The Human Rights Logo combines the silhouette of a hand with that of a bird, and a white thumb grabbing the bird. It is intended as a peaceful contribution towards strengthening human rights and as such is meant to be used across cultural and language borders. The logo is now available to everyone at no cost as an open source product. It is free from rights and can be used worldwide by everyone without paying fees or obtaining licenses. The logo was created by Predrag Stakić from Serbia.
Human
Rights Day is the day
in 1948 the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights.
The formal inception of Human Rights Day dates from 1950, after
the Assembly passed resolution 423(V) inviting all States and interested
organizations to adopt 10 December of each year as Human Rights Day.[4] The popularity of the day can be shown
by the fact that the commemorative Human Rights Day stamp issued by the United Nations Postal
Administration in 1952,
received approximately 200,000 advance orders.
A 1963 postage
stamp from Soviet Union, commemorating the 15th anniversary of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights
A 1998 postage
stamp from Germany, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights
When the General Assembly adopted the Declaration, with 48
states in favor and eight abstentions, it was proclaimed as a "common
standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations", towards which individuals and societies should "strive by
progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and
effective recognition and observance". The measure was received by both
advocates and critics alike as "being more declarative than legislative,
more suggestive than binding.
Although the Declaration with its broad range of political, civil, economic, social and
cultural rights is
not a binding document, it inspired more than 60 human rights instruments which
together constitute an international standard of human rights. Today the
general consent of all United Nations Member States on the basic Human Rights
laid down in the Declaration makes it even stronger and emphasizes the
relevance of Human Rights in our daily lives.
The High Commissioner for Human Rights, as the main United
Nations rights official and his Office plays a major role in coordinating
efforts for the yearly observation of Human Rights Day:
Today, poverty prevails
as the gravest human rights challenge in the world. Combating poverty,
deprivation and exclusion is not a matter of charity, and it does not depend on
how rich a country is. By tackling poverty as a matter of human rights
obligation, the world will have a better chance of abolishing this scourge in
our lifetime... Poverty eradication is an achievable goal.
— UN
High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise
Arbour, 10 December 2006
The 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights occurred on 10 December 2008, and the UN Secretary-General launched a
year-long campaign leading up to this anniversary.[7] Because the UDHR holds the world record
as the most translated document (except for the Bible), organizations around
the globe used the year to focus on helping people everywhere learn about their
rights.
On 9 December 2001, President George
W. Bush made a Presidential proclamation that Human Rights Week began on 9
December. He also made the same proclamation on 10 December 2008
Universal Declaration of
Human Rights: Structure and Content
The underlying structure of the Universal Declaration was influenced
by the Code Napoléon, including a preamble and introductory
general principles.[14] Its final structure took form in the
second draft prepared by French jurist René
Cassin, who worked on the
initial draft prepared by Canadian legal scholar John Peters Humphrey.
The Declaration consists of the following:
·
The preamble sets out
the historical and social causes that led to the necessity of drafting the
Declaration.
·
Articles 1–2 establish
the basic concepts of dignity, liberty, and equality.
·
Articles 3–5 establish
other individual rights, such as the right
to life and the
prohibition of slavery and torture.
·
Articles 6–11 refer to
the fundamental legality of human rights with specific remedies cited for their
defence when violated.
·
Articles 12–17 set
forth the rights of the individual towards the community, including freedom of movement and residence within each state, the right of property and the right to a nationality.
·
Articles 18–21
sanction the so-called "constitutional liberties" and spiritual,
public, and political freedoms, such as freedom
of thought, opinion,
expression, religion and conscience, word, peaceful
association of the
individual, and receiving and imparting information and ideas through any
media.
·
Articles 22–27
sanction an individual's economic, social and cultural rights, including healthcare. It upholds an expansive right to a standard of
living, provides for
additional accommodations in case of physical debilitation or disability, and
makes special mention of care given to those in motherhood or childhood.
·
Articles 28–30
establish the general means of exercising these rights, the areas in which the
rights of the individual cannot be applied, the duty of the individual to
society, and the prohibition of the use of rights in contravention of the
purposes of the United Nations Organisation.
Cassin compared the Declaration to the portico of a Greek temple, with a foundation, steps, four columns,
and a pediment.
Articles 1 and 2—with their principles of dignity, liberty, equality and
brotherhood—served as the foundation blocks. The seven paragraphs of the
preamble, setting out the reasons for the Declaration, represent the steps
leading up to the temple. The main body of the Declaration forms the four
columns. The first column (articles 3-11) constitutes rights of the individual,
such as the right to life and the prohibition of slavery. The second column
(articles 12-17) constitutes the rights of the individual in civil and political
society. The third column (articles 18-21) is concerned with spiritual, public
and political freedoms such as freedom of religion and freedom of association.
The fourth column (articles 22-27) sets out social, economic and cultural
rights. Finally, the last three articles provide the pediment which binds the
structure together, as they emphasise the mutual duties of every individual to
one another and to society.
Eleanor
Roosevelt holding the English language version of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
In its preamble,
governments commit themselves and their people to progressive measures that
secure the universal and effective recognition and observance of the human
rights set out in the Declaration. Eleanor
Roosevelt supported the
adoption of the text as a declaration, rather than as a treaty, because she believed
that it would have the same kind of influence on global society as the United States Declaration of Independence had within the United States.[64] Even though it is not legally binding,
the Declaration has been incorporated into or influenced most national
constitutions since 1948. It has also served as the foundation for a growing
number of national laws, international laws, and treaties, as well as for a
growing number of regional, subnational, and national institutions protecting
and promoting human rights.
On 30 June 2000, member
states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which represents most of the Muslim world, officially
resolved to support the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, an alternative document that says people
have "freedom and right to a dignified life in accordance with the Islamic
Shari'ah", without any discrimination on grounds of "race, colour,
language, sex, religious belief, political affiliation, social status or other
considerations". The Cairo Declaration is widely acknowledged to be a
response to the UDHR, and uses similar universalist language, albeit derived
solely from Islamic jurisprudence.
