Human Rights Defined

What are your human rights? Lets start with some basic human rights definitions:
Human: noun
A member of the Homo sapiens species; a man, woman or child; a person.
Rights: noun
Things to which you are entitled or allowed; freedoms that are guaranteed.
Human Rights: noun
The rights you have simply because you are human.
If you were to ask people in the street, What are human rights? you would get many different
answers. They would tell you the rights they know about, but very few people know all their
rights.
As covered in the definitions above, a right is a freedom of some kind. It is something to which
you are entitled by virtue of being human.
Human rights are based on the principle of respect for the individual. Their fundamental
assumption is that each person is a moral and rational being who deserves to be treated with
dignity. They are called human rights because they are universal. Whereas nations or specialized
groups enjoy specific rights that apply only to them, human rights are the rights to which
everyone is entitledno matter who they are or where they livesimply because they are alive.
Yet many people, when asked to name their rights, will list only freedom of speech and belief
and perhaps one or two others. There is no question these are important rights, but the full scope
of human rights is very broad. They mean choice and opportunity. They mean the freedom to
obtain a job, adopt a career, select a partner of ones choice and raise children. They include the
right to travel widely and the right to work gainfully without harassment, abuse and threat of
arbitrary dismissal. They even embrace the right to leisure.
In ages past, there were no human rights. Then the idea emerged that people should have certain
freedoms. And that idea, in the wake of World War II, resulted finally in the document called the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the thirty rights to which all people are entitled.

A Brief History of
Human Rights
The Cyrus Cylinder (539 B.C.)

The decrees Cyrus made on human rights were inscribed in the Akkadian language on a bakedclay cylinder.

Cyrus the Great, the first king of Persia, freed the slaves of Babylon, 539 B.C.
In 539 B.C., the armies of Cyrus the Great, the first king of ancient Persia, conquered the city of
Babylon. But it was his next actions that marked a major advance for Man. He freed the slaves,
declared that all people had the right to choose their own religion, and established racial equality.
These and other decrees were recorded on a baked-clay cylinder in the Akkadian language with
cuneiform script.
Known today as the Cyrus Cylinder, this ancient record has now been recognized as the worlds
first charter of human rights. It is translated into all six official languages of the United Nations
and its provisions parallel the first four Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Spread of Human Rights
From Babylon, the idea of human rights spread quickly to India, Greece and eventually Rome.
There the concept of natural law arose, in observation of the fact that people tended to follow
certain unwritten laws in the course of life, and Roman law was based on rational ideas derived
from the nature of things.

Documents asserting individual rights, such as the Magna Carta (1215), the Petition of Right
(1628), the US Constitution (1787), the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the
Citizen (1789), and the US Bill of Rights (1791) are the written precursors to many of todays
human rights documents.

The Magna Carta (1215)

Magna Carta, or Great Charter, signed by the King of England in 1215, was a turning point in
human rights.
The Magna Carta, or Great Charter, was arguably the most significant early influence on the
extensive historical process that led to the rule of constitutional law today in the Englishspeaking world.
In 1215, after King John of England violated a number of ancient laws and customs by which
England had been governed, his subjects forced him to sign the Magna Carta, which enumerates
what later came to be thought of as human rights. Among them was the right of the church to be
free from governmental interference, the rights of all free citizens to own and inherit property
and to be protected from excessive taxes. It established the right of widows who owned property
to choose not to remarry, and established principles of due process and equality before the law. It
also contained provisions forbidding bribery and official misconduct.
Widely viewed as one of the most important legal documents in the development of modern
democracy, the Magna Carta was a crucial turning point in the struggle to establish freedom.

