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Just Me Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-30-05 07:54 PM
Original message
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
NOBLE CAUSES WILL NEVER BE TRIVIAL IN SPITE OF ALL HUMAN WEAKNESS. I just plead that you refuse to be distracted from the basics that constitute the worth of all our lives.



:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:



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.

http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html

:grouphug:
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Fire Walk With Me Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-30-05 08:01 PM
Response to Original message
1. Don'cha know them durty UN black helicopters hate our freedom?
Universal rights.. Sigh.. Please, someday.
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tocqueville Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-30-05 08:03 PM
Response to Original message
2. Rights of Man and of the Citizen 1789 (the original)
The representatives of the French People, formed into a National Assembly, considering ignorance, forgetfulness or contempt of the rights of man to be the only causes of public misfortunes and the corruption of Governments, have resolved to set forth, in a solemn Declaration, the natural, unalienable and sacred rights of man, to the end that this Declaration, constantly present to all members of the body politic, may remind them unceasingly of their rights and their duties; to the end that the acts of the legislative power and those of the executive power, since they may be continually compared with the aim of every political institution, may thereby be the more respected; to the end that the demands of the citizens, founded henceforth on simple and incontestable principles, may always be directed toward the maintenance of the Constitution and the happiness of all.

In consequence whereof, the National Assembly recognizes and declares, in the presence and under the auspices of the Supreme Being, the following Rights of Man and of the Citizen.

Article first.
- Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be based only on considerations of the common good.

Article 2.
- The aim of every political association is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are Liberty, Property, Safety and Resistance to Oppression.

Article 3.
- The source of all sovereignty lies essentially in the Nation. No corporate body, no individual may exercise any authority that does not expressly emanate from it.

Article 4.
- Liberty consists in being able to do anything that does not harm others: thus, the exercise of the natural rights of every man has no bounds other than those that ensure to the other members of society the enjoyment of these same rights. These bounds may be determined only by Law.

Article 5.
- The Law has the right to forbid only those actions that are injurious to society. Nothing that is not forbidden by Law may be hindered, and no one may be compelled to do what the Law does not ordain.

Article 6.
- The Law is the expression of the general will. All citizens have the right to take part, personally or through their representatives, in its making. It must be the same for all, whether it protects or punishes. All citizens, being equal in its eyes, shall be equally eligible to all high offices, public positions and employments, according to their ability, and without other distinction than that of their virtues and talents.

Article 7.
- No man may be accused, arrested or detained except in the cases determined by the Law, and following the procedure that it has prescribed. Those who solicit, expedite, carry out, or cause to be carried out arbitrary orders must be punished; but any citizen summoned or apprehended by virtue of the Law, must give instant obedience; resistance makes him guilty.

Article 8.
- The Law must prescribe only the punishments that are strictly and evidently necessary; and no one may be punished except by virtue of a Law drawn up and promulgated before the offense is committed, and legally applied.

Article 9.
- As every man is presumed innocent until he has been declared guilty, if it should be considered necessary to arrest him, any undue harshness that is not required to secure his person must be severely curbed by Law.

Article 10.
- No one may be disturbed on account of his opinions, even religious ones, as long as the manifestation of such opinions does not interfere with the established Law and Order.

Article 11.
- The free communication of ideas and of opinions is one of the most precious rights of man. Any citizen may therefore speak, write and publish freely, except what is tantamount to the abuse of this liberty in the cases determined by Law.

Article 12.
- To guarantee the Rights of Man and of the Citizen a public force is necessary; this force is therefore established for the benefit of all, and not for the particular use of those to whom it is entrusted.

Article 13.
- For the maintenance of the public force, and for administrative expenses, a general tax is indispensable; it must be equally distributed among all citizens, in proportion to their ability to pay.

Article 14.
- All citizens have the right to ascertain, by themselves, or through their representatives, the need for a public tax, to consent to it freely, to watch over its use, and to determine its proportion, basis, collection and duration.

Article 15.
- Society has the right to ask a public official for an accounting of his administration.

Article 16.
- Any society in which no provision is made for guaranteeing rights or for the separation of powers, has no Constitution.

