Dansk Interparlamentarisk Gruppes bestyrelse 2009-10
IPU Alm.del Bilag 11
Offentligt
J.C. Lund’s speech at the 122nd IPU Assembly
President.
My fellow parliamentarians.
It is an honour and a privilege to stand before you today,
speaking on such vital and important matters as the hope for
political reconciliation and good governance.
As a representative from Denmark – one of the smallest
countries in the world – I wonder: what can we, as
parliamentarians do against the lack of will for political
reconciliation and freedom and the staggering reports of
political oppression, injustice and inequality, which run like a
plague over large parts of the world.
My answer is that we can do a great deal. And we must do a
great deal. This strong belief has been deeply rooted in the
Danish foreign policy and development aid for decades.
Denmark has always been one of the world’s leaders on
development aid and support for strong democratic
governments. It is based on the idea that good governance,
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freedom and equality foster a strong civil society, reconciliation,
peace and prosperity.
In the face of political oppression or the hard work for
reconciliation, we must strengthen our democratic values. We
must secure every individual’s right to vote, to speak and to
live. We must cast away the idea that torture and death are the
right answers. It will not give us reconciliation, but will leave a
state crippled and despotic. We can not and we must not leave
our citizens imprisoned in refugee-camps inside or outside the
country, and we must secure that no country will. The right of
the individual person is the most important asset in the world.
Therefore Denmark is for freedom of speech everywhere. We're
for freedom to worship everywhere. We're for freedom to learn
for everybody. And so we are for freedom from tyranny,
everywhere, whether in the guise of political oppression or
economic slavery or religious fanaticism. In Denmark we will
always support every step towards reconciliation and oppose
any step of political oppression and violence. We have a
responsibility to protect our citizens and we must avoid any
form of state violence. In a world where wars are fought to
prevent terrorism, we must also be aware of violence committed
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by states. Either because of religious beliefs or political
opposition. We have to accept that this form of state terrorism
is as dangerous and troubling as any other form of violence
committed. And it is terror, when a state targets civilians living
in refugee-camps, it is terror, when you arrest and torture
demonstrators uttering their democratic voice of hope and
change, it is terror when you deprive your citizens of the basic
security in life. We must never fight any political or religious
opponents with violence. The ultimate weakness of violence is
that it is a descending spiral. Returning violence with violence
only multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night
already devoid of stars. We have a responsibility as
parliamentarians, as statesmen, as humans to protect any
citizen, whether they are political supporters or opponents,
domestically and abroad. We must never meet challenges with
violence and oppression. That is what defines good governance,
democratically and morally.
In Denmark we believe that hope is real. In a life of trials, in the
world of challenges, hope is real. In countries where families are
without basic security, where people live in refugee-camps
because of their democratic beliefs or religious beliefs, where
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some are without food, and some don't even have a home to
speak of, hope is real. In a time of global chaos and instability
where our faiths collide as often as our weapons, hope is real.
We live in cynical times, but hope is not up for discussion. Hope
is what gives us the courage to take on our greatest challenges,
to move forward together. We must as parliamentarians and as
international communities embrace these challenges together,
we must move towards good governance and political
reconciliation everywhere together and we must move forward
as a community together. Never doubt that a small group of
thoughtful and committed people can change the world.
Because this is the only thing that ever has changed anything.
There is such a thing as false science, there is such a thing as
false promises. But there is no such thing as false hope. There is
only hope.
Thank you for your attention.
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