Petition of Right (1628)

In 1628 the English Parliament sent this statement of civil liberties to King Charles I.
The next recorded milestone in the development of human rights was the Petition of Right,
produced in 1628 by the English Parliament and sent to Charles I as a statement of civil liberties.
Refusal by Parliament to finance the kings unpopular foreign policy had caused his government
to exact forced loans and to quarter troops in subjects houses as an economy measure. Arbitrary
arrest and imprisonment for opposing these policies had produced in Parliament a violent
hostility to Charles and to George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham. The Petition of Right,
initiated by Sir Edward Coke, was based upon earlier statutes and charters and asserted four
principles: (1) No taxes may be levied without consent of Parliament, (2) No subject may be
imprisoned without cause shown (reaffirmation of the right of habeas corpus), (3) No soldiers
may be quartered upon the citizenry, and (4) Martial law may not be used in time of peace.

United States Declaration of Independence (1776)

In 1776, Thomas Jefferson penned the American Declaration of Independence.

On July 4, 1776, the United States Congress approved the Declaration of Independence. Its
primary author, Thomas Jefferson, wrote the Declaration as a formal explanation of why
Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain, more than a year after
the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and as a statement announcing that the thirteen
American Colonies were no longer a part of the British Empire. Congress issued the Declaration
of Independence in several forms. It was initially published as a printed broadsheet that was
widely distributed and read to the public.
Philosophically, the Declaration stressed two themes: individual rights and the right of
revolution. These ideas became widely held by Americans and spread internationally as well,
influencing in particular the French Revolution.
The Constitution of the United States of America (1787) and Bill of Rights (1791)

The Bill of Rights of the US Constitution protects basic freedoms of United States citizens.
Written during the summer of 1787 in Philadelphia, the Constitution of the United States of
America is the fundamental law of the US federal system of government and the landmark
document of the Western world. It is the oldest written national constitution in use and defines
the principal organs of government and their jurisdictions and the basic rights of citizens.
The first ten amendments to the Constitutionthe Bill of Rightscame into effect on December
15, 1791, limiting the powers of the federal government of the United States and protecting the
rights of all citizens, residents and visitors in American territory.
The Bill of Rights protects freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to keep and bear
arms, the freedom of assembly and the freedom to petition. It also prohibits unreasonable search
and seizure, cruel and unusual punishment and compelled self-incrimination. Among the legal
protections it affords, the Bill of Rights prohibits Congress from making any law respecting
establishment of religion and prohibits the federal government from depriving any person of life,
liberty or property without due process of law. In federal criminal cases it requires indictment by
a grand jury for any capital offense, or infamous crime, guarantees a speedy public trial with an
impartial jury in the district in which the crime occurred, and prohibits double jeopardy.

Human Rights

Following the French Revolution in 1789, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the
Citizen granted specific freedoms from oppression, as an expression of the general will.
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789)
In 1789 the people of France brought about the abolishment of the absolute monarchy and set the
stage for the establishment of the first French Republic. Just six weeks after the storming of the
Bastille, and barely three weeks after the abolition of feudalism, the Declaration of the Rights of
Man and of the Citizen (French: La Dclaration des Droits de lHomme et du Citoyen) was
adopted by the National Constituent Assembly as the first step toward writing a constitution for
the Republic of France.
The Declaration proclaims that all citizens are to be guaranteed the rights of liberty, property,
security, and resistance to oppression. It argues that the need for law derives from the fact that
...the exercise of the natural rights of each man has only those borders which assure other
members of the society the enjoyment of these same rights. Thus, the Declaration sees law as an
expression of the general will, intended to promote this equality of rights and to forbid only
actions harmful to the society.

The First Geneva Convention (1864)

The original document from the first Geneva Convention in 1864 provided for care to wounded
soldiers.
In 1864, sixteen European countries and several American states attended a conference in
Geneva, at the invitation of the Swiss Federal Council, on the initiative of the Geneva
Committee. The diplomatic conference was held for the purpose of adopting a convention for the
treatment of wounded soldiers in combat.
The main principles laid down in the Convention and maintained by the later Geneva
Conventions provided for the obligation to extend care without discrimination to wounded and
sick military personnel and respect for and marking of medical personnel transports and
equipment with the distinctive sign of the red cross on a white background.

