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The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Marking the 66th Anniversary)

66 years ago today, on December 10, 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. While often described as “soft law,” the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was born out of our experiences during the Second World War,  serves as a constant reminder of the International commitment commitment to work to prevent mass atrocities and violations of Human Rights. In honor of International Human Rights Day the text of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights can be found below.

Eleanor Roosevelt, who played an important role in the drafting of the docupment, displays the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights

 

 THE 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 favourable 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 favourable 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.

 

Controversy of Israeli “Jewish State” Bill

By Max Bartels 

Impunity Watch Reporter, The Middle East 

 

Jerusalem, Israel

Israel is in the midst of passing legislation known as the “Jewish State” bill, a bill that would effectively enshrine Jewish law in the Basic law (Constitution) of the nation. This is significant for several reasons; first, the basic premise of the law puts Jewish law and Jewish rights before democracy. Jewish law would become the basis of the Israeli legal system, while it affirms the personal rights of all citizens, but according to the law communal rights are reserved only for Jewish citizens. The Arab minority in Israel, which accounts for about 20% of the population, would have rights as individuals but not national rights.  The Arab minority is afraid that they will be framed as second-class citizens in a nation that is meant for Jews. The proposed laws effect has caused a great deal of controversy and it has come at a time where Arab-Israeli relations are the most strained they’ve been in sometime.

IW #26 Jewish State
Palestinian Israeli citizens protest the proposed “Jewish State” bill (Photo curtesy of Al Jazeera)

There are many who believe that for the Arab population who hold Israeli citizenship nothing significant will change. According to many Arab advocacy groups, for the most part Arabs have never had equal rights to Jewish Israeli citizens. The Arab population has always faced discrimination; the only practical effect, they claim is that the bill will now make it legal. Israelis who support the bill are mainly comprised of Israel’s right wing Likud Party. Prime Minister Netanyahu is a member of the Likud party; the right wing has pushed him for a nationalist bill for sometime. Palestinian leaders and other Arab leaders still refuse to recognize the connection between the Jewish people and the land of Israel, the Prime Minister has stressed this in many speeches given in support of the bill. Advocates of the bill say it is the right of the Jewish people to pass legislation in their own country.

Protests have been wide spread by both Arabs and Jews who don’t support the bill. Most protesters believe the bill is fueling an already raging fire. The U.S. State Department has urged Israel to uphold democratic principles. The European Union has also spoke out against the passage of the Jewish State bill. Tensions will continue to rise as the wait for the vote on the bill continues.

The Prime Minister’s Cabinet approved the bill by a vote of 14-6. The bill now has to pass through the Israeli Knesset, which is the legislative body of the Israeli government. However, the vote has been delayed in the Knesset due to the Prime Minister calling for early elections and the dissolving of the parliament. The vote on the bill will be delayed until a new parliament is elected.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera — “We are not Citizens with Equal Rights” — 3 December 2014

The Telegraph — What is the Jewish State Bill? — 27 November 2014

Eyewitness News — Hundreds Protest over “Jewish State Bill” — 2 December 2014

The Jerusalem Post — PM: Palestinian Failure to Recognize Jewish Links to Israel is a “Tragedy” — 1 December 2014

Thirty Years Later Victims of Worst Industrial Disaster in World History Still Wait For Justice

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Managing Editor, Impunity Watch

NEW DELHI, India – During the middle of the night on December 2-3 1984 large quantities of the deadly gas methyl isocyanate was accidentally released from a Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant located in the city of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. The ploom of gas spread over the city as About 30 metric tons of methyl isocyanate) escaped into the atmosphere in a span of about 45 to 60 minutes. Leaks had occurred in the plant before and the poor condition of the plant was known by its operators were aware that many of the plant’s safety systems were not working and its operation valves were in poor condition. The disaster would claim more than 25,000 lives and leave more than 40,000 people permanently disabled making the event the worst industrial disaster in world history. After the disaster the Union Carbide company, whose parent company is Huston based Down Chemical Company, abandoned the planed without cleaning any of the toxic waste it left behind. Today illnesses related to acute toxic poisoning are still reported in local hospitals.

Safreen Khan (aged 20) is amoung those calling for justice. Her mother Nafisha (aged 40) was taken away with the dead the night of the disaster, but was brought back home by her father Zabbar Khan when someone noticed she was still breathing. (Photo courtesy of Newsweek)

On the wake of the thirtieth anniversary of the Bhopal industrial disaster Amnesty International Secretary General Salil Shetty called on the government of Narendra Modi led  should raise issues pertaining to the Bhopal Gas tragedy with United States President Barack Obama during the President’s visit to India in January next year. “It is time to give victims and survivors the compensation they deserve. It is time to clean up the site and toxic wastes. And it is time to ensure justice and bring Dow Chemicals and Carbide to book,” he said.

