Portugal, remembered in human rights circles as the first country to abolish the death penalty, today was accepted as a member of the UN Human Rights Council.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Rui Machete recalled the "pioneering role of Portugal in the abolition of the death penalty" and said the number one enemy now is "the inhuman action" of the Islamic state, which "threatens our values and most fundamental principles."
Rui Machete pointed to recent inhumane actions of the Islamic State (ISIS), "The barbarism carried out by terrorist groups must merit the most vigorous condemnation. We continue to see, in the 21st century, large-scale violations of human rights."
"The international community cannot remain indifferent to the scale of the violations and abuses," referring to those committed in Syria.
Machete also said the recent events in Paris were "deeply disturbing" and appealed for a sharper focus on defence and fundamental freedoms with particular attention to the protection of journalists, human rights defenders and representatives of civil society."
"It is essential to ensure freedom of religion and belief, and to combat all forms of discrimination and religious intolerance," said the Minister who added that Portugal’s membership of the HRC should be "a stimulus for Portugal to continue to do more and do better in defence of human rights."
Portugal will be focusing on the struggle for economic, social and cultural rights - such as the right to education and women's rights, including the fight against gender violence, and children's rights.
The General Assembly of the UNHRC elected 15 countries to serve on the Council for a period of three years that officially began on January 1st this year but will run from today.
In a secret ballot at the UN Headquarters in New York, the Assembly elected Albania, Bangladesh, El Salvador, Ghana, Latvia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Paraguay, Portugal and Qatar.
Bolivia, Botswana, Congo, India and Indonesia, whose terms were due to expire at the end of this year, were re-elected.
Members of the Council serve for a period of three years and are not eligible for immediate re-election after serving two consecutive terms.
Created in 2006, the 47-member council is an inter-governmental body within the UN system responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe and for addressing situations of human rights violations and make recommendations on them.
Machete can justly be proud when mentioning Portugal's early abolition of the death penalty which used hanging as the ultimate penalty.
Portugal was the first country in the world to begin the process to abolish the death penalty and did so in stages for different categories. Abolition for political crimes was in 1852, for all crimes except for in the military in 1867, and for all crimes in 1911.
In 1916 it was re-established only for military crimes during war with a foreign country and then, only in the theatre of war. With the new Constitution in 1976, it again was abolished for all crimes.
The last execution in Portugal took place in Lagos in 1846.
