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On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. After this historic act, the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration, and to disseminate, display, read, and expound upon it, principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories.
PREAMBLE:
All humans share equal moral worth,
with inherent dignity and equal rights as the foundation of freedom, justice
and peace.
Disregard and contempt for human rights
result in barbarous acts that outraged the conscience of mankind. The highest
aspiration of humans will create a world where everyone enjoys freedom of choice,
growth, thought, speech, and belief without fear or poverty.
The rule of law protects everyone's human
rights and their freedom to rebel against tyranny and oppression.
Respect for Human Rights promotes friendly
relations between nations,
Human Rights affirm a common faith in
fundamental freedoms, in the dignity and worth of the human person, and in the
equal rights of men and women which will promote social progress and better
standards of life.,
Member States pledge themselves to promote
universal respect for, and observance of, these inalienable human rights and
fundamental freedoms.
To reach a full realization of this pledge,
educational systems should ensure that all can understand these Human Rights
and Freedoms.
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY of the United Nations proclaimed these HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations so that every individual and every organ of society, when they keep this Declaration in mind, can teach and education to promote respect and understanding of these Human Rights and Freedoms, and by progressive measures both national and international, to secure a universal recognition for, and observance of, Human Rights both among the peoples of Member States, and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.
Article 1. Equality: All human beings share
these freedoms and deserve equality in dignity and Human Rights. All reasonable
and conscious people should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood
for the greatest common good.
Article 2. Birthright to be individual:
Everyone obtains as a birthright all the Human Rights and freedoms here declared,
without distinction of any kind, nor limitation due to age, race, colour, sex,
language, culture, belief, religion, political or other opinion, national or
social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no State or political
organization, nor its agents, may deny these Human Rights to a person on a political,
jurisdictional or international basis, nor due to the status of the country
or territory to which that person belongs, no matter what type of sovereignty.
Article 3. Secure rights: All humans share
equally the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Article 4. No slavery: No one shall serve
as, or treat others as, slaves and all people must prohibit slavery in all its
forms.
Article 5. No abuse: No one deserves torture
nor cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment at any time for any
reason.
Article 6. Under Law: Everyone deserves
recognition as a person before the law.
Article 7. Due Process: All individuals
deserves equal treatment before the law, without discrimination, with equal
protection from unjust law.
Article 8. Remedy: Everyone deserves effective
remedy under the law for violations of their fundamental rights and freedoms.
Article 9. No Abuse of Power: No one deserves
arbitrary arrest, detention, or exile and no law should prosecute people for
victimless crimes.
Article 10. Right to Trial: Everyone deserves
a fair and public hearing by independent and impartial tribunals to confront
any criminal charges and those with accusations.
Article 11. Presumed Innocence: (1) Law
enforcement agencies must presume innocence and prove guilt in a public trial
with the accused granted all guarantees necessary for his defense. (2) Law
enforcement agencies cannot judge anyone guilty of any penal offence which did
not constitute a penal offence at the time the offence happened. Nor shall
they impose heavier penalties than the one applicable when the accused committed
the penal offence.
Article 12. Protection of Self and Family:
Law enforcement agencies should not arbitrarily interfere with privacy, family,
home, or correspondence; nor damage a person or group's honour and reputation.
Everyone deserves equal protection of the law against this type of interference
and attacks.
Article 13. Nationality and movement:
(1) Everyone deserves freedom of movement and residence within the borders of
each state. (2) Everyone can claim the right to leave their country when they
desire, and still retain the right to return to their country, no matter where
they went.
Article 14. Political Asylum: (1) No state
should prohibit anyone from a petition for asylum from persecution in another
country. (2) This right does not apply to people prosecuted for non-political
crimes, or from acts that deny any other person or group's Human Rights.
Article 15. Nationality: (1) Everyone
may claim a nationality. (2) States shall not arbitrarily deprive persons of
their proclaimed nationality, nor deny them the right to change their nationality.
Article 16. Family: (1) Adult people,
without any limitation due to race, nationality, sex or sexual orientation,
culture, belief, or religion, may marry and form a family. All people deserve
equal rights to marry, during marriage, and to divorce. (2) People may marry
only with the free and full consent of both (spouses). (3) Society and the
State must protect and define the family as the natural and fundamental unit
of most societies, and a functional necessity of human procreation.
Article 17. Property: (1) Everyone may
own property, alone or with others. (2) No person, group, state, or agency
can arbitrarily deprived people of their property without declaration of war.
Article 18. Freedom of thought and expression:
Everyone deserves freedom of choice, growth, thought, speech, conscience, and
belief without fear, without intellectual deprivation, and without the undue
influence of involuntary poverty. This right includes freedom to change their
choice, education, thought, speech, culture, conscience, and belief- either
alone or in community with others- in public or private, and they have the right
to demonstrate their choice, education, thought, speech, culture, conscience,
and belief in expression, teaching, practice, worship and observance.
Article 19. Free dissemination without Interference:
Everyone merits the right to freedom of opinion and expression, to hold opinions
without interference, and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas
through any media, regardless of geo-political or demographic frontiers, borders,
or regions.
Article 20. Freedom of Assembly: (1) All
may exercise their freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and no one
may compel or require another to belong to a club, political party, or any other
kind of association.
Article 21. Moral Authority of Government:
(1) Every adult and sentient member of society may influence the government
of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives. (2) Everyone
deserves equal access to public services. (3) The moral authority of governments
stems from the free will of the people expressed in periodic and genuine elections,
of universal and equal suffrage, with a free and secret vote or by equivalent
free voting procedures.
Article 22. Social Security: Every member
of society deserves social security and entitlement (through national effort
and international co-operation in accordance with the resources of each State)
to the economic, educational, social, and cultural resources indispensable for
human dignity in the process of development of individual or associated personality
and culture, without discrimination due to age, race, nationality, sex or sexual
orientation, culture, belief, or religion.
Article 23. Gainful Employment: (1) Everyone
deserves the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable
work conditions and to protection against unemployment. (2) Everyone and anyone
deserves equal pay for equal work. (3) Everyone who works deserves just and
favourable pay or wage that would give the family an existence worthy of human
dignity, supplemented when necessary by other social protections. (4) Anyone
may join or create trade unions for the benefit of workers- their pay, safety,
health, dignity, and their Human Rights.
Article 24. Rest and Leisure: Everyone
deserves reasonable limits to work hours for rest and leisure, with scheduled
periodic holidays, and official personal days used at the employee's discretion
for excused absence from work with pay.
Article 25. Standard of Life and Procreation:
(1) All people deserve an adequate standard of life; to maintain their health
and the well-being of themselves and of their family, which implies healthful
food, adequate clothing, secure housing, and timely medical care or social services.
Society must provide security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability,
widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond a person's
control. (2) Motherhood and childhood deserve special care and assistance.
All children, born in or out of wedlock, deserve the same social protection
and freedom from discrimination.
Article 26. Education: (1) Everyone deserves
a free elementary education, at any age. The State should make Elementary education
compulsory, and make available technical and professional education programs,
with a higher education equally accessible to all on the basis of merit. (2)
Education shall promote the full development of personality, and to strengthen
respect for everyone's human rights and fundamental freedoms. Valid education
promotes understanding, tolerance, acceptance, and friendship among the people
of all nations, races, cultures, genetic derivations, and religious groups,
which will promote peace among all human societies. (3) Parents exercise a
prior right to choose a child's educational content, as long as they do not
deny or threaten anyone's Human Rights.
Article 27. Copyrights: (1) Everyone
may participate in the cultural life of communities, to enjoy the arts and to
share scientific advancements and their benefits. (2) Everyone retains rights
for their independent, non-wage work, and the State must protect the moral and
material interests that result from these scientific, literary, or artistic
productions and ensure that any independent or associated author may retain
their right to receive pay for a non-wage production.
Article 28. Order: All deserve a social
and international order which protects all these Human Rights and Freedoms.
Article 29. Duty: (1) Everyone shares
responsibility to the community, to the greatest common good, to the free and
full development of each person's personality and talents. (2) In the exercise
of rights and freedoms, the law determines limits solely to secure due recognition
and respect for the Human Rights and freedoms of others, and to meet the just
requirements of morality, public order, and the greatest common good in democratic
societies. (3) No one may exercise their Human Rights and freedoms contrary
to any other's Human Rights and freedoms.
Article 30. Misuse of Human Rights: No one may interpret these definitions of Human Rights to imply that any State, group or person may claim a right to damage another's Human Rights or freedoms.
Pages updated Dec. 10, 2006