The Universal Declaration of Human Rights—adopted by the
United Nations (UN) in 1948—gave human rights a new international legal status.
Building on precedents set by the British Magna Carta (1215), the French
Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789), and the United States Bill of Rights
(1791), the Universal Declaration also reflected the events of the 1930s and
1940s, particularly the Nazi Holocaust. Reports of Nazi atrocities shocked
people around the world and gave momentum to an effort to codify human rights in
international law.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Preamble
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the
equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the
foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have
resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and
the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and
belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest
aspiration of the common people,
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled
to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression,
that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,
Whereas it is essential to promote the development of
friendly relations between nations,
Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the
Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and
worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have
determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger
freedom,
Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to
achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal
respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,
Whereas a common understanding of these rights and
freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this
pledge,
Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS
UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement
for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every
organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by
teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by
progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and
effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States
themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.
Article 1.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and
rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one
another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Article 2.
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set
forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race,
colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social
origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be
made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of
the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent,
trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.
Article 3.
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of
person.
Article 4.
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery
and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
Article 5.
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 6.
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a
person before the law.
Article 7.
All are equal before the law and are entitled without
any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal
protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and
against any incitement to such discrimination.
Article 8.
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the
competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted
him by the constitution or by law.
Article 9.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention
or exile.
Article 10.
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and
public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of
his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
Article 11.
(1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right
to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial
at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
(2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on
account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under
national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a
heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the
penal offence was committed.
Article 12.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with
his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and
reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such
interference or attacks.
Article 13.
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and
residence within the borders of each state.
(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country,
including his own, and to return to his country.
Article 14.
(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other
countries asylum from persecution.
(2) This right may not be invoked in the case of
prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary
to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
Article 15.
(1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his
nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.
Article 16.
(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation
due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a
family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at
its dissolution.
(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free
and full consent of the intending spouses.
(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit
of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
Article 17.
(1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well
as in association with others.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his
property.
Article 18.
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience
and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and
freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to
manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and
observance.
Article 19.
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and
expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference
and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and
regardless of frontiers.
Article 20.
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful
assembly and association.
(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an
association.
Article 21.
(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the
government of his country, directly or through freely chosen
representatives.
(2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public
service in his country.
(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the
authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine
elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by
secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
Article 22.
Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to
social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and
international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources
of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his
dignity and the free development of his personality.
Article 23.
(1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of
employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against
unemployment.
(2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right
to equal pay for equal work.
(3) 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.
(4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade
unions for the protection of his interests.
Article 24.
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including
reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
Article 25.
(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living
adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including
food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the
right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood,
old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special
care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall
enjoy the same social protection.
Article 26.
(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall
be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education
shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made
generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on
the basis of merit.
(2) Education shall be directed to the full development
of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights
and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and
friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the
activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of
education that shall be given to their children.
Article 27.
(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the
cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific
advancement and its benefits.
(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the
moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic
production of which he is the author.
Article 28.
Everyone is entitled to a social and international order
in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully
realized.
Article 29.
(1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone
the free and full development of his personality is possible.
(2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone
shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for
the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms
of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the
general welfare in a democratic society.
(3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be
exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
Article 30.
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as
implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or
to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms
set forth herein.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment