The 60th Anniversary
of the
Universal Declaration of
Human Rights
On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Following this historic act, the Assembly called upon all member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and “to cause it to be disseminated, dispersed, read and espoused principally in schools and other educational institutions without distinction based on the political status of the countries and territories.”
The noble words and thoughts of the Universal Declaration were largely the work of Eleanor Roosevelt and a staff of dedicated aides. These rights have their origin as far back as the Magna Carte, our Declaration of Independence and our United States Constitution Bill of Rights. There are 30 articles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Perhaps it would be instructive to review some of them.
Article 3 – Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Article 5 – No one shall be subject to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatments or punishments.
Article 9 – No one shall be subject to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
I mention the above because our country has been accused of abusing these three articles in its prosecution of the so-called War against Terror. It is also important that Article 5 was repeated in the 1949 Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War which the United States ratified.
Another interesting article is Article 23. It has four parts as follows:
- Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment and favorable conditions of work and protection against unemployment.
- Everyone without any discrimination has the right to equal pay for equal work.
- Everyone who works has the right to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
- Everyone has the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of his interests.
I find this article of particular interest because almost nowhere in the world is it honored in its entirety. Imagine if it was honored today in our country, women would receive equal pay for their equal work with men!
The other articles are equally as cogent and inspiring and my hope is you will find a copy of the Declaration and read it in its entirety. And pay particular attention to the five paragraphs that precede the Preamble, especially the last two…
They are your rights. Familiarize yourself with them. Help to promote and defend them for yourself and for your fellow human beings.