A new film staring Indian American actor Kal Penn and directed by Ravi Kumar address the Bhopal disaster, exploring the events that led to the deadly release of toxic gas in 1984. The film “Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain,” opened in New York City last follows the story of Dilip, a former rickshaw driver who gets a job at the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal in the early 1980s. Dilip, played by Kal Penn, and his co-workers become increasingly concerned by the lack of concern for safety around them.

“The Bhopal tragedy is one of the world’s worst industrial disasters, period,” Penn said. “There was such a multitude of other factors at play: corruption within government, lax safety standards, lack of enforcement or oversight, intimidation, the need for jobs, and of course corporate legal loopholes.”

The film also depicts Warren Anderson, the American CEO of Union Carbide who was arrested as he headed to India after the accident, although he was eventually allowed to leave the country without facing a trial. Said his team reached out to Anderson while writing the script to get his side of the story, but were unable to speak to him. “F or three decades, Union Carbide has used USA as a safe haven from criminal charges to dodge culpable homicide. The Bhopal Chief Judicial Magistrate has called Union Carbide six times but because of their consistent no show, has called it an ‘absconder’,” Shetty said.

“We know that the safety standard in the West Virginia plant of Union Carbide was much higher than Bhopal. It is time to right these wrongs,” Shetty said. “On behalf of Amnesty International, I am here to say the victims and survivors of the worst industrial disaster of our times can’t be asked to wait any longer. 30 years ago about 20,000 people died, up to half a million affected. They can’t wait any longer,” he said.

After the disaster Dow Chemical and Union Carbide simply abandoned Bhopal and even worked to create an illusion that time has healed Bhopal’s wounds. Today the rusting pipelines and burst gas tanks remain at the site tangled with lush green shoots. Fishermen fish the toxic waters of the plant’s abandoned evaporation ponds, families graze their goats on long grass and children play in the shadow of the chemical plant where a fine coating of chemical powder from the chemical leak can still be seen. No real cleanup has occurred, and despite the continued exposure of local families to chemical poisoning, no one has been brought to justice for the worst industrial disaster in world history.

For more information please see:

Amnesty International – Thirty Years On From Bhopal Disaster: Still Fighting For Justice – 2 December 2014

Newsweek – 30 Years On, the World’s Worst Industrial Disaster Continues To Blight Bhopal – 2 December 2014

International Business Times – Bhopal Disaster 30th Anniversary: Facts about the World’s Worst Industrial Tragedy – 1 December 2014

NBC News – Kal Penn’s New Film Dives into Bhopal Disaster, 30 Years Later – 7 November 2014

U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Accuses Sri Lankan Government of Attempting to Sabotage War Crimes Inquiry

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Managing Editor

 

SRI JAYAWARDENEPURA KOTTE, Sri Lanka – The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein accused the Sri Lankan government of trying to “sabotage” a war crimes inquiry by creating a “wall of fear” to prevent witnesses from giving evidence. The U.N. Human Rights Council set up an inquiry in March to investigate war crimes allegedly committed by both government forces and Tamil rebels, known as the Tamil Tigers, during the final stages of a 26-year war that ended in 2009. “The Government of Sri Lanka has refused point blank to cooperate with the investigation despite being explicitly requested by the Human Rights Council to do so,” Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein said in his statement. “A wall of fear has been created that has undoubtedly served to deter people from submitting evidence,” he said.” “Such a refusal does not, however, undermine the integrity of an investigation set up by the Council – instead it raises concerns about the integrity of the government in question. Why would governments with nothing to hide go to such extraordinary lengths to sabotage an impartial international investigation?” The government has allegedly practiced surveillance and harassment intended to deter people from submitting evidence Commissioner Zeid said, calling it “unacceptable conduct for any member state of the United Nations which has committed to uphold the U.N. Charter.”

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=49278#.VGjB4_nF-s0
Relatives of missing persons from Sri Lanka’s 26-year long civil war hold pictures of their loved ones during a meeting in the nation’s capital. (Photo courtesy of the United Nations News Centre)

The government of Sri Lanka has refused to cooperate with the investigation into allegations of abuses by both government soldiers and members of the Tamil Tiger rebel organization. Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Gamini Peiris “expressed strong displeasure at the selective and biased approach” of the investigation and said it infringed “on the basic norms of justice and fair play.” Zeid rejected Peiris’s accusations, saying his office had many years of experience with similar inquiries into violations.

