Alfred de Zayas - Democratic Quotes

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The UN system is not very democratic, everyone knows that the Security Council is not democratic.

Alfred de Zayas
Participation by the public in decision-making, which requires full information, transparency and accountability, is essential to the democratic order. Parliaments have a special responsibility to oversee the adoption of national budgets and to monitor the actual use of appropriations so as to ferret out corruption.

Alfred de Zayas
Although founded on majority rule, a democratic society must recognize and apply individual, minority and group rights. In other words, majority rule must be understood within the context of the rule of law and human dignity… This resolves the tension between populism and human rights, since democracy must not be abused to diminish human rights, e. g. by legitimizing torture or capital punishment, even if public opinion could be invoked or manipulated to demand it. Thus, it is necessary to strengthen the enforcement of national and regional bills of rights to provide a process and atmosphere for democracy to flourish, ensured by an independent judiciary that provides the necessary protection of both majority and minority interests.

Alfred de Zayas
Representative democracy deserves the predicate democratic only if and when parliamentarians genuinely represent their constituents.

Alfred de Zayas
Participation is a hallmark of democratic governance.

Alfred de Zayas
In totalitarian States citizen have no voice. In democratic countries, however, citizens bear responsibility for the decisions taken by their democratically elected officials. If crimes are committed in their name, it is their responsibility to demand accountability.

Alfred de Zayas
There is no lack of diagnoses of the manifold ills that beset the international order, coherent and even convincing diagnoses by foremost think tanks, universities and outstanding individual researchers all over the world. Obstacles to an improved world order are evident, but remedies do not materialize. Is it because the real power no longer resides in States and Governments but rather in the economy, the intelligence community, the military-industrial and financial-industrial complexes, which are neither democratic nor transparent and operate impervious to reasons other than power or profit? The answers are complex and require further research, which may contribute to future reports on the vast menu of General Assembly resolution 67/175.

Alfred de Zayas
A government that compromises its competence to defend and protect the interests of the persons living under its jurisdiction betrays its raison d'être and loses its democratic legitimacy

Alfred de Zayas
The Independent Expert is persuaded that recognition of peace as a human right will promote a democratic and equitable international order and that national and international democratization will reduce conflict, since peoples want peace. It is Governments that stumble into war.

Alfred de Zayas
States should practice multilateralism and abandon unilateral actions that adversely affect a democratic and equitable international order, refraining from the threat or use of force. They should apply international law uniformly, abandon overreliance on positivism and efforts to circumvent treaty obligations or invent loopholes. As nature abhors a vacuum (Spinoza, Ethics), human rights law abhors legal black holes

Alfred de Zayas
A truly democratic country must proactively inform the public so that the public can decide on spending priorities.

Alfred de Zayas
Specific protection must be granted to human rights defenders and whistleblowers who have in some contexts been accused of being unpatriotic, whereas they perform, in reality, a democratic service to their countries and to the enjoyment of human rights of their compatriots.

Alfred de Zayas
Since a democratic and equitable international order requires peace, States must engage in good faith negotiations for disarmament and significantly reduce military expenditure and the arms trade.

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
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