It’s the final minutes of Human Rights Day. I spent the day thinking about Wikileaks and the powerful political machinery that lines up against you if you dare…IF YOU DARE…to challenge authority as Julian Assange has done.
As of two hours ago there were reports that Assange’s lawyer said the U.S. is considering laying charges of espionage against Assange. What is happening to Assange has critical implications for any reporter who receives the equivalent of the “brown envelope.” If the world tolerates this, then we are on a truly slippery slope toward Orwell’s 1984.
I decided to read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights today. What a beautiful world it would indeed be if these human rights were honoured in every country and every community throughout the world. But I fear that as the world population expands and economies collapse, it is too easy to forget that this is what we aspire to as human beings. Still, we do aspire and I suppose as long as there is hope that those among us with shadows in their hearts — who cannot or will not feel empathy, who numb themselves to the suffering of others, who inflict and influence harm on others — will awaken to their higher natures.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948 is a thing of great beauty and wisdom. I hope you will read it and pass it on.
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The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
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 beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from 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 relations 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 co-operation 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 freedoms 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 peoples 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.
- 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 his own, and to 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 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 his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
- (2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his 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 organization 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 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 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.
Photo Credit
Recent Kerry Slavens Articles:
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- Before I Became a Mother....
- The Big Death: Reactions to the Killing of Osama Bin Laden
- Bolivia to Pass Laws Granting Mother Nature Equal Rights with Humans
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My concern is where do you draw the line? Would you have supported hitler’s right to assemble and rail against the Jews and other non-arian people? What if Assange really is guilty of sex crimes, does that tarnish what else he’s done? What if he really did come into these documents through means that our duly elected officials have deemed as illegal (and we, by supporting them have agreed to as well)?
I don’t think anything close to “the truth” has come out from either side (for example did you know that some of the wikileaks mirror sites get funding from click-through ad’s for child and other types of porn? Does that crossing of black vs white lines demean their efforts to mirror Assange info or area they in it strictly for the volume of visitors because of publicity?). I am concerned that both sides have polarized in opposite directions (either for or against) and we have yet to learn the true facts of the situation (and maybe never will for a variety of reasons).
There are so many questions left unanswered on both sides that I, personally, can’t draw an accurate conclusion. I would ask those who feel they have a “position” if they really have investigated and understood the full history and implications of BOTH sides before adopting their given stance.
Even some of the info here on LifeAsAHuman suggests that things are never black or white… why should the WikiLeaks situation be any different?
Reading the results of Wikileaks through the standard media and learning of other results through radio & TV, assures one that we have freedom of the press and expression. We know government doesn’t like it but why should those we elect be against freedom of thought and expression? I agree with the author of “Human Rights: Do You Know Them?” that the personal attack and consideration of espionage charges (which can be a capital offense) against the founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assangs, are a watershed moment for freedom of expression.
Those of us who believe that these rights as laid out so clearly by the United Nations, particularly Article19 and other related articles, should express their support of the principles of freedom of expression and freedom of the press, or as Kerry states and I stated in another response I wrote earlier this week, 1984 will be upon us.
Loss of our freedoms in society happens only if it is allowed to through implied public apathy expressed by inaction and lack of support of example victims. Do we really want a censored web like China has? Will we allow this example victim? Decide for yourself and if your freedom is important then do something to protect it, if only by responding like this or though a larger public forum like your government.
Thanks for your response, JC. I see two things happening (or two main things) to silence Julian Assange. One is the “put the boots to him and lock him up to shut him up and make an example of him.” The other is to either demonize him or ridicule him which is what is now happening in the press with comments about what a lousy lover he is, his personality etc etc. He becomes marginalized…a joke. I see both things happening and the sad thing is how some aspects of Western media are all too willing to report the trivial “celebrity-style” news which feeds into this circus. The fact that a guy on Saturday Night Live is doing a great impersonation of Assange (and yes, it was funny) was more newsworthy yesterday than any other aspect o the Assange story (at least from what I saw and read).
It amazes me that after I wrote this article and talked to some people about it there were people who told me they never knew there was a Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Whose fault is that? Theirs? The education system? The media? I believe every child, whenever possible, should know these rights. Just reading them affirms my determination to create a better world.