Human Rights – the basics
We have reproduced a list of some of the key human rights as guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1950) below. There are 17 here, but you can see the whole list at http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html. Spend the time it takes to read through them and think about how different your life might be if each of the rights did not apply to you, your families or friends. What aspects of life that you take for granted might vanish if you lived in a country where political or economic problems meant you did not enjoy these rights?
Declaration of Human Rights (Articles) |
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 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 7: All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. |
Article 9: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile. |
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. |
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 16:(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State. |
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. |
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. |
Article 24: Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay. |
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. (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. |
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. |
