On December 10, 1948 the
General Assembly of the United Nations adopted
and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights the full text of which appears in
the following pages. 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."
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.
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.
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