Green Comet

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a milestone document in the history of human rights. Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, the Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 (General Assembly resolution 217 A) as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations. It sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected and it has been translated into over 500 languages.

Article 5.

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Treat people with dignity. Even if a person needs to be punished for a crime, it mustn’t be cruel. Treat them as a fellow human and don’t degrade them. Absolutely do not torture them, even if they might fit whatever description applies to the currently most despised of humans.

rjb

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a milestone document in the history of human rights. Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, the Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 (General Assembly resolution 217 A) as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations. It sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected and it has been translated into over 500 languages.

Article 4.

No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

I don’t think there will be any confusion about Article 4. No slavery. No person shall be a slave. No one will be bought or sold as a slave. No one will own, use or trade another person as a slave.

Once again, we haven’t completely eliminated it, but we have come together and abolished slavery.

rjb

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a milestone document in the history of human rights. Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, the Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 (General Assembly resolution 217 A) as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations. It sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected and it has been translated into over 500 languages.

Article 3

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

This one is pretty straightforward. We all have the right to live free and unafraid. Of course, there are plenty of ways we can lose those things. Nature doesn’t seem to be impressed by the proclamations we make, any more than the tide was impressed by King Canute. But these are human rights we’re talking about. These are the rights that humans give to each other, against actions taken by humans. The right to not have our life taken by other humans. The right to not have our freedom taken by other humans. And the right to not be afraid of being attacked by other humans.

rjb