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Universal Declaration of Human Rights

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Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Eleanor Roosevelt holding the English-language version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in November 1949
The human rights adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948
Created1948
Ratified10 December 1948
LocationPalais de Chaillot, Paris
AuthorDraft Committee[a]
PurposeHuman rights
Official website
un.org/udhr
Full text
Universal Declaration of Human Rights at Wikisource

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that codifies some of the rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a United Nations (UN) committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, it was accepted by the General Assembly as Resolution 217 during its third session on 10 December 1948 at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris, France.[1] Of the 58 members of the UN at the time, 48 voted in favour, none against, eight abstained, and two did not vote.[2]

A foundational text in the history of human and civil rights, the Declaration consists of 30 articles detailing an individual's "basic rights and fundamental freedoms" and affirming their universal character as inherent, inalienable, and applicable to all human beings.[1] Adopted as a "common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations", the UDHR commits nations to recognize all humans as being "born free and equal in dignity and rights" regardless of "nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status".[3]

The Declaration is generally considered to be a milestone document for its universalist language, which makes no reference to a particular culture, political system, or religion.[4][5] It directly inspired the development of international human rights law, and was the first step in the formulation of the International Bill of Human Rights, which was completed in 1966 and came into force in 1976. Although not legally binding, the contents of the UDHR have been elaborated and incorporated into subsequent international treaties, regional human rights instruments, and national constitutions and legal codes.[6][7][8]

All 193 member states of the UN have ratified at least one of the nine binding treaties influenced by the Declaration, with the vast majority ratifying four or more.[1] While there is a wide consensus that the declaration itself is non-binding and not part of customary international law, there is also a consensus in most countries that many of its provisions are part of customary law,[9][10] although courts in some nations have been more restrictive in interpreting its legal effect.[11][12] Nevertheless, the UDHR has influenced legal, political, and social developments on both the global and national levels, with its significance partly evidenced by its 577 translations.[13]

Structure and content

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The underlying structure of the Universal Declaration was influenced by the Code Napoléon, including a preamble and introductory general principles.[14] Its final structure took form in the second draft prepared by French jurist René Cassin, who worked on the initial draft prepared by Canadian legal scholar John Peters Humphrey.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights consists of the following:

  • The preamble sets out the historical and social causes that led to the necessity of drafting the Declaration.
  • Articles 1–2 establish the basic concepts of dignity, liberty, and equality for all humans regardless of characteristics such as race, gender, religion, or nationality (later interpreted to include sexual orientation and disability).
  • Articles 3–5 establish other individual rights, such as the right to life and the prohibition of slavery and torture.
  • Articles 6–11 refer to the fundamental legality of human rights with specific remedies cited for their defence when violated.
  • Articles 12–17 set forth the rights of the individual towards the community, including freedom of movement and residence within each state, the right of property, the right to a nationality and right to asylum.
  • Articles 18–21 sanction the "constitutional liberties" and spiritual, public, and political freedoms, such as freedom of thought, conscience, religion, expression, news media, association, and assembly.
  • Articles 22–27 sanction an individual's economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to work, health, housing, and education. It upholds an expansive right to an adequate standard of living, and makes special mention of care given to those in motherhood or childhood.
  • Articles 28–30 establish the general means of exercising these rights, the areas in which the rights of the individual cannot be applied, the duty of the individual to society, and the prohibition of the use of rights in contravention of the purposes of the United Nations Organization.[15]

Cassin compared the Declaration to the portico of a Greek temple, with a foundation, steps, four columns, and a pediment.[16] Articles 1 and 2—with their principles of dignity, liberty, equality and brotherhood—serve as the foundation blocks. The seven paragraphs of the preamble, setting out the reasons for the Declaration, represent the steps leading up to the temple. The main body of the Declaration forms the four columns. The first column (articles 3–11) constitutes rights of the individual, such as the right to life and the prohibition of slavery. The second column (articles 12–17) constitutes the rights of the individual in civil and political society. The third column (articles 18–21) is concerned with spiritual, public, and political freedoms, such as freedom of religion and freedom of association. The fourth column (articles 22–27) sets out social, economic, and cultural rights. The final three articles provide the "pediment" which binds the structure together, as they emphasize the mutual duties of every individual to one another and to society.[16]

Charles Malik, the Lebanese representative on the drafting commission, pointed out the need for an article on the right or popular entitlement to "a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realised", which became Article 28.[17]

