"To acknowledge that we still have a lot of work ahead of us does not make our contributions to human rights irrelevant. We cannot have perfection as our standard, but we must recall the fundamental importance of human rights in building our societies and in finding a moral basis", said Torbjørn Jagland in his opening speech.

Several national and international experts discussed the universality of the Human Rights Declaration, questioned the United Nation’s ability to provide effective protection of human rights and examined whether the role of Human Rights defenders has made a difference. The seminar concluded with a debate on the condition of human rights in Norway. Members of parliament in the panel debated concern about the ‘use of force’ in psychiatric healthcare institutions and discussed asylum and refugee policies in the country.

The Kenyan Human Rights defender Maina Kiai shared his experiences from the election and the violence that followed earlier this year underlining the important role and contribution of human rights defenders in Kenya. “They inspire, protect, document and challenge norms. But they can also hurt when they become greedy and corrupt”, he said.

Berit Thorbjørnsrud from the Department of Culture Studies at the University of Oslo underscored the need for moral and social responsibility when exercising rights. She referred to the caricature controversy stating that “Freedom of expression must be used as a tool for criticizing power, not to offend, hurt or provoke”.

The seminar was organised as a collaborative effort between Amnesty International Norway, The United Nations Association of Norway, The Norwegian Helsinki Committee, Norwegian Red Cross, The Norwegian Centre for Human Rights and the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights.

Einar Steensnæs, executive director of the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights,
chaired the organising committee (Pictures by Red Cross).