The United Nations (1945)

Fifty nations met in San Francisco in 1945 and formed the United Nations to protect and promote
peace.
World War II had raged from 1939 to 1945, and as the end drew near, cities throughout Europe
and Asia lay in smoldering ruins. Millions of people were dead, millions more were homeless or
starving. Russian forces were closing in on the remnants of German resistance in Germanys
bombed-out capital of Berlin. In the Pacific, US Marines were still battling entrenched Japanese
forces on such islands as Okinawa.

In April 1945, delegates from fifty countries met in San Francisco full of optimism and hope.
The goal of the United Nations Conference on International Organization was to fashion an
international body to promote peace and prevent future wars. The ideals of the organization were
stated in the preamble to its proposed charter: We the peoples of the United Nations are
determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime
has brought untold sorrow to mankind.
The Charter of the new United Nations organization went into effect on October 24, 1945, a date
that is celebrated each year as United Nations Day.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has inspired a number of other human rights laws
and treaties throughout the world.
By 1948, the United Nations new Human Rights Commission had captured the worlds
attention. Under the dynamic chairmanship of Eleanor RooseveltPresident Franklin
Roosevelts widow, a human rights champion in her own right and the United States delegate to
the UNthe Commission set out to draft the document that became the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. Roosevelt, credited with its inspiration, referred to the Declaration as the
international Magna Carta for all mankind. It was adopted by the United Nations on December
10, 1948.
In its preamble and in Article 1, the Declaration unequivocally proclaims the inherent rights of
all human beings: 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...All human beings are born free and
equal in dignity and rights.
The Member States of the United Nations pledged to work together to promote the thirty Articles
of human rights that, for the first time in history, had been assembled and codified into a single
document. In consequence, many of these rights, in various forms, are today part of the
constitutional laws of democratic nations.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

AN INTRODUCTION
On October 24, 1945, in the aftermath of World War II, the United Nations came into being as an
intergovernmental organization, with the purpose of saving future generations from the
devastation of international conflict.

United Nations representatives from all regions of the world formally adopted the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948.
The Charter of the United Nations established six principal bodies, including the General
Assembly, the Security Council, the International Court of Justice, and in relation to human
rights, an Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
The UN Charter empowered ECOSOC to establish commissions in economic and social fields
and for the promotion of human rights. One of these was the United Nations Human Rights
Commission, which, under the chairmanship of Eleanor Roosevelt, saw to the creation of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Declaration was drafted by representatives of all regions of the world and encompassed all
legal traditions. Formally adopted by the United Nations on December 10, 1948, it is the most
universal human rights document in existence, delineating the thirty fundamental rights that form
the basis for a democratic society.
Following this historic act, the Assembly called upon all Member Countries to publicize the text
of the Declaration and to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally
in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of
countries or territories.

Today, the Declaration is a living document that has been accepted as a contract between a
government and its people throughout the world. According to the Guinness Book of World
Records, it is the most translated document in the world.

International Human
Rights Law

By 1948, the United Nations new Human Rights Commission had captured the attention of the
world. Under the dynamic chairmanship of Eleanor RooseveltPresident Franklin Roosevelts
widow, a human rights champion in her own right and the United States delegate to the UNthe
Commission set out to draft the document that became the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights. Roosevelt, credited with its inspiration, referred to the Declaration as the international
Magna Carta for all mankind. It was adopted by the United Nations on December 10, 1948.
In its preamble and in Article 1, the Declaration unequivocally proclaims the inherent rights of
all human beings: 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....All human beings are born free and
equal in dignity and rights.
The Member States of the United Nations pledged to work together to promote the thirty Articles
of human rights that, for the first time in history, had been assembled and codified into a single
document. In consequence, many of these rights, in various forms, are today part of the
constitutional laws of democratic nations.
INTERNATIONAL BILL OF HUMAN RIGHTS
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is an ideal standard held in common by nations
around the world, but it bears no force of law. Thus, from 1948 to 1966, the UN Human Rights
Commissions main task was to create a body of international human rights law based on the
Declaration, and to establish the mechanisms needed to enforce its implementation and use.