Article 17.
- Since the right to Property is inviolable and sacred, no one may be deprived thereof, unless public necessity, legally ascertained, obviously requires it, and just and prior indemnity has been paid.

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Just Me Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-30-05 08:17 PM
Response to Reply #2
5. All we need to do is push "wo/man" to make it complete.
Yes? :hug:
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tocqueville Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-30-05 08:31 PM
Response to Reply #5
6. yes
you are right, the French REvolution did very little for women, but it was the culture of the time...

To their discharge it can be said that the word "homme" in the original doesn't mean man as a male, but mankind.
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tocqueville Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-30-05 08:42 PM
Response to Reply #6
10. and
:hug:
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Just Me Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-30-05 08:58 PM
Response to Reply #10
13. Back atcha'
:hug:
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sandnsea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-30-05 08:05 PM
Response to Original message
3. United Nations Reform Act of 2005
The United Nations Reform Act of 2005 was introduced in the House by Rob Bishop of Utah, as well as a similar bill by Henry Hyde which was hailed by the American Conservative Union. It requires member countries "to uphold the values embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights shall be ineligible for membership on any United Nations human rights body."

Doesn't the Declaration mean what we're doing with the detainees is completely illegal?

By our own legislation, we're not eligible for UN human rights delegation membership.

http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=1092
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tocqueville Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-30-05 08:11 PM
Response to Reply #3
4. yes
Article 5.
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
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sandnsea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-30-05 08:36 PM
Response to Reply #4
8. And
No military tribunals or secret court proceedings either.

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 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.
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tocqueville Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-30-05 08:41 PM
Response to Reply #8
9. the UN declation is part of French law
The constitution does not contain a bill of rights in itself, but its preamble mentions that France should follow the principles of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, as well as those of the preamble to the constitution of the Fourth Republic. This has been judged to imply that the principles so laid in those texts had constitutional value, and that legislation infringing on those principles should be found unconstitutional.

(wikipedia)

I am not clear how the US consitution relates to this declaration, besides the fact that it is ratified.
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sandnsea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-30-05 08:51 PM
Response to Reply #9
12. Says to uphold treaties
In any event, that Act I posted is written by Republicans and clearly says we should uphold the Human Rights Declaration. That they would write a law for everybody else, when we're already breaking it, is just, well, so typically Republican.
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Just Me Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jul-31-05 05:05 PM
Response to Reply #12
16. Republicans USED to say we should uphold the Human Rights Declaration.
Until they got into power. Apparently, they don't have the strength of character to handle power. Apparently.
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sandnsea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jul-31-05 05:33 PM
Response to Reply #16
17. It's in the 2005 law
The one I posted. Republicans introduced a UN reform law requiring countries to uphold the Declaration... despite the fact that we don't uphold it ourselves.
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Just Me Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jul-31-05 05:49 PM
Response to Reply #17
18. They talk,...they never defend. Hell, they refuse to defend their own,...
Edited on Sun Jul-31-05 05:51 PM by Just Me
,...against the most egregious abuses against our people's trust and loyalty.

They just "talk". They NEVER defend.

On edit: I correct myself,...there are Republicans who are working to DEFEND us. My apologies to those who are risking everything to do that for us. :hug:
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Just Me Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-30-05 08:35 PM
Response to Reply #3
7. We have a "leadership" that is lost, is dark.
:shrug: The BushCO/neoCON regime not only betrays but exudes hatred against universal tenets of humanity.

What's wrong with those people? They are not just sick,...they are destructive and willingly criminal against the lot of humanity.
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Swamp Rat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-30-05 08:44 PM
Response to Original message
11. Amen!
:)

:grouphug:

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Just Me Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-30-05 09:05 PM
Response to Reply #11
14. Another word for "it shall be" and/or "let it be" and/or "it will be".
:7 among other interpretations.
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Just Me Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-30-05 09:23 PM
Response to Original message
15. Aim for what's REAL in the hearts and minds of all people.
I beg you to hang on to these basic human values instead of throwing people away in a game defined by an enemy of universal human dignities.

Please, don't allow assholes to define the game of our life.
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Just Me Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jul-31-05 08:51 PM
Response to Original message
19. Common causes that should NEVER be abandoned.
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