Alfred de Zayas Quotes

114 Sourced Quotes

Democracy is not an end in itself, but a means to achieve the sacred promises of human dignity, justice and peace

Alfred de Zayas
Education is necessary to unlearn privilege, unlearn exclusion, unlearn discrimination, unlearn prejudice, unlearn war.

Alfred de Zayas
No country has a perfect report card. While some countries have strong points in specific areas, they may have serious lacunae in other areas. For instance, some countries have made enormous progress on civil and political rights, but lag in the implementation of economic, social and cultural rights.

Alfred de Zayas
Peace is not the silence of cemeteries, but the song of social justice.

Alfred de Zayas
Neither the right of self-determination nor the principle of territorial integrity is absolute.

Alfred de Zayas
Globalization cannot be allowed to become the grand global casino where investors rig the system to guarantee that they always win

Alfred de Zayas
Democracy entails a correlation between the public interest as expressed by a majority of the population and the governmental policies that affect them. The term encompasses various manifestations, including direct, participatory and representative democracy, but Governments must be responsive to people and not to special interests such as the military-industrial complex, financial bankers and transnational corporations. Democracy is inclusive and does not privilege an anthropological aristocracy.

Alfred de Zayas
The bottom line is that these agreements must be revised, modified or terminated.

Alfred de Zayas
Every democracy must involve civil society in the process of establishing budgets, and all sectors of society must be consulted to determine what the real priorities of the population are. Lobbies, including military contractors and other representatives of the military-industrial complex, must not be allowed to hijack these priorities to the detriment of the population's real needs.

Alfred de Zayas
Frequently, military expenditures are secret or concealed, thus frustrating the right of citizens to know how their taxes are being spent.

Alfred de Zayas
In the light of continued warmongering by some States, it is apparent that resolutions of the General Assembly, including its resolution 68/28, have not succeeded in reducing tensions.

Alfred de Zayas
The CELAC Declaration is a positive sign towards the advancement of an international order which can and should be more democratic and equitable, based on the principles of the sovereignty of States and peoples and on international solidarity.

Alfred de Zayas
According to a 2014 report, the European Union is spending at least 315 million euros on drone-related projects.

Alfred de Zayas
Grave crimes of this nature, and the impunity that has accompanied them, entail violations of numerous international treaty provisions and constitute an assault on the rule of law, an affront to the international community and a threat to the international order.

Alfred de Zayas
The ideal of direct democracy, including the power of legislative initiative of citizens and control of issues through genuine consultation and referenda has been partially achieved only in few countries.

Alfred de Zayas
Decolonization was not only just and consistent with the Charter; it was necessary to end violence.

Alfred de Zayas
I condemn the lack of proper investigation of the massacres and the impunity of those responsible for them.

Alfred de Zayas
Without peace and the rule of law, civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights cannot be enjoyed, when killing, maiming and mutual poisoning prevail.

Alfred de Zayas
Self-determination is now recognized as a principle of legitimacy underlying modern international law.

Alfred de Zayas
This reduction implies the release of funds for development and a shift of the labour force previously dedicated to military industries toward peaceful activities, protection of human rights, conservation of the environment, the eradication of illiteracy, promotion of education and scientific research together with enhanced efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals and implement the agenda for the post-2015 period.

Alfred de Zayas
The existence of zero nuclear weapons may sound utopian, but the effort is required in the name of humanity.

Alfred de Zayas
You cannot turn the clock back, you cannot give the island of Manhattan back to the indigenous, but on the other hand, you can ensure that the indigenous can maintain their way of life.

Alfred de Zayas
As all human rights derive from human dignity, it is important to recognize that human dignity is not a product of positivism but an expression of natural law and human rationality. Although an abstract concept, human dignity has engendered concrete norms of human rights, a practical mode d'emploi strengthened by enforcement mechanisms.

Alfred de Zayas
A democratic and equitable international order is inherent in the fundamental human rights that humanity shares. It is achievable, step-by-step, when every country and people act at the local, regional and international levels, aware that such an international order must be based on the United Nations Charter and the human rights treaties, which together make up what we can safely call the Constitution of the modern world.

Alfred de Zayas