister, campaigner and member of the Irish Senate. She defeated Fianna Fáil's Brian Lenihan and Fine Gael's Austin Currie in the 1990 presidential election becoming, as an Independent candidate nominated by the Labour Party, the Workers' Party and independent senators, the first...
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth27 November 1757
accepted against concept embodied forced human labor principles punishment rights using
The concept of using forced labor as a punishment is against the accepted international human rights principles embodied in many international instruments,
count endless failure global human impact programs quite results rights scale
Count up the results of 50 years of human rights mechanisms, 30 years of multibillion-dollar development programs and endless high-level rhetoric, and the global impact is quite underwhelming, ... This is a failure of implementation on a scale which shames us all.
addressing awkward high importance recognized standing
I've always recognized as high commissioner the importance of standing up to bullies, addressing short-comings and being outspoken, an awkward voice.
clear extent human rights situation
I am very clear that it's a human rights situation and it will be important for me to appraise this perspective, the extent of the human rights situation, extra-judicial killings, torture, etcetera,
abandon civilian core face security serious standards threat
must not abandon its core standards and values, even in the face of the serious security threat to its own civilian population.
destroyed hear row
You hear and read of the destruction, see pictures, ... very devastating ... to come and see row after row of blackened, destroyed homes.
avoid civilians damage force injury life loss measures necessary principle taken whenever
Whenever force is used, the principle of proportionality has to be applied, and all necessary measures have to be taken to avoid loss of life or injury to civilians or damage to civilian property.
accepted convention issue nearest port provides serious
The convention (on refugees) provides that they should be accepted at the nearest port and I think the issue is a very serious one.
attended indeed issue justice known main meeting
I think the main perpetrators are substantially known, and indeed known to Jakarta ... at every meeting I have attended the issue of justice has come up,
borders cannot cause concerned deeply grave kosovo required return whom
We are deeply concerned about those who have been required to return from the borders back into Kosovo and about whom we cannot find first-hand information, ... That was a cause of really grave concern.
babies love motivation
Our motivation is our love for all babies.
expression association requirements
It is necessary to ensure that the requirement to combat terrorism is not used to clamp down on freedom of expression, legitimate dissent, freedom of association and so on.
people suffering climate-change
The fossil-fuel-based development model has not benefitted all people and those who have benefitted least are now suffering great harm in the face of climate change.
human-rights threat
The changing climate is a threat to human rights.