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Students Output : Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Posted by Peter Hanna on 2010/6/11 11:38:21 (98 reads) News by the same author

Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Fouad Kazan

After suffering sixty million casualties in the Second World War, the world came about to the proclamation of a new set of laws that would govern their existence. So by fearing the inevitable total destruction, the United Nations Declaration of human rights was created so that to tame the violence which was going and so that to enlighten people about human worth. As good as the UDHR seems, it remained neglected by several prominent dictatorships that still rule parts of the world. They acknowledge some laws while despise the others based on their individualistic goals. Nevertheless, the UDHR has a very promising future since it had shown its capabilities in the past. It had contributed to the stopping of several armed conflicts and to the dissolution of the dictatorship regime which used to exist in the USSR. If we were to examine the UDHR we would like to understand its conception, statements of understandings (main themes), the obstacles that it faced, and the works of popular Peter Benenson.
The UDHR possessed morals and values that can be traced through the history of religious beliefs and cultures around the world. For instance, the European philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment developed theories of natural law that later on influenced the adoption of the Bill of Rights of England, the Bill of Rights in the United States, and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in France. In Asia as another example, the world witnessed the rise of Confucianism and Buddhism which both conveyed ideas of tolerance piety and love of the other. Similarly in the Middle East, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam emerged to preach heavenly virtues that in a way rallied people together. However, who is truly directly behind the UDHR’s composition is the American president Franklin Roosevelt. He called for the protection of what he termed the "essential" four Freedoms which are: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, freedom from fear and freedom from want. These freedoms were thought by President Roosevelt to be conditions or actual halters of war. As a result the United Nations Charter affirmed what he said and obliged member states to abide by the following: “reaffirmed faith in fundamental human rights, and dignity and worth of the human person” and the "universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion".
Throughout the whole UDHR there were six main themes that one must be aware off. Dignity and justice is one theme that the UDHR overwhelmingly pursues. The concept of dignity lies at the heart of human rights. It is mentioned in the first sentence of the Preamble to the Declaration and appears again in Article 1. It means that we must treat each other with respect, tolerance and understanding. Governments must do the same, in law as well as in practice, and therefore should treat its citizens with justice. The idea of justice and the equality of everyone before the law, appears throughout the Declaration. In fact the Declaration's core values of non-discrimination and equality are ultimately a commitment to universal justice and recognition of inherent human dignity.
Development is another theme the UDHR examines. In its assumption it claims that poverty is a key problem that forces a person to undermine his or herself. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides a vision of the world in which everyone -- regardless of who they are and where they live -- has equal opportunity to grow and develop in freedom and equality and to the fullness of their potential. It also makes clear that each and every person should take responsibility to help other people and nations. In this way a social and international order that enables the enjoyment of all human rights - civil, cultural, economic, political, and social- will be created.
The environment is the next theme. It is never specifically mentioned in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, yet if one thinks about it critically it would harmful if one deliberately dumps toxic waste in someone's community. In other cases one may exploit the community’s natural resources for his or her personal gains without adequate consultation and compensation. Over the past 60 years, as our recognition of environmental degradation has developed to the point that we are detecting its effect on the human being. Thus if the nature that we live in is harassed we the people-who actually belong to nature- will also impaired. Therefore certain provisions should me developed so that to maintain our physical and mental health which contribute to well being.
Culture is another theme the UDHR examines. The concept of human rights is bound closely to the belief that culture is precious and central to our identity. The way we are born, live and die is affected by the culture to which we belong, so to take away our cultural heritage is to deny us our identity. At the same time, we can all benefit from our experience of other cultures and we have something to offer them in return. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights says “everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community” and by implication, this also means that no-one has the right to dominate, direct or eradicate that culture or impose theirs upon us.
The UDHR also stumbles into the field of gender. The UDHR acknowledges that men and women are not the same but insists on their right to be equal before the law and treated without discrimination. Gender equality is not only confined to women but refers to the equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities of women and men, girls and boys. However over the past century, it is clear that it is the human rights of women that we see most widely ignored around the world, from female infanticide, sexual slavery and rape, exclusion from education and health insurance and the right to get suitable jobs. The right to be free of discrimination on the grounds of sex is specifically embodied in Article 2 of the declaration, but even a cursory reading of all 30 Articles is enough to remind us that in much of the world, the Declaration has yet to fulfill its promise to women.
The freedom and liberty to participate in all social and political affairs should not be taken away from anybody as proclaimed by the UDHR. Without participation one cannot experience and enjoy the wide range of rights and freedoms that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights seeks to guarantee. One’s participation should be active, free and meaningful so that to improve his or her lives and community. Not only that, but one can have a say in the decisions of the local community and in national affairs. Article 21 explicitly says everyone has the right to take part in elections and government. Crucially, participation also means that the voices of people who are often excluded should be heard and heeded, especially when we are neglected or discriminated against because of our, race, religion, gender, disability, descent, age or on other grounds.
Due to the complexity the UDHR possessed, there was a delay in turning it into covenants for several years. The preparatory work for the declaration was remarkable since it encompassed several groups to work upon it. An eight-member drafting committee prepared the preliminary text of the Universal Declaration. The committee, chaired by Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, widow of the former United States President, agreed on the central importance of affirming universal respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. So after two years of hard work the text was drafted and in December 1948 the declaration was adopted. However, what delayed the transformation the UDHR into covenants is the resentment showed by some Western nations. They did not approve of the articles that talk of economic social and cultural rights. Also Islamic states did not like what they have read about equal political and civil rights between men and women. Nevertheless on 10 December 1948, the remaining covenants were agreed upon and the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with 8 abstentions.
Last but not least is Peter Benenson. He is applauded as being the founder of amnesty international and his famous quote is known to be as “Better to light a candle than curse the darkness”. This guiding statement of his made possible for so many changes in our world. Of course he is no founder of any cause of human rights. What he did in a stroke of genius was to popularize his ideas and give it a political impact they had never possessed before. The idea of Amnesty International was the simplest of all ideas. It’s main goal was to form networks that would collectively act on freeing political detainees from prison. Each network would choose three detainees which one comes from a western country, one from a communist country, and one from a third world country. The main reason, however, why he chose such a goal to work upon is because of the Portuguese student incident. Benenson had been angered after learning about two Portuguese students who had been arrested and imprisoned for seven years after drinking a toast to liberty in a Lisbon cafe during the Salazar dictatorship. That really angered and thus et him out to bombard the Portuguese regime with several letters. He also used a friend’s newspaper to make the public aware of what was going on. As capable his Amnesty international seemed to be, it was capable in later on persuading most of the world's nations to agree to the UN Convention Against Torture - which finally showed its teeth when the former Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet, who was arrested in London in 1998.
To sum up, UDHR is still in a developing and expansive state which will not rest until every form of tyranny and oppression will seize to exist. If one wishes to reflect upon all which was concluded in the past years one can say that even the UDHR, which is a peaceful declaration, can have the teeth of a beast. The only thing that it needs is the devotion of its contributors and from the righteous people worldwide. However unfortunately, there still appears to be signs of turbulence in our world much of it involving violence and armed conflict. Our only hope thus to stop all was it going on is the UDHR.

References:
- www.amnestyusa.org ›
- www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml
- www.ohchr.org/en/udhr
- www.law.northwestern.edu › JIHR Home › Volume 2