José Ramos-Horta
(1949-)

East Timorese Politician, 2nd President of East Timor
1993 Rafto Prize for Human Rights
1996 Nobel Peace Prize Winner

birthdate: December 26
birthplace:
Dili, East Timor

QUOTES

Land mines, torture equipment, cluster bombs, chemical weapons are weapons designed to inflict pain and death on human beings. Most victims are civilians, women and children. How can arms manufacturers, weapons designers, plant managers, politicians, who have families of their own whom they love, be so insensitive when it comes to the suffering of other human beings?

We believe that human rights transcend boundaries and must prevail over state sovereignty.

We just have to stay focused and not lose hope.

Free education and health care are essential for the welfare of the population.

A healthy, sane and happy society cannot be based on hatred and revenge.

Millions of peoples seek to assert their most fundamental rights and if we attempt to find a common denominator for the problems I have just listed there is one: the right of peoples to self-determination. In most cases the demands are not for secession. They are about their survival as a people with a language and a culture, with their land and environment protected from rapacious multinationals. Only when these basic demands are not met has there been recourse to other forms of struggle with an escalation in their demands.

 

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