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
- Article 2
- Article 3
- Article 4
- Article 5
- Article 6
- Article 7
- Article 8
- Article 9
- Article 10
- Article 11
- 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.
- 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
- Article 13
- Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
- Everyone has the right to leave any country, including their own, and to return to their country.
- Article 14
- Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
- 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
- Everyone has the right to a nationality.
- No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.
- Article 16
- 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.
- 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
- Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
- No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
- Article 18
- Article 19
- Article 20
- Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
- No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
- Article 21
- Everyone has the right to take part in the government of their country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
- Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in their country.
- 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
- Article 23
- Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
- Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
- 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.
- Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.
- Article 24
- Article 25
- 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.
- 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
- 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.
- 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.
- Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.
- Article 27
- 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.
- 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
- Article 29
- Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
- 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.
- These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
- Article 30
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:-
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.
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