Universal
Declaration of Human
Rights of the United Nations
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While this document is
widely criticized for its "toothlessness"--it's completely
unenforceable
and many countries (including the U.S.) haven't recognized it--we include
it here as a matter
of perspective, for a world in which all peoples treated each other with
the respect and
dignity inherent in the document would truly be a beautiful world. |
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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 cooperation 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 realisation of this pledge,
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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 peoples of Member
States themselves and among peoples of territories under their
jurisdiction. |
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. |
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. |
3.
Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of person. |
4.
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the
slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms. |
5.
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or
degrading treatment or punishment. |
6.
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person
before the law. |
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 and discrimination in
violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such
discrimination. |
8. Everyone has
the right to an effective remedy by the competent national
tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him or
her by the constitution or by law. |
9.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest. detention, or
exile. |
10.
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing
by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of
his or her rights and obligations and of any criminal charge
against him or her. |
11.
1. Everyone charged
with a penal offense has the right to be presumed innocent until
proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he or
she has had all the guarantees necessary for his or her
defense. 2.
No one shall be held guilty of any penal offense on account of any
act or omission which did not constitute a penal offense, 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 offense was
committed. |
12.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his or
her privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon
his or her honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to
the protection of the law against such interference or attacks. |
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 or her
own, and to return to his or her country. |
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 principals of the United Nations. |
15.
1. Everyone has the
right to a nationality. 2.
No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his or her nationality nor
denied the right to change his or her nationality. |
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 intended spouses. 3.
The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society
and is entitled to protection by society and the State. |
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 or her property. |
18.
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and
religion; this right includes freedom to change his or her
religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with
others and in public or private, to manifest his or her religion
or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. |
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. |
20.
1. Everyone has the
right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association. 2.
No one may be compelled to belong to an association. |
21.
1.
Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his or
her country, directly or through freely chosen
representatives. 2.
Everyone has the right to equal access to public service in his or
her 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. |
22.
Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security
and is entitled to realisation, through national effort and
multinational co-operation and in accordance with the organisation
and resources of each State, of the economic, social, and cultural
rights indispensable for his or her dignity and the free
development of his or her personality. |
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 him or her and his or her 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 join trade unions for the
protection of his or her interests. |
24.
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable
limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay. |
25.
1. Everyone has the
right to a standard of living adequate for the health and
well-being of him or herself and his or her 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 or her 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. |
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 made 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. |
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
interest resulting from any scientific, literary, or artistic
production of which he or she is the author. |
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. |
29.
1.
Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and
full development of his or her personality is possible. 2.
In the exercise of his or her 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 purpose and principles of the United Nations. |
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. |
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