Celebrate HUMAN RIGHTS DAY
Human rights provide a foundation for building a just and peaceful world. Every human being on the planet has the right to dignity, respect, and freedom - whatever their race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, wealth or other status.
On 10 December 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Declaration has been translated into over 300 languages and dialects - from Abkhaz to Zulu. It is the holder of the Guinness World Record for the document that has been most translated.
Unfortunately, unlike the US Constitution or the European Convention on Human Rights, the Declaration has no legal force. But it does provide a powerful framework for creating a better world.
stand up and be counted
What the declaration contains:
The Declaration contains 30 articles. Amongst these are:
- Article 1: all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights?
- Article 3: everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
- Article 4: ...slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
- Article 5: no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
- Article 18: everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion...
- Article 19: everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression?
- Article 20: everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association...
Take Action
December 10th is World Human Rights Day. It is a time to reflect on how lucky we are to have our rights enshrined in a UN Declaration, and to pledge to do something for the many people across the world who are denied these basic rights.
Put human rights on a t-shirt. Get together with a group of friends and each choose a basic right from the Declaration. Get a local t-shirt screening shop to design colorful shirts with your chosen slogans. Assemble in a public space, stand in a line and proudly advertise your selection of human rights to promote World Human Rights Day.
Make a series of Tibetan prayer flags, each one focusing on a different human right. Visit the website of an Amnesty International group in Pasadena, whose idea this is: www.its.caltech.edu/~aigp22/flags/home.shtml
Find Out More
December 10 has been declared by the United Nations as World Human Rights Day. Information on the UN and human rights: www.un.org/rights
Read the Declaration in almost any language: www.unhchr.ch/udhr
Find out more about the Tibetan prayer flag project: www.its.caltech.edu/~aigp22/flags/home.shtml
The story of a Tibetan monk:
Ngawang Gyaltsen is a senior monk from Drepung monastery near Lhasa. He was imprisoned for a year in 1987, rearrested in 1989 and sentenced to 17 years in prison, plus 5 years' deprivation of political rights. He had been singled out as the leader of a group of monks accused of producing literature critical of the Chinese government and 'passing information to the enemy'. The group's first publication was a Tibetan translation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
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All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights... Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
All animals are equal... but some are more equal than others. George Orwell, Animal Farm
Read the Declaration in almost any language: www.unhchr.ch/udhr
Read Animal Farm: www.online-literature.com/orwell/animalfarm