History

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Background

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State of the Union (Four Freedoms) (6 January 1941)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt's 6 January 1941 State of the Union address introducing the theme of the Four Freedoms (starting at 32:02)
Problems playing this file? See media help.
Freedom from Fear (Saturday, March 13, 1943)–from the Four Freedoms series by Norman Rockwell. The freedom from fear is mentioned in the preamble of the Declaration.[18]

During World War II, the Allies—known formally as the United Nations—adopted as their basic war aims the Four Freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.[19][20] Towards the end of the war, the United Nations Charter was debated, drafted, and ratified to reaffirm "faith in fundamental human rights, and dignity and worth of the human person" and commit all member states to promote "universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion".[21] When the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany became fully apparent after the war, the consensus within the world community was that the UN Charter did not sufficiently define the rights to which it referred.[22][23] It was deemed necessary to create a universal declaration that specified the rights of individuals so as to give effect to the Charter's provisions on human rights.[24]

The drafting committee

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In June 1946, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)—a principal organ of the newly founded United Nations that is responsible for promoting human rights, created the Commission on Human Rights (CHR)—a standing body within the United Nations that was tasked with preparing what was initially conceived as an International Bill of Rights.[25] It had 18 members from various national, religious, and political backgrounds, so as to be representative of humanity.[26] In February 1947, the Commission established a special Universal Declaration of Human Rights Drafting Committee, chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt of the United States, to write the articles of the Declaration. Roosevelt, in her position, was key to the U.S. effort to encourage the General Assembly's adoption of a Universal Declaration of Human Rights.[27] The Committee met in two sessions over the course of two years.[28]

Canadian John Peters Humphrey, the newly appointed Director of the Division of Human Rights within the United Nations Secretariat, was called upon by the UN Secretary-General to work on the project, becoming the Declaration's principal drafter.[29][30] Other prominent members of the Drafting Committee included Vice-Chairman P.C. Chang of the Republic of China, René Cassin of France; and its Committee Rapporteur Charles Malik of Lebanon.[31] A month after its creation, the Drafting Committee was expanded to include representatives of Australia, Chile, France, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom, in addition to the inaugural members from China, France, Lebanon, and the United States.[32]

Creation and drafting

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Humphrey is credited with devising the "blueprint" for the Declaration, while Cassin composed the first draft.[33] Both received considerable input from other members, each of whom reflected different professional and ideological backgrounds. The Declaration's pro-family phrases allegedly derived from Cassin and Malik, who were influenced by the Christian Democracy movement;[34] Malik, a Christian theologian, was known for appealing across religious lines; he cited the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas, and studied the different Christian sects.[32] Chang urged removing all references to religion to make the document more universal, and used aspects of Confucianism to settle stalemates in negotiations.[35] Hernán Santa Cruz of Chile, an educator and judge, strongly supported the inclusion of socioeconomic rights, which had been opposed by some Western nations.[32] The members agreed that the philosophical debate centered between the opposing opinions of Chang and Malik, with Malik later singling out Chang when thanking the members, saying that there were too many to mention, but Chang's ideas impacted his own opinions in the making of the draft.[36][37][38]

In her memoirs, Roosevelt commented on the debates and discussions that informed the UDHR, describing one such exchange during the Drafting Committee's first session in June 1947:

Dr. Chang was a pluralist and held forth in charming fashion on the proposition that there is more than one kind of ultimate reality. The Declaration, he said, should reflect more than simply Western ideas and Dr. Humphrey would have to be eclectic in his approach. His remark, though addressed to Dr. Humphrey, was really directed at Dr. Malik, from whom it drew a prompt retort as he expounded at some length the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas. Dr. Humphrey joined enthusiastically in the discussion, and I remember that at one point Dr. Chang suggested that the Secretariat might well spend a few months studying the fundamentals of Confucianism![32]

In May 1948, roughly a year after its creation, the Drafting Committee held its second and final session, where it considered the comments and suggestions of member states and international bodies, principally the United Nations Conference on Freedom of Information, which took place the prior March and April; the Commission on the Status of Women, a body within ECOSOC that reported on the state of women's rights worldwide; and the Ninth International Conference of American States, held in Bogota, Colombia from March to May 1948, which adopted the South American-based American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, the world's first general international human rights instrument.[39] Delegates and consultants from several United Nations bodies, international organizations, and nongovernmental organizations also attended and submitted suggestions.[40] It was also hoped that an International Bill of Human Rights with legal force could be drafted and submitted for adoption alongside the Declaration.[39]

