Alfred de Zayas quotes - page 4

Lip service to disarmament is insufficient; the goal is to find ways to redirect the resources used for the military and reduce the danger of war while liberating funds to finance development and all-inclusive growth. (Alfred de Zayas)
Disarmament is not just an idle promise; it is also a commitment under article 26 of the Charter of the United Nations. View quote
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. View quote
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. View quote
Alfred de Zayas
Austerity measures constitute retrogression in human rights, in contravention of articles 2 and 5 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, imposed top-down and never legitimized by popular referendum. Moreover, the "bail-out” of the banking system was undemocratic and inequitable because a "private debt” was rescued through public money, namely, by increasing the public debt, at the expense of social justice. The general feeling of malaise was expressed in the statement that Governments seem to have adopted the elitist view that "banks are too big to fail and bankers too big to jail”, concern being expressed about the dangers of privatization of essential services, including water, and the widespread phenomenon of privatizing profit and socializing cost. View quote
Alfred de Zayas
Blithe spirits bringing a myriad colours to our gardens, magic, ephemeral wings -- butterflies -- with short life-spans of a week to a few months. But why such an unpoetic name for a delicate daughter of nature? The Germans call them Schmetterlinge (even less onomatopoetic), the Russians call them бабочка (not to be confused with Бабушка, which means grandmother), the Greek πεταλουδα (which makes you think of petals), the French call them papillons (which is closer to the Latin papilio). Perhaps the more congenial, smoother descriptions are the Spanish mariposa and the delicate Dutch vlinder. View quote
Alfred de Zayas
There are multiple ways of looking at self-determination. One understanding of the right focuses on the legitimacy of choice, so that every people may choose the form of government that it deems appropriate to its culture and traditions. Another perspective focuses on the right of two or more peoples to unify into one single State. View quote
Alfred de Zayas
Neither the right of self-determination nor the principle of territorial integrity is absolute. View quote
Alfred de Zayas
The role of parliaments is crucial in ensuring human rights protection while promoting trade. View quote
Alfred de Zayas
Competition without solidarity is predator behaviour, especially when competition is rigged in favour of mega-corporations and monopolies. View quote
Alfred de Zayas
We don't want a dystopian future in which corporations and not democratically elected governments call the shots. We don't want an international order akin to post-democracy or post-law. (Alfred de Zayas)
According to a 2014 report, the European Union is spending at least 315 million euros on drone-related projects. View quote
Alfred de Zayas
Globalization cannot be allowed to become the grand global casino where investors rig the system to guarantee that they always win. View quote
Alfred de Zayas
Reinhold Niebuhr tells us that man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary. Yet, democracy means different things to different people. It is more than the ballot box, more than just majority rule. It means participation in decision-making and the opportunity to choose policy. View quote
Alfred de Zayas
Most worrisome are the ISDS arbitrations, which constitute an attempt to escape the jurisdiction of national courts and bypass the obligation of all states to ensure that all legal cases are tried before independent tribunals that are public, transparent, accountable and appealable. View quote
Alfred de Zayas
Democracy must be lived and practiced every day. It entails much more than periodic voting, which in many cases is only pro forma, in the absence of public influence on the choice of candidates and scarce possibility of policy change. View quote
Alfred de Zayas
Countries that benefit from World Bank financing should ensure that all loans they request and all foreign direct investment they receive are used in a manner that advances the enjoyment of human rights and does not result in the enrichment of a few at the expense of the many. View quote
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. View quote
Alfred de Zayas
Sterile legalisms, the fetishism of law - otherwise known as the doctrine of positivism - have emerged as a serious impediment to a world order based on the rule of law, which must also be the rule of justice. View quote
Alfred de Zayas
The existence of zero nuclear weapons may sound utopian, but the effort is required in the name of humanity. View quote
Alfred de Zayas
Decolonization was not only just and consistent with the Charter; it was necessary to end violence. (Alfred de Zayas)
Frequently, military expenditures are "secret” or concealed, thus frustrating the right of citizens to know how their taxes are being spent. View quote
Alfred de Zayas
Article 103 of the UN charter says that if there is a conflict between the provisions of the charter and any other treaty, it is the charter that prevails. View quote
Alfred de Zayas
Governments have an obligation to preserve their populations' cultures as world heritage in accordance with the aim of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to promote diversity and oppose cultural imperialism. View quote
Alfred de Zayas
A democratic and equitable international order necessarily functions on the basis of multilateralism and international solidarity. It aims at promoting a culture of peace and dialogue among nations and peoples, fully respecting the sovereignty of States and ensuring that civil society in all countries has ample space to express itself and to enjoy its individual and collective rights and pursue its traditions, culture and identity. View quote
Alfred de Zayas