THE INTERNATIONAL BILL OF
HUMAN RIGHTS
UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF
HUMAN RIGHTS
(10 December 1948)
Preamble
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 being shall enjoy freedom of
speech and belief and freedom for 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 relation 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 freedom is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this
pledge,
Now, therefore,
The General Assembly,
Proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human
Rights as a common standard of achievement for all people 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 the peoples of Member States themselves and among
the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.
Article 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.
Article 2
1- Everyone is entitled to all the rights and
freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such
as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national
or social origin, property, birth or other status.
2- 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.
Article 3
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and
security of person.
Article 4
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude;
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 6
Everyone has the right to recognition
everywhere as a person before the law.
Article 7
1- All are equal before the law and are
entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law.
2- All are entitled to equal protection
against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any
incitement to such discrimination.
Article 8
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy
by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights
granted him by the constitution or by law.
Article 9
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest,
detention or exile.
Article 10
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a
fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the
determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against
him.
Article 11
1- Everyone charged with a penal offence has
the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a
public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defense.
2- No one shall be held guilty of any penal
offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal
offence, 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 offence was committed.
Article 12
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary
interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks
upon his honor and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the
law against such interference of attacks.
Article 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 own, and return to his country.
Article 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 principles of the United Nations.
Article 15
1- Everyone has a right to a nationality.
2- No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his
nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.
Article 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. The are entitle 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 intending spouses.
The family is the natural and fundamental
group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
Article 17
1- Everyone has the right to own property
alone as well as in association with others.
2- No one shall be arbitrary deprived of his
property.
Article 18
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought,
conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or
belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or
private, to manifest his religion of belief in teaching, practice, worship and
observance.
Article 19
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion
and expression; this right includes freedom of hold opinions without
interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any
media and regardless of frontiers.
Article 20
1- Everyone has the right to freedom of
peaceful assembly and association.
2- No one may be compelled to belong to an
association.
Article 21
1- Everyone has the right to take part in the
government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
2- Everyone has the right to equal access to
public service in his country.
3- The will of the people shall be the basic
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.
Article 22
Everyone, as a member of society, has the
right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national
effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization
and resource of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights
indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.
Article 23
1- Everyone has the right to work, to free
choice of employment, to just and favorable 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 favorable remuneration ensuring for himself and his 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 to join
trade unions for the protection of his interests.
Article 24
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure,
including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with
pay.
Article 25
1- Everyone has the right to a standard of
living adequate for the health and well-being o himself and of his family,
including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social
service, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness,
disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances
beyond his 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.
Article 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 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.
Article 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 interests resulting from any scientific, literary or
artistic production of which he is the author.
Article 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.
Article 29
1- Everyone has duties to the community in
which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
2- In the exercise of his rights and freedoms,
everyone shall be subject only to such limitation 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 purposes and principles of the United Nations.
Article 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.
Comments
Post a Comment