The final draft

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Upon the session's conclusion on 21 May 1948, the Committee submitted to the Commission on Human Rights a redrafted text of the "International Declaration of Human Rights" and the "International Covenant of Human Rights", which together would form an International Bill of Rights.[39] The redrafted Declaration was further examined and discussed by the Commission on Human Rights in its third session in Geneva 21 May through 18 June 1948.[41] The so-called "Geneva text" was circulated among member states and subject to several proposed amendments; for example, Hansa Mehta of India notably suggested that the Declaration assert that "all human beings are created equal", instead of "all men are created equal", to better reflect gender equality.[42]

Charles Theodore Te Water of South Africa fought very hard to have the word dignity removed from the declaration, saying that "dignity had no universal standard and that it was not a 'right'".[43] Te Water believed—correctly, as it turned out—that listing human dignity as a human right would lead to criticism of the apartheid system that had just been introduced by the new National Party government of South Africa.[43] Malik in response stated that Prime Minister Jan Smuts of South Africa had played an important role in drafting the United Nations Charter in 1945, and it was Smuts who inserted the word dignity as a human right into the charter.[43] Despite te Water's efforts, the word dignity was included in the declaration as a human right.[43]

Approval

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With a vote of twelve in favour, none opposed, and four abstaining, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, with Eleanor Roosevelt in the chair, approved the proposed Declaration on 18 June 1948, although it was unable to examine the contents and implementation of the proposed Covenant.[44] The Commission forwarded the approved text of the Declaration, as well as the Covenant, to the Economic and Social Council for its review and approval during its seventh session in July and August 1948.[45] The Council adopted Resolution 151(VII) of 26 August 1948, transmitting the draft International Declaration of Human Rights to the UN General Assembly.[45]

The Third Committee of the General Assembly, which convened from 30 September to 7 December 1948 during the third session of the United Nations General Assembly, held 81 meetings concerning the draft Declaration, including debating and resolving 168 proposals for amendments by United Nations member states.[46][47] On its 178th meeting on 6 December, the Third Committee adopted the Declaration with 29 votes in favour, none opposed and seven abstentions.[46] The document was subsequently submitted to the wider General Assembly for its consideration on 9 and 10 December 1948.

Adoption

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The Universal Declaration was adopted by the General Assembly as UN Resolution A/RES/217(III)[A] on 10 December 1948 in the Palais de Chaillot, Paris.[48][b] Of the 58 United Nations members at the time,[49] 48 voted in favour, none against, eight abstained,[50][51] and Honduras and Yemen failed to vote or abstain.[52]

Eleanor Roosevelt is credited with having been instrumental in mustering support for the Declaration's adoption, both in her native U.S. and across the world, owing to her ability to appeal to different and often opposing political blocs.[8]

The meeting record provides firsthand insight into the debate on the Declaration's adoption.[53] South Africa's position can be seen as an attempt to protect its system of apartheid, which clearly violated several articles in the Declaration.[50] Saudi Arabia's abstention was prompted primarily by two of the Declaration's articles: Article 18, which states that everyone has the right "to change his religion or belief", and Article 16, on equal marriage rights.[50] The abstentions by the six communist nations were explained by their claim that the Declaration did not go far enough in condemning fascism and national-socialism.[50] However, Eleanor Roosevelt felt that the reason for the abstentions was Article 13, which provided the right of citizens to leave their countries.[54] Other observers pin the Soviet bloc's opposition to the Declaration's "negative rights", such as provisions calling on governments not to violate certain civil and political rights.[8]

The British delegation, while voting in favour of the Declaration, expressed frustration that the proposed document had moral obligations but lacked legal force;[55] it would not be until 1976 that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights came into force, giving a legal status to most of the Declaration.

Voting in the plenary session:
Green countries: voted in favour;
Orange countries: abstained;
Black countries: failed to abstain or vote;
Grey countries: were not a part of the UN at time of voting

The 48 countries that voted in favour of the Declaration are:[56]

a. ^Despite the central role played by the Canadian John Peters Humphrey, the Canadian Government at first abstained from voting on the Declaration's draft, but later voted in favour of the final draft in the General Assembly.[57]

Eight countries abstained:[56]