CEREMONY MARKING HUMAN RIGHTS DAY HELD IN ZAGREB

ZAGREB, Dec 9 (Hina) - Speaking at Monday's ceremony marking International Human Rights Day, December 10, Deputy Prime Minister Ante Simonic thanked all countries, international institutions and individuals assisting in the improvement of the living standards of Croatian citizens. #L# Simonic pointed to the significance of international co-operation in promoting human rights and assisting countries that had not managed to achieve the required level of rights on their own. The Croatian government has applied itself to systematically realise human rights through its legislation, numerous activities on the national and local level, development of non-government organisations and international co-operation, Simonic said at the ceremony in Zagreb's Dverce Palace. He called on representatives of the diplomatic corps, state institutions and non-government organisations to enhance their activities in implementing the Declaration on Human Rights that the United Nations' General Assembly adopted on December 10, 1948. "Human rights are still discussed in the context of their violation," the president of the parliamentary Committee on Human and Minority Rights, Furio Radin, said. The head of the UN Development Programme, Cornelius Klein, stressed that the Declaration on Human Rights was part of an exceptional heritage of the past century. (hina) sp rml sb