MELBOURNE, July 21 — Former High Court judge Michael Kirby has paid tribute to AIDS conference delegates killed in the Malaysia Airlines crash, ABC News reported.
Kirby addressed the opening night of the 20th International AIDS Conference just days after six delegates were killed in the Malaysia Airlines crash while en route to the high-profile five-day event in Melbourne. He paid tribute to those whose journey was cut short when flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine.
“Be in no doubt that irrational cruelty is, and will remain, our companion on this [AIDS] journey,” Kirby is quoted by ABC News as saying. “It requires us to remember the past president of the International AIDS Society, Joep Lange, and his wife, to think of all the other delegates who expected to be sitting here with us in this hall at this occasion.
“They devoted themselves to scientific research, to patient care, to law reform and human rights.” Kirby said those who died on board MH17 would “expect us to pick up our shattered spirits”.
“They would demand we renew and redouble our efforts,” he said. “They would see those efforts as small but vital pieces of the great human puzzle that seeks to build a world that respects human rights, and heralds the day when the suffering of AIDS will be over.”
– BERNAMA
