fhhrl.org - Universal Declaration of Human Rights: A Standard of Rights for All People Everywhere - Students Output

Students Output : Universal Declaration of Human Rights: A Standard of Rights for All People Everywhere

Posted by Peter Hanna on 2010/6/11 11:51:20 (91 reads) News by the same author

Universal Declaration of Human Rights: A Standard of Rights for All People Everywhere
Samar Saliba

The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights is possibly the most beautiful piece of legislation that exists today. These 30 Articles took months of intensive mental labor and could not have been formulated without the ingenuity of the five main drafters- Eleanor Roosevelt, Rene Cassin, C.P. Chang, John Humphrey and Charles Malik. It is virtually flawless as it encompasses all rights and leaves no leeway for a varied interpretation. Every word has been scrutinized a million times and has been used with upmost efficiency in order to produce the basic rights that each and every one of us is entitled to. Its adoption has had wide spread effects and even though numerous countries do not fully implement it, it has increased people’s awareness in the four corners of the world- especially since it has been translated into at least 370 languages and dialects, making it the most translated work in the world. In order to understand the importance of the declaration, it is crucial to first comprehend the framework during which it was created, the effects it had on different parties, and the leading role that Peter Beninson played in the creation of what would soon be “a tool to breath down authorities’ necks.”
The declaration was adopted by the United Nations in 1948. The timing sThe crucial timing it was adopted in shows that originally, this was intended to prevent catastrophic events such as the World Wars to have such wide spread effects on society. In other words, it grew right out of the Second World War. However, the concept of human rights originated much earlier with such charters as the Magna Charta and the Bill Of Rights. Each of these charters was a stepping-stone to the declaration as they gave rights to their citizens depending on a specific situation; unlike the declaration, which contains “an all-embracing philosophical concept of individual liberty.” Before the age of the enlightenment, the concept of freedom was seen as more of a luxury, granted to any one person, depending on their social status. This can be seen with the concept of serfdom for example, prominent in the Russian empire amongst other countries, or the banning of slavery, or the fight against child labor as early as the industrial revolution. The poor did not have money therefore they lacked the freedom. However, they knew that this was unjust but the concept of liberty did not get separated from rank until upcoming centuries. The 18th century- the Age of Enlightenment- helped disperse the idea of “jura naturalia” or the idea that all men have natural rights. With the coming of the World Wars, which truly left a deep, universal scare, and especially after the First World War, there seemed to be a movement towards the inclusion of human rights as one of the condition to end a war. This goes to show that the creation of the Human rights declaration did not happen overnight. It took much effort and time for ideas to come together and materialize. In other words, there happened to be many long-term causes such as the creation of precedents and the age of enlightenment before the declaration saw light.
Over the years, it took time for countries to accept the declaration in its entirety despite the fact that human rights were becoming a matter of international concern. Therefore, creating the declaration merely seemed to be the first step of a long and complex process. The view during the 1990s was that the Declaration was some kind of restaurant menu, where each country could highlight what pertains to them the most and ignore whichever articles suited them least. Therefore, turning the Declaration into covenants took several years as it encountered resistance from the Soviet Block and from Saudi Arabia to name a few. However, these countries were just absentees; had they completely opposed the declaration it would have been a different story. Many were reluctant to accept it, as they feared being accused or embarrassed for the state of their society. This shows how much a country cares about their image and will do anything to do jeopardize it.
Also, the UN seemed to become a stage for “cold war polemics.” Frank E Holman, president of the American Bar Association, claimed that this declaration would ‘promote state socialism, of not communism, throughout the world.’ The establishment of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and cultural Rights implemented in 1966 completely derailed human rights from the right track as these covenants mutilated some of its most important claims. It came to provide the authorities for an escape route and put human rights at the service of administrations and states. Therefore this illustrates how the cold war coupled with the lack of interest held by countries to adopt the declaration slowed down the process.
Peter Benenson enabled Human rights to get set back on the right track by pure accident. He is an example to all as he took the time and chance to believe that his voice would make a difference in the world. In 1960, news came out of two Portuguese who had been imprisoned because they had raised their glass in a toast for freedom. They were immediately imprisoned as any talk of an anti-regime was prohibited in Portugal. He wrote a letter to the newspaper asking for people of the world to follow in his footsteps and voice their opinions instead of letting such an unjust event be forgotten and perhaps repeated. It was his constant campaigning for a just and better world that instilled hope, especially with the creation of Amnesty International. It is today an internationally renown NGO fighting for the defense of victims amongst other unjust causes.
It took several centuries for the concept of liberty and human rights to come into place but in a few decades, the practice of Human Rights began to be widespread. The genius with which the declaration was drafted is incredible as it brought together the skills of lawyers, philosophers, and jurists. Even though there are very few countries that implement the declaration to the fullest, the concept of human rights is internationally known. The framework it was established in and the amount of work that was put into it should never be underestimated as these 30 Articles that all happen to fit on one piece of paper, have been created for the sole purpose of benefitting the human being. As mentioned previously, there are countless communities that remain mistreated today, sometimes right under one’s nose, without anyone doing anything about it. The example that Peter Benenson has set forth is an example that all should follow, as he took the initiative to defend what in his view was wrong. Instead of living inside a bubble, perhaps one should pop out of it and open their eyes as Benenson proved that each one of us truly do make a difference in this world.