Safeguarding human rights needed for peace -Mattarella

(ANSA) - Rome, December 10 - Safeguarding human rights is necessary for peace, President Sergio Mattarella said Tuesday.
    "Protecting, safeguarding and promoting this patrimony means not only preserving ourselves and our freedoms, but above all ensuring a future of peace, security and development for the new generations," he said in a message for the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the UN general assembly. Mattarella said this year's anniversary was "dedicated above all to young people".
    The declaration "recognised to all human beings" fundamental rights and freedoms, the president said.
    The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a milestone document in the history of human rights.
    Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, the Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations. It sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected and it has been translated into over 500 languages. Mattarella has often stressed the need to protect human rights, which is also laid down in Italy's postwar Constitution.