The City of Geneva, Switzerland, has formally supported and endorsed the development of Geneva Declaration on Human Rights at Sea in a signing ceremony held at the Palace Eynard in Geneva between the Mayor of Geneva, Mr. Sami Kanaan, and the Founder of the British charity, Human Rights at Sea, Mr. David Hammond.
Supporting the development process from civil society has seen Dr. Caroline Abu Sa’da, Director of SOS Mediterranean Switzerland.
The Declaration was first issued by the charity on the 5th April 2019 as part of an emerging and transparent documentary development process clarifying existing applicable international law relating to human rights in the maritime environment.
The concept of human rights at sea rests on four fundamental principles:
- Human rights apply at sea to exactly the same degree and extent that they do on land.
- All persons at sea, without any distinction, enjoy human rights at sea.
- There are no maritime specific rules allowing derogation from human rights standards.
- All human rights established under treaty and customary international law must be respected at sea.
Now the Geneva Declaration is undergoing stakeholder development both in Geneva and through remote consultations worldwide, including a second round drafting session held today at the Villa Moynier home of the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and hosted by Professor Marco Sassoli, Director of the Geneva Academy.
