Human rights : universal relevance but local interpretation

Abstract

The author's central argument is that our perception of a universally recognised concept is in fact relative. Although certain values seem to transcend the various diversities between peoples, cultural differences do persist even in the area of human rights. Experience in Europe and elsewhere has shown that relative homogeneity of values within a group is less likely to create problems of relevance and interpretation than on a universal level. Nonetheless, the drafters of the European Convention on Human Rights, keeping in mind the diversity of the legal traditions of the Member States, left a measure of latitude or discretion for interpretative purposes. Is the 'exportation' of human rights a form of latter day cultural imperialism? What if the democratic process as understood and interpreted in the Western world is alien to a particular state or region? The author believes that the absence of an integrated European policy towards the Mediterranean in the past caused. a backlash against Europe because a sharper divide between north and south was created. The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, which commenced in Barcelona, should put an end to this but the social and cultural aspects of this process should be developed. It is vital to make multi-culturalism the starting-point for thinking about human rights and to develop a policy of inter-culturalism as one of the aims of the Euro-Med dialogue. Links should be found between the universalism of human rights and the diversified expression due to local perceptions.