A/HRC/16/37 environmental dimension, which called for the respect of biodiversity and a balanced relationship with nature. It had a communicational dimension, because it encompassed the process of conveying and transmitting knowledge and values from generation to generation and of articulating them with other knowledge and wisdom. In short, sumak kawsay aimed to recover the meaning and deep relationship between human being and nature, and the recognition and respect of the diversity of cultures and worldviews. 20. In the time reserved for comments and questions, Philip Riabykh, representing the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, offered his views of the relationship between human rights and religious traditions. He believed that it was wrong to regard religious traditions as in conflict with human rights, because a religious tradition was a form of embodiment of universal values, including human rights, freedom and dignity, in the experience of a particular nation or a group of people. Mr. Riabykh warned against abstract determinations in the field of human rights. He stated that international authorities, while making human rights interpretations regarding specific countries, should make a thorough examination of the national context. He also underscored the fact that religious traditions were part of peoples’ identities, and that the defamation of religion could thus provoke violence and conflicts. He called for an opportunity for religious organizations to participate in the development of human rights, and pointed to the experience of interreligious dialogue as an example to be followed. 21. The representative of Cuba pointed out that, since every legal system drew on customs and traditions, it was essential that traditions and the realities of peoples be taken into account. Human rights had evolved, for example, through the gradual recognition of new rights that were not considered before, such as the right to peace and international solidarity and the right to a healthy environment. Such rights should also be seen as closely linked with human dignity. 22. The representative of Ireland stated that the core international human rights instruments represented an international consensus on what humankind valued: each individual being able to live a life in dignity by being treated equally, free from discrimination of any kind. While values were partly influenced by tradition, tradition itself could not be taken as justification for the perpetration of human rights abuses. Indeed, daring to break with tradition in some instances had made a valuable difference: for example, by allowing the enjoyment of human rights by women who may otherwise not have a chance to take public office or vote, by allowing interracial and interreligious marriages or by granting protection to children who may otherwise be abused by adults. Human rights must not be confined to the bounds of tradition, but rather must remain relevant and therefore applicable to all individuals. 23. Also raised by participants were issues such as the compatibility of human rights and the death penalty and cultural assimilation and religious discrimination suffered by indigenous peoples. C. Freedom and responsibility through the prism of different cultures and traditions 24. The next panel focused on how different cultures conceive the links between rights and responsibilities as an underlying issue for the universality of human rights. 25. Joseph Prabhu, professor at the Philosophy Department of the California State University, United States of America, recalled Mahatma Gandhi’s reply to the inquiries from the study of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on the then prospective Universal Declaration of Human Rights. According to Gandhi, if human rights had the pretence of being a universal moral language of the human 7