The Human Rights Commission produced two major documents: the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Both became international law in 1976. Together with the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, these two covenants comprise what is known as the International
Bill of Human Rights.
The ICCPR focuses on issues such as the right to life, freedom of speech, religion and voting.
The ICESCR focuses on food, education, health and shelter. Both covenants proclaim these
rights for all people and forbid discrimination.
Furthermore, Article 26 of the ICCPR established a Human Rights Committee of the United
Nations. Composed of eighteen human rights experts, the Committee is responsible for ensuring
that each signatory to the ICCPR complies with its terms. The Committee examines reports
submitted by countries every five years (to ensure they are in compliance with the ICCPR), and
issues findings based on a countrys performance.
Many countries that ratified the ICCPR also agreed that the Human Rights Committee may
investigate allegations by individuals and organizations that the State has violated their rights.
Before appealing to the Committee, the complainant must exhaust all legal recourse in the courts
of that country. After investigation, the Committee publishes the results. These findings have
great force. If the Committee upholds the allegations, the State must take measures to remedy the
abuse.
SUBSEQUENT UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS DOCUMENTS
In addition to the covenants in the International Bill of Human Rights, the United Nations has
adopted more than twenty principal treaties further elaborating human rights. These include
conventions to prevent and prohibit specific abuses such as torture and genocide and to protect
specific vulnerable populations such as refugees (Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees,
1951), women (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women,
1979), and children (Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989). Other conventions cover
racial discrimination, prevention of genocide, political rights of women, prohibition of slavery
and torture.
Each of these treaties has established a committee of experts to monitor implementation of the
treaty provisions by its State parties.
EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights served as the inspiration for the European
Convention on Human Rights, one of the most significant agreements in the European

Community. The Convention was adopted in 1953 by the Council of Europe, an

intergovernmental organization established in 1949 and composed of forty-seven European
Community Member States. This body was formed to strengthen human rights and promote
democracy and the rule of law.
The Convention is enforced by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. Any
person claiming to be the victim of a violation in one of the forty-seven countries in the
European Community which has signed and ratified the Convention, may seek relief with the
European Court. One must first have exhausted all recourse in the courts of their home country
and have filed an application for relief with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
HUMAN RIGHTS INSTRUMENTS FOR THE AMERICAS, AFRICA AND ASIA
In North and South America, Africa and Asia, regional documents for the protection and
promotion of human rights extend the International Bill of Human Rights.
The American Convention on Human Rights pertains to the inter-American statesthe Americas
and was entered into force in 1978.
African states have created their own Charter of Human and Peoples Rights (1981), and Muslim
states have created the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam (1990).
The Asian Human Rights Charter (1986) was created by the Asian Human Rights Commission,
founded that year by a group of jurists and human rights activists in Hong Kong. The Charter is
described as a peoples charter, because no governmental charter has been issued to date.
HUMAN RIGHTS DOCUMENTS
1. Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights adopted and
opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 2200A (XXI) of
16 December 1966 entry into force 23 March 1976, in accordance with Article 9
2. Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming
at the abolition of the death penalty adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly resolution
44/128 of 15 December 1989
3. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted and opened for
signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 2200A (XXI) of 16
December 1966 entry into force 3 January 1976, in accordance with Article 27
4. Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms as amended by
Protocol No. 11 with Protocol Nos. 1, 4, 6, 7, 12 and 13

5. African (Banjul) Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (adopted 27 June 1981, OAU Doc.
CAB/LEG/67/3 rev. 5, 21 I.L.M. 58 [1982], entered into force 21 October 1986)
6. American Convention on Human Rights O.A.S.Treaty Series No. 36, 1144 U.N.T.S. 123,
entered into force July 18, 1978, reprinted in Basic Documents Pertaining to Human Rights in
the Inter-American System, OEA/Ser.L.V/II.82 doc.6 rev.1 at 25 (1992)

