Toespraak minister-president Jetten bij Human Rights Watch Council Summit

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends of Human Rights Watch,

Guliaim, who is from Kyrgyzstan, never planned to become a feminist or an activist.
I didn’t realise until my teenage years that there was such a thing as “inequality” in our society, she said in a 2022 interview.
She and her brother were raised as equals, and so when she reached adolescence, she was amazed to discover how many women and girls were denied equal treatment.
Even in her immediate environment.
On paper, women in my country have equal rights, Guliaim said.
But in practice, there is more and more pressure from traditional and Muslim groups to restrict the rights and freedoms of women.
Guliaim spoke out on social media and began arranging protests.
At one of them, demonstrators were attacked, while the police stood by and did nothing.
After that, Guliaim came to Shelter City Nijmegen, my old hometown, here in the Netherlands, to take some time out and get her strength back.

Some of you may know Guliaim personally.
But all of you know someone like her.
A brave woman or man who refuses to accept their situation and instead actively fights for change.
For a better life.
For basic human rights.

You all know how much we need people like that.
Around the world, human rights are under pressure.
In Gaza, Ukraine, Afghanistan and countless other places which don’t often make the headlines but where the human suffering is immense.
I don’t need to tell you this.
You know far more than me about this tragic reality – your reports are a testament to that.
Alongside human rights violations in the real world, we’ve seen another threat emerging in recent years.
It exists in the online world, where hate content finds its way to places where you won’t always find human rights defenders.
This new threat to human rights protection demands a firm response.

And that’s why this summit is so valuable.
Because Human Rights Watch knows better than anyone how to move with the times.
What began in 1978 as a small NGO called ‘Helsinki Watch’ has now become a highly influential organisation of more than 500 people working in more than 100 countries.
As far as I’m concerned, that growth is just one illustration of the importance we still attach to human rights in these turbulent times.
Because history teaches us that the path of progress never runs smoothly.
It’s a path full of bumps, twists and seeming delays.
But if we look at the bigger picture, it’s clear that our world is a better place than it was a 100 years ago.
Never before have so many people had access to education, healthcare and the ballot box.
In those 100 years, civil rights have been enshrined in law, colonialism abolished, and international courts like the ICC established to protect us from impunity.
And those are just a few examples of human rights protections that have clearly improved the lives of millions of people.
The challenge now is to continue that progress.

In the Netherlands, we take that challenge seriously.
Last month at the UN, I announced that the Netherlands is contributing an extra 2.5 million euros to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
This money will go to investigating crimes that must not go unpunished.
The fight for accountability is also a driving force behind our activities in the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
By establishing Fact-Finding Missions in places like Sudan, we’re taking key steps to ensure that human rights violations are documented, and not forgotten.
Impunity can never be accepted. Because ‘impunity breeds repetition’.

Every year, through programmes like our Safety for Voices initiative, we support thousands of journalists and human rights defenders during times of crisis.
People like independent Russian-language reporters.
And of course, we warmly welcome Shelter Cities.
Recently, Venlo became the 15th Dutch city to sign up.

These are all achievements we can be proud of, but of course I realise that there is still much more to be done.
Even in my own country, where there is still a pay gap between men and women.
Where acceptance of LGBTIQ+ people is on the decline.
And where we see that the legacy of slavery still affects the lives of the descendants of enslaved people today.
That must change.

In our Kingdom we are working with all the affected communities to follow up on the government’s apology for the Netherlands’ role in the history of slavery.
But we need to do more.

With authoritarian forces on the rise in more and more countries, and new technologies like AI becoming part of our daily lives, we need to work together to find new solutions to the issues of our time.

I believe it’s up to the middle powers that stand up for human rights to join together and push for progress.
By upholding our principles and being open to new partnerships.
By defending and strengthening the institutions that protect us. Institutions like the ICC.
And by working together to seek new ways of protecting human rights.
Embassies can play a crucial role here.
For local NGOs, a small contribution can make a big difference.
That could mean providing funding.
Or it could mean providing a platform.
Because human rights may be universal, but they can only be realised in the local context, while taking account of different perspectives.
Such as those of people in the Global South.
By working together with local human rights defenders and civil society, our embassies can support initiatives that promote human rights.
The Dutch Human Rights Fund helps to strengthen and expand efforts like these.

And I believe we should take the same approach to issues involving AI.
We cannot leave the responsible use of AI to a handful of major powers and tech giants.
Here too, the middle powers must speak out loud and clear.
With one voice.
And in each of these areas, I will be glad to work with you.
Because none of us can do this alone.

Fortunately, we don’t have to.
You know that.
We know that.
And Guliaim discovered that too, in Nijmegen, her Shelter City.
In the 3 months she spent there, she came into contact with the city’s students, she received support, and she thought about ways of making young women in Kyrgyzstan aware of their rights.
She returned home, feeling empowered, ready to continue her work.
And on her departure, she had a message for us all:
We don’t understand how precious these rights are, she said.
And how other countries fought for these rights for years.
We have them, let’s take them, let’s not lose them.

That's the fight I am willing to fight together with all of you.

Thank you.