Reinout Vos: Uvod / Introduction

Dan ljudskih prava

„Erst kommt das Fressen, dann kommt die Moral“, pisao je Bertold Brecht u svojoj slavnoj Operi za tri groša: „prvo hrana, onda moralnost“. Ova izreka se ponekad koristi i na polju ljudskih prava. Zar ljudska prava nisu luksuz za bogate zapadne zemlje gdje građani ne moraju da razmišljaju o svojim primarnim potrebama i gdje da nađu hranu svaki dan?

Odgovor je ne. Ljudska prava su primarna potreba, ona su „hrana“. Upravo zbog toga Evropska unija toliko strogo insistira na standardima vladavine prava, kako unutar EU tako i u procesu pridruživanja novih članica.

Uzmimo za primjer zdravstvenu zaštitu, temu Dana ljudskih prava na Sarajevo Film Festivalu. Svi želimo i zaslužujemo najbolju zdravstvenu zaštitu. Možda bogate zemlje mogu priuštiti viši standard zdravstvene zaštite od zemalja sa niskim prihodima po glavi stanovnika. Ali u previše zemalja zdravstveni sistem trpi zbog korupcije i političkih promašaja koji nemaju nikakve veze sa prihodima po glavi stanovnika. Moramo se boriti protiv tog zla, jer ono ugrožava naša osnovna ljudska prava. U većini zapadnobalkanskih zemalja korupcija u javnom zdravstvu utiče na živote skoro svih građana. Pored obrazovanja, zdravlje je ljudima najvažnija stavka i to s dobrim razlogom. Nije samo veća plata to što pokreće mlade iz regije na odlazak u Zapadnu Evropu, već prije svega osjećaj neizvjesne budućnosti njihovih porodica. Da li će moja djeca imati najbolje moguće obrazovanje? Da li ću imati kvalitetno liječenje ako se razbolim?

Zbog toga mi je jako drago što je Dan ljudskih prava na ovogodišnjem Sarajevo Film Festivalu posvećen filmu Kolektiv koji se bavi prijevarom u zdravstvu, nesposobnošću političara da se s tim izbore i važnošću zaštite novinara koji pišu o tome. Zbog toga što moralnost nije luksuz. Već naš hljeb svagdašnji.

Human Rights Day

E „Erst kommt das Fressen, dann kommt die Moral“, wrote Bertold Brecht in his famous Threepenny Opera: „first comes food, then morality“. The saying is sometimes transposed to the fields of human rights. Aren’t human rights a luxury of rich Western countries, where citizens do not have to worry about their primary needs, their daily food?

The answer is no. Human rights are a primary need, they are “food”. That is precisely why the European Union is so strict on the standards for Rule of Law, both within the EU and in the accession process of new member states.

Take health care, the theme of this year’s Human Rights Day at the Sarajevo Film Festival. We all want and deserve the best health care. Admittedly, rich countries can afford a higher medical standard than countries with a lower per capita income. But in too many countries, the health care system suffers under corruption and political failure that has nothing to do with the level of per capita income. We have to fight that evil, a threat to fundamental human rights. In most Western Balkan countries, corruption in the public health system affects the lives of almost all citizens. With education, health is the number one concern for people, and for good reasons. It is not just a higher salary that brings so many young people in this region to move to Western Europe, but above all the feeling of insecurity for their families: will I be able to find the best education possible for my children? Will I be able to find good medical assistance in case of health problems?

I therefore welcome very much that this year’s Human Rights Day of the Sarajevo Film Festival is devoted to a film – The Collective – that focusses on health care fraud, the inability of politicians to deal with it, and the importance of protection of journalists who write about these abuses. Because morality is not a luxury. It is our daily bread.

Reinout Vos Ambasador Kraljevine Nizozemske u Bosni i Hercegovini / Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Bosnia and Herzegovina