Human Rights
Violations
Human rights advocates agree that, sixty years after its issue, the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights is still more a dream than reality. Violations exist in every part of the world. For
example, Amnesty Internationals 2009 World Report and other sources show that individuals
are:

Tortured or abused in at least 81 countries

Face unfair trials in at least 54 countries

Restricted in their freedom of expression in at least 77 countries

Not only that, but women and children in particular are marginalized in numerous ways, the
press is not free in many countries, and dissenters are silenced, too often permanently. While
some gains have been made over the course of the last six decades, human rights violations still
plague the world today.
To help inform you of the true situation throughout the world, this section provides examples of
violations of six Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR):
ARTICLE 3 THE RIGHT TO LIVE FREE
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
An estimated 6,500 people were killed in 2007 in armed conflict in Afghanistannearly half
being noncombatant civilian deaths at the hands of insurgents. Hundreds of civilians were also
killed in suicide attacks by armed groups.
In Brazil in 2007, according to official figures, police killed at least 1,260 individualsthe
highest total to date. All incidents were officially labeled acts of resistance and received little
or no investigation.

In Uganda, 1,500 people die each week in the internally displaced person camps. According to
the World Health Organization, 500,000 have died in these camps.
Vietnamese authorities forced at least 75,000 drug addicts and prostitutes into 71 overpopulated
rehab camps, labeling the detainees at high risk of contracting HIV/AIDS but providing no
treatment.
ARTICLE 4 NO SLAVERY
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all
their forms.
In northern Uganda, the LRA (Lords Resistance Army) guerrillas have kidnapped 20,000
children over the past twenty years and forced them into service as soldiers or sexual slaves for
the army.
In Guinea-Bissau, children as young as five are trafficked out of the country to work in cotton
fields in southern Senegal or as beggars in the capital city. In Ghana, children five to fourteen are
tricked with false promises of education and future into dangerous, unpaid jobs in the fishing
industry.
In Asia, Japan is the major destination country for trafficked women, especially women coming
from the Philippines and Thailand. UNICEF estimates 60,000 child prostitutes in the Philippines.
The US State Department estimates 600,000 to 820,000 men, women and children are trafficked
across international borders each year, half of whom are minors, including record numbers of
women and girls fleeing from Iraq. In nearly all countries, including Canada, the US and the UK,
deportation or harassment are the usual governmental responses, with no assistance services for
the victims.
In the Dominican Republic, the operations of a trafficking ring led to the death by asphyxiation
of 25 Haitian migrant workers. In 2007, two civilians and two military officers received lenient
prison sentences for their part in the operation.
In Somalia in 2007, more than 1,400 displaced Somalis and Ethiopian nationals died at sea in
trafficking operations.
ARTICLE 5 NO TORTURE
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment.
In 2008, US authorities continued to hold 270 prisoners in Guantnamo Bay, Cuba, without
charge or trial, subjecting them to water-boarding, torture that simulates drowning. FormerPresident George W. Bush authorized the CIA to continue secret detention and interrogation,
despite its violation of international law.

