UDHR

Human Rights have been traced to the Greeks who guaranteed: 

• Right to freedom of speech
• Right to equality before law
• Right to equal respect for all

The British Magna Carta, the United States Bill of Rights, and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man are human rights documents that have preceded Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

It was during World War II that issue of human rights were raised. Franklin D. Roosevelt, the US President in the Atlantic Charter of 1941, along with British PM Winston Churchill penned the four freedoms which are:

·         Freedom of speech and expression

• Freedom from fear
• Freedom from any kinds of discrimination
• Freedom of every person to worship of God in his own way

At the end of World War II, the atrocities of Nazis were revealed to the world, where 6 million Jews had been exterminated. The world was shocked and a Polish lawyer named Raphael Lemkin coined the word "genocide."

In 1946 after the formation of the United Nations, a UN Commission on Human Rights was formed, consisting of 18 members. Eleanor Roosevelt as Chairperson, P.C Chang (China) and René Cassin (France) as Vice-Chairpersons and Charles Malik (Lebanon) as a rapporteur. The principal task of the Commission was to define which rights should be enumerated, and to determine the nature of the document they were to design.

In December, 1948 after numerous meeting after changes, the Declaration was put to vote. Forty-eight nations voted for the Declaration, eight countries abstained (the Soviet bloc countries, South Africa and Saudi Arabia) and two countries were absent -- the community of nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights without dissent. 

Human rights can be broadly classified into

1.      The Right to Physical and Mental Integrity – The right to life, liberty, security, freedom from torture, cruel and inhuman treatment, freedom from slavery, forced labor, arbitrary arrest etc                                                                                                                 

2.      Freedom of conscience and Action – Freedom of opinion, religion, expression, Freedom of information, freedom to form associations, trade unions, freedom of movement etc                                                                                                                                           

3.      Right to Legal justice – Fair trial in courts, the Right to defend                                           

4.      Privacy and Family Rights                                                                                                     

5.      Political Rights – The right to vote and stand in election                                                      

6.      Economic and social rights- The right to work, adequate standard of living, social security, the right to health services                                                                                               

7.      Equality and non-discrimination

Right to Development , was adopted by the UN in 1986

Importance  of UDHR : 

ü  Human rights are moral, universal. It is a set of moral rules and it is binding on all the nations to follow the  UDHR although it is not legal

ü  Serves as a common standard for all

ü  Makes violation an international concern

ü  Human rights allow us to fully develop and use our human qualities, our intelligence and talent.  They also satisfy our spiritual and  other needs

ü  It respects and protects basic dignity and human worth

ü  Respect for human rights is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. 

ü  It has Influenced constitution of many countries. – Fundamental Rights in our constitution is based on UDHR.

Significance of UDHR  with reference to India

Our constitution provides for fundamental  rights which are based on and inspired by UDHR. However there are several issues in the past and in the present which signifies the importance of UDHR

ü  Mass arrests of opposition leaders and mass sterilization program during the emergency period

ü  Even today women are victim of dowry, domestic violence, liquor, rape . Discrimination in work place, sexual harassment at work place violate the womens right to dignity and freedom. The low status of women in India is visible in cases of female foeticide.

ü  Discrimination based on caste and class exist in our society . Untouchability is still practiced in our society specially  the rural India and there are cases of increased violence against the Dalits.                                                                                             

ü  Several projects have resulted in displacing people from their region and deprived them of their livelihood.  eg Narmada Dam project , Although they may be resettled in other areas, there are issues of human rights                                                                                                                                        

ü  Torture in Custody and custodial deaths , fake encounters,  custodial rapes are reported from various states.                                                                                                                   

ü  Conditions in our prisons and the inhuman treatment of prisoners is  a serious violation of human rights.

ü  Several farmers committing suicide raises question of Right to Live.

ü  Child labor is still prevalent in India. Children  employed in homes and in commercial workplaces, are subjected to ill-treatment. The chaining of bonded child labour in the carpet industry near Varanasi so that they could not escape was reported. There are reports of Domestic child workers being tortured sometimes resulting in death. 

ü  There has been increasing cases  of child abuse, and more particularly child sexual abuse

ü  20 years after Bhopal tragedy, victims are still waiting for justice.

In the light of the above it is significant to note that we as a nation should understand the principles of UDHR.    NHRC, and many  human rights activists have been taking action on human  rights issues as and when they are reported   But a lot more needs to be done by all concerned . What is required is mass awareness and self regulation.

@Notes courtesy of Aparna, Shruti Gokhale, Dhanika and myself