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Washington Foreign Press Center Announcement
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Following is a backgrounder on the observation tomorrow, December 10, of
Human Rights Day and the commemoration of the UN Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. The article was written by David Pitts, a Washington File
staff writer. The Washington File is a product of the Office of
International Information Programs (IIP) at the Department of State. For
additional information on the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, see
IIP's article, "The Noble Endeavor" from its 1998 electronic journal
published on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration:
http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itdhr/1098/ijde/ijde1098.htm.
Human Rights Day Will Be Observed December 10
(To commemorate the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights) (1370)
By David Pitts
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- Human Rights Day commemorates the adoption of the U.N.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948. The landmark
document states that human rights are not the preserve of any one nation, or
race, or gender but an entitlement for every man, woman and child on the
planet. Article 3 states: "Everyone has the right to life, liberty and
security of person."
The first of these rights -- self evidently the most basic of the human
rights detailed in the Universal Declaration -- continues to be
denied to untold numbers of people across the planet through acts of
violence and other forms of oppression -- evidence, if any were needed, of
how far the world must travel before the ideals incorporated in the
Universal Declaration more than 50 years ago are realized.
How the Universal Declaration came to be adopted by the U.N. -- even though
its then member states were deeply split not only ideologically but also
with respect to their views on race, sex, religion and other matters -- is
one of the great stories of postwar history. That the task was accomplished
in the political climate prevalent in 1948 is testimony to the skill of
those who labored both to produce the document and, more importantly, to
secure its adoption.
The stage was set for producing a universal document on human rights after
the adoption of the United Nations Charter in 1945. It set the goal of
"promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental
freedoms of all without distinction as to race, sex, language and religion."
But how were human rights to be defined in the postwar world? The task was
assigned to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, which was established in
1946.
A key figure in the evolution of the Universal Declaration, according to
historians, was Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of U.S. president Franklin
Delano Roosevelt. She was appointed to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights
after her husband's death by his successor, President Harry Truman. The
delegates unanimously elected her chairperson of the newly created body in
recognition not only of her status as the widow of America's wartime leader
but also in appreciation for her own work
on behalf of human rights.
Roosevelt chaired the drafting committee under the auspices of the
commission and, from the start, aggressively argued for a strong, precise
definition of human rights while at the same time "trying to bridge the gap
between different members and reconcile different points of view deriving
from different cultures," writes Tamora Hareven, one of many biographers of
the late first lady.
At the time the Universal Declaration was drafted, there were marked
differences among nations, and among people within nations, concerning the
rights of women and people of color, religious liberty, the point at which
human life began, the extent of freedom of speech and the right to dissent,
and the degree of economic and social rights, Hareven adds. As the drafting
of the document progressed, it was clear it would be much easier to write it
than to secure its adoption by the U.N. General Assembly.
The most serious division on human rights derived from the entirely
different conception of freedom and democracy held by Western nations and
their allies and the Soviet Union and its allies. Roosevelt argued there was
no "true individual freedom in the Soviet Union because the rights of the
individual were subservient to the state." The Soviet side argued that the
West was interested only in "eighteenth century rights" and insufficiently
committed to economic and social rights.
This fundamental disagreement framed the commission's debates as the
drafting of the document proceeded. The delegates representing communist
countries strongly objected to the deliberations, sometimes delivering
speeches lasting hours in an effort to steer the wording of the document to
their point of view, Roosevelt recalls in her book, "The Autobiography of
Eleanor Roosevelt." As chairperson, she says, she allowed them great
latitude but was determined to complete a draft by Christmas 1948.
Against the odds, with the help of her other U.N. colleagues, especially
Charles Malik (Lebanon), P.C. Chang (China), John Humphrey (Canada) and Rene
Cassin (France), Roosevelt achieved her goal. The General Assembly of the
United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December
10, 1948.
Of 58 members represented at the session, 48 voted in favor, none voted
against, eight abstained, and two were absent. The Soviet Union and its
satellites constituted the majority of the abstentions. The representative
of Saudi Arabia also abstained because, in his view, the declaration
presented too Western a view of human rights. South Africa, whose long
embrace of apartheid began that same year, also abstained -- objecting to
the inclusivity of all races.
Speaking before the General Assembly, Eleanor Roosevelt stressed the
epoch-making value of the document:
"The declaration may well become the international Magna Carta of all men
everywhere. We hope this proclamation by the General Assembly will be an
event comparable to the proclamation of the Rights of Man by the French
people in 1789, the adoption of the Bill of Rights by the people of the
United States, and the adoption of comparable declarations at different
times in other countries."
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration set the tone for a broad range of
political, social and economic rights that are offered as a common standard
of achievement for all nations. "All human beings are born free and equal in
dignity and human rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and
should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."
In the wake of the most barbarous war in history, the world had finally
adopted a set of principles, which, it was hoped, would set humanity on a
new course -- to hold all nations to account for their actions, both
internally and externally. There was now an
international standard by which nations' human rights records could be
measured and judged.
As a resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations, however, the
Universal Declaration had no force of law. Assembly resolutions are
recommendations to states, not binding obligations. But as Jack Donnelly
and Rhoda Howard stress in their "International Handbook of Human Rights,"
over the years "the Universal Declaration has come to be something more than
a mere recommendation."
The declaration inspired a number of regional human rights conventions in
Europe, Latin America and Africa, and influenced the drafting of many of the
constitutions of the new independent states that emerged onto the world
stage after the defeat of colonialism in the decades following the end of
World War II.
The norms and precepts encompassed in the Universal Declaration also were
further elaborated in a series of U.N. covenants, most notably the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the United
States is a signatory. These covenants are considered binding on states that
are signatory to them.
Each year, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, the same body chaired by
Eleanor Roosevelt more than a half century ago, meets in Geneva to assess
the compliance of states with human rights standards and to hold violators
to account. Although the tools at the disposal of the commission have been
criticized by some human rights defenders as inadequate, the importance of
its ability to expose violators to public scrutiny cannot be underestimated.
It has become a tradition each year -- on Human Rights Day -- to take note
not only of the commission's first and most enduring achievement -- the
adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights -- but also the work
of the myriad of other human rights organizations, both governmental and
nongovernmental, that are striving to make this landmark document a reality
in the life of all nations and peoples.
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NOTE: All briefings are subject to change.
Please call (202) 504-6300 or visit the FPC web site: http://www.fpc.state.gov
for information on this schedule and other FPC Programs.
To review previous postings to this mailing list, visit:
http://lists.state.gov/archives/fpc.html
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Washington Foreign Press Center
Suite 800 National Press Building
529 14th Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20045
Phone:(202) 504-6300
Fax:(202) 504-6334
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