In Darfur, violence, atrocities and abduction are rampant and outside aid all but cut off. Women
in particular are the victims of unrestrained assault, with more than 200 rapes in the vicinity of a
displaced persons camp in one five-week period, with no effort by authorities to punish the
perpetrators.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, acts of torture and ill treatment are routinely
committed by government security services and armed groups, including sustained beatings,
stabbings and rapes of those in custody. Detainees are held incommunicado, sometimes in secret
detention sites. In 2007, the Republican Guard (presidential guard) and Special Services police
division in Kinshasa arbitrarily detained and tortured numerous individuals labeled as critics of
the government.
ARTICLE 13 FREEDOM TO MOVE
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.
In Myanmar, thousands of citizens were detained, including 700 prisoners of conscience, most
notably Nobel Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. In retaliation for her political activities, she has
been imprisoned or under house arrest for twelve of the last eighteen years, and has refused
government offers of release that would require her to leave the country.
In Algeria, refugees and asylum-seekers were frequent victims of detention, expulsion or ill
treatment. Twenty-eight individuals from sub-Saharan African countries with official refugee
status from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) were deported to
Mali after being falsely tried, without legal counsel or interpreters, on charges of entering Algeria
illegally. They were dumped near a desert town where a Malian armed group was active, without
food, water or medical aid.
In Kenya, authorities violated international refugee law when they closed the border to thousands
of people fleeing armed conflict in Somalia. Asylum-seekers were illegally detained at the
Kenyan border without charge or trial and forcibly returned to Somalia.
In northern Uganda, 1.6 million citizens remained in displacement camps. In the Acholi
subregion, the area most affected by armed conflict, 63 percent of the 1.1 million people
displaced in 2005 were still living in camps in 2007, with only 7,000 returned permanently to
their places of origin.
ARTICLE 18 FREEDOM OF THOUGHT
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.

In Myanmar, the military junta crushed peaceful demonstrations led by monks, raided and closed
monasteries, confiscated and destroyed property, shot, beat and detained protesters, and harassed
or held hostage the friends and family members of the protesters.
In China, Falun Gong practitioners were singled out for torture and other abuses while in
detention. Christians were persecuted for practicing their religion outside state-sanctioned
channels.
In Kazakhstan, local authorities in a community near Almaty authorized the destruction of twelve
homes, all belonging to Hare Krishna members, falsely charging that the land on which the
homes were built had been illegally acquired. Only homes belonging to members of the Hare
Krishna community were destroyed
ARTICLE 19 FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
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.
In Sudan, dozens of human rights defenders were arrested and tortured by national intelligence
and security forces.
In Ethiopia, two prominent human rights defenders were convicted on false charges and
sentenced to nearly three years in prison.
In Somalia, a prominent human rights defender was murdered.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the government attacks and threatens human rights
defenders and restricts freedom of expression and association. In 2007, provisions of the 2004
Press Act were used by the government to censor newspapers and limit freedom of expression.
Russia repressed political dissent, pressured or shut down independent media and harassed
nongovernmental organizations. Peaceful public demonstrations were dispersed with force, and
lawyers, human rights defenders and journalists were threatened and attacked. Since 2000, the
murders of seventeen journalists, all critical of government policies and actions, remain
unsolved.
In Iraq, at least thirty-seven Iraqi employees of media networks were killed in 2008, and a total
of 235 since the invasion of March 2003, making Iraq the worlds most dangerous place for
journalists
ARTICLE 21 RIGHT TO DEMOCRACY
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 to 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.
In Zimbabwe, hundreds of human rights defenders and members of the main opposition party,
the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), were arrested for participating in peaceful
gatherings.
In Pakistan, thousands of lawyers, journalists, human rights defenders and political activists were
arrested for demanding democracy, the rule of law and an independent judiciary.
In Cuba, at the end of 2007, sixty two prisoners of conscience remained incarcerated for their
nonviolent political views or activities.
SUMMARY
Human rights exist, as embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the entire
body of international human rights law. They are recognizedat least in principleby most
nations and form the heart of many national constitutions. Yet the actual situation in the world is
far distant from the ideals envisioned in the Declaration.
To some, the full realization of human rights is a remote and unattainable goal. Even
international human rights laws are difficult to enforce and pursuing a complaint can take years
and a great deal of money. These international laws serve as a restraining function but are
insufficient to provide adequate human rights protection, as evidenced by the stark reality of
abuses perpetrated daily.
Discrimination is rampant throughout the world. Thousands are in prison for speaking their
minds. Torture and politically motivated imprisonment, often without trial, are commonplace,
condoned and practicedeven in some democratic countries.