According to an earlier report published by the United Nations, as many as 40,000 ethnic Tamil civilians may were killed during the last months of the country’s quarter-century civil war. The report alleged both sides of the conflict bore responsibility for war crimes and other violations of human rights. The report claimed the government may have deliberately shelled civilians and hospitals as well as blocked food and medicine intended for civilians trapped in the war zone. The rebels were accused of recruiting child soldiers and using civilian populations as human shields. After resisting demands for an internal investigation for years, the Sri Lankan government appointed a three-member commission to inquire into cases of war disappearances.

The Sri Lankan Civil War was born out of the long history of ethnic conflict between the Island’s majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamil population. The Tamil minority faced a long history of civil and economic discrimination preventing social mobility and political participation. The Tamil militia, known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or the Tamil tigers became one of the first militia groups to use Suicide bombing as a terror tactic. The organization is listed as a terrorist organization by 32 countries including the United States which sent a military advisory team to the island in 2005. The Sri Lankan government responded harshly to the Tamil Tigers, it been accused on increasingly discriminating against the Tamil community, treating anyone from the community as a potential militant, including children.

For more information please see:

ABC News – UN Rights Chief Blasts Sri Lankan Attacks on Probe – 7 November 2014

The New York Times – U.N. Rights Chief Says Sri Lanka Is Obstructing – 7 November 2014

Reuters – U.N.’S Zeid Accuses Sri Lanka of Trying to Sabotage War Crimes Probe – 7 November 2014

United Nations News Centre – UN Rights Chief Condemns ‘Disinformation Campaign’ To Discredit Sri Lanka Probe – 7 November 2014

The Berlin Wall, 1961-1989: The Belfast Peace Walls, 1969-????; The West Bank Separation Wall, 2000-????

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Managing Editor

BELFAST, Northern Ireland; JERUSALEM, Israeli-Palestine – November 9th marks the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, an event that paved the way for the reunification of Germany and renewed ties between the West and what would become the former Communist Bloc. For nearly three decades the Berlin Wall, which was originally built to prevent people in East Germany from fleeing to the West, stood as a symbol of cold war tensions and soviet oppression. The fall of the Berlin wall became a symbol, not only of the collapse of a physical barriers between west and east, but of the collapse of barriers to free movement, enterprise and expression. Ultimately the Berlin Wall has been remembered as an apartheid wall whose collapse would become an iconic moments in world history. 25 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, apartheid walls are still being used in some countries, often justified as an attempt to preserve peace while, like the Berlin Wall, they ultimately remain a symbol of conflict.

Armed with hammers a group of Palestinian protesters broke a whole the the West Bank Separation Wall, which they see as a symbol of Apartheid. (Photo courtesy of Haaretz)

25 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall the World’s oldest actively maintained apartheid wall still separates the poorest working class neighborhoods of Belfast, diving catholic and protestant communities on religious lines. The walls, constructed by the United Kingdom as a security measure, stood through the bloodiest days of the troubles. While many in Belfast still believe the walls are necessary to keep the peace between communities despite the achievement of a peace agreement that led to a power sharing government. While some believe that walls help keep the peace others believe the walls serve as a constant reminder of the troubles and ultimately keep the tensions alive and prevent the development of true peace and unity.

On the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall a group of protesters have attempted to bring the world’s attention to an apartheid wall that keeps their communities divided. Despite the risks from tight security measures, a group of Palestinian youths have dug a hole in Israel’s separation wall with the Palestinian territories, as a symbolic gesture to mark 25 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. The activist said in a statement about their symbolic actions that “it doesn’t matter how high the barriers will be, they will fall. Like the Berlin Wall fell – The Palestinian wall will fall.”

In 2004 the International Court of Justice ruled that “the construction of the wall, and its associated regime, are contrary to international law”. The International Committee of the Red Cross stated that the Israeli barrier “causes serious humanitarian and legal problems” and goes “far beyond what is permissible for an occupying power.”

The Israeli government argues that the West Bank Separation Wall was constructed as a security measure, intended to prevent Palestinian terrorist from entering Indian and carrying out attacks against civilian populations. However, Palestinians refer to that wall as the “apartheid wall” and see it as a symbol of Israeli oppression, in much the same way the Berlin Wall, became a symbol of oppression and division.

For more information please see:

Al Jazeera – Palestinians remind world of their own wall – 9 November 2014
Haaretz – On Berlin Wall’s collapse anniversary, Palestinians punch hole through West Bank wall – 9 November 2014
The Jerusalem Post – Palestinians break open hole in West Bank security barrier, 25 years after Berlin Wall fall – 9 November 2014
Time Magazine – From Belfast to Baghdad, See the World’s Dividing Walls – 6 November 2014