Human Rights Day- the 10th of December

December the 10th, 2010 is Human Rights Day

The date was chosen to honor the United Nations General Assembly's adoption and proclamation, on 10 December 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the first global enunciation of human rights. The formal establishment of Human Rights Day occurred at the 317th Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on 4 December 1950, when the General Assembly declared resolution 423(V), inviting all member states and any other interested organizations to celebrate the day as they saw fit.

The following reproduces the articles of the Declaration which set out the specific human rights that are recognised in the Declaration:- 

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 

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. 

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 

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 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 defence.
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 honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or 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 their own, and to return to their 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 the 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. 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 intending spouses.
3. 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 arbitrarily 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 or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. 

Article 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. 

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 their country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
2. Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in their 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.

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 organisation and resources 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 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 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 of himself and of his 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 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 realised. 

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 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 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.

Human Rights Day 2010

The theme for Human Rights Day 10 December 2010 is human rights defenders who act to end discrimination.

Human rights defenders acting against discrimination, often at great personal risk to both themselves and their families, are being recognized and acclaimed on this day.

Human rights defenders speak out against abuse and violations including discrimination, exclusion, oppression and violence.  They advocate justice and seek to protect the victims of human rights violations.  They demand  accountability for perpetrators and transparency in government action.  In so doing, they are often putting at risk their own safety, and that of their families.

Some human rights defenders are famous, but most are not. They are active in every part of the world, working alone and in groups, in local communities, in national politics and internationally.

Human Rights Day 2010 will highlight and promote the achievements of human rights defenders and it will again emphasize the primary responsibility Governments have to enable and protect their role. The Day is also intended to inspire a new generation of defenders to speak up and take action to end discrimination in all of its forms whenever and wherever it is manifested.

The story does not end after 10 December 2010.  The focus on the work of human rights defenders will continue through all of 2011.

The UN Human Rights office can assist you build your own campaigns for 10 December and the year to follow.

Human Rights Day 2010 by Amnesty International 

Celebrate Human Rights Day by using the proven tool of writing letters to save lives.

Each year hundreds of thousands of people mark International Human Rights Day on 10 December by taking part in Write for Rights, Amnesty International’s letter-writing marathon.

We write letters and take action online to demand that the rights of individuals are respected, protected and fulfilled. In doing so, we show solidarity with those suffering human rights abuses and try to bring about real changes to people’s lives.

Join the hundreds of thousands of people around the world who will be writing letters and taking action online for 10 days in December. From Belgium to Benin and Switzerland to South Korea, Amnesty International events will take place around the world from 4-14 December 2010, to mark International Human Rights Day.

People will come together to Write for Rights by sending letters, emails, faxes, SMS messages and tweets, and signing petitions. Take action below.

TAKING ACTION CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

In July 2010 the Egyptian authorities released Bedouin blogger and activist Musaad Suliman Hassan Hussein, known by his pen name Musaad Abu Fagr. He had been held without charge or trial for almost three years for calling for the rights of Bedouins in the Sinai to be respected.

Bu Dongwei spent over two years in a “Re-education Through Labour” camp in China until his release in July 2008, following campaigning by Amnesty International and others.

We're campaigning on behalf of ten different individuals this year. 

These are the ten different individual Amnesty International campaigning for this year:-

Act now for Father Solalinde, Mexico

2 December 2010

Take action for Catholic priest Father Alejandro Solalinde Guerra, whose life is at risk because he has dedicated his life in Mexico to providing a place of safety for migrants.

Act now for Saber Ragoubi, Tunisia

6 December 2010

Take action for Saber Ragoubi, who was sentenced to death in Tunisia for belonging to a terrorist organization, which he denies. He was convicted on the basis of a “confession” under torture.

Act now for Femi Peters, Gambia

10 November 2010

Take action for Femi Peters, Campaign Manager for the opposition party in Gambia, who is serving a one-year prison sentence for holding a peaceful demonstration organized by his party.

Act now for Mao Hengfeng, China

10 November 2010

Take action for Mao Hengfeng, who serving 18 months "Re-education through labour" in China for her activist activities. She says she has been beaten.

Act Now for Khady Bassène, Senegal

10 November 2010

Take action for Khady Bassène, whose husband, Jean Diandy, was arrested by soldiers in Senegal in 1999. No one has seen him since and she is fighting for the truth about what happened to him.

Act now for Su Su Nway, Myanmar

8 November 2010

Take action for labour activist Su Su Nway, who is serving a sentence of eight years and six months in a remote prison, far from her family, for taking part in antigovernment protests.

Act now for Zelimkhan Murdalov, Russian Federation

8 November 2010

Take action for Zelimkhan Murdalov, who has not been seen since 2001, when he was detained in Chechnya in the Russian Federation.

Act now for Norma Cruz, Guatemala

1 November 2010

Norma Cruz, who fights for justice in cases of violence against women in Guatemala, has received dozens of death threats. Her aggressors have not been brought to justice

Act now for Walid Yunis Ahmad, Iraq

12 September 2010

Take action for Walid Yunis Ahmad, who has been held in detention by the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq for more than 10 years without charge or trial. He has been tortured.

Act now for Roma families forcibly evicted in Romania

26 January 2010

Take action for 100 Roma people, who have been forcibly evicted from their home in central Romania and need to be rehoused.

Don't let this important day pass by without doing anything, 

please do something.

At least, Take action with amnesty International and sign their letters.

sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Rights_Day

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/StoriesHRDefenders.aspx

http://www.amnesty.org/en/individuals-at-risk