At Tuesday's closing ceremony of the Beijing Forum on Human Rights, Dong Yunhu, vice president and secretary general of the China Society for Human Rights Studies said the forum had made important achievements.

Thirty-five officials, scholars and experts from various countries and regions delivered speeches in the plenary presentations and participated in workshops. They contributed many original ideas and opinions on the conference theme "development, security and human rights".

The participants delivered almost 80 professional papers, all of which were significant contributions to the field of human rights studies. At the macro level, the papers examined the relationships between development, security and human rights as well as general issues in international human rights development; at the micro level they considered the historical experience of particular countries and regions and the relationships between national security, social stability, the judicial system, personal security and human rights protection.

The papers also discussed the issue of material human rights protection including the right to ethnic self-determination, the right to development, the right to education, women's and children's rights, the rights of the handicapped, the human rights of criminals and social outcasts. "The papers were of a very high standard, and contained many profound thoughts and unique insights," said Dong.

"This year marks the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Inspired by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the cause of international human rights has made great strides over the past six decades. This forum has provided a platform for experts from China and abroad to review the history of the world's human rights development, to communicate with each other and lay the foundation for future cooperation," Dong said.

The Beijing Forum on Human Rights opened in Beijing on Monday 21 April. Over 100 officials, scholars and researchers from 30 countries and international organizations attended the forum, which was organized by the China Society for Human Rights Studies.

(China.org.cn by Zhou Jing April 23, 2008)