Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Wikipedia

Document of human rights by the United Nations
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The
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
UDHR
) is a document adopted by the
United Nations General Assembly
that codifies some of the
rights and freedoms of all human beings
. Drafted by a
United Nations
(UN)
committee
chaired by
Eleanor Roosevelt
, it was accepted by the General Assembly as
Resolution 217
during
its third session
on 10 December 1948 at the
Palais de Chaillot
in Paris, France.
Of the 58 members of the UN at the time, 48 voted in favour, none against, eight
abstained
, and two did not vote.
A foundational text in the
history of human and civil rights
, the Declaration consists of 30 articles detailing an individual's "basic
rights
and fundamental freedoms" and affirming their universal character as inherent, inalienable, and applicable to all human beings.
Adopted as a "common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations", the UDHR commits nations to recognize all humans as being "born free and equal in dignity and rights" regardless of "nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status".
The Declaration is generally considered to be a milestone document for its universalist language, which makes no reference to a particular culture, political system, or religion.
It directly inspired the development of
international human rights law
, and was the first step in the formulation of the
International Bill of Human Rights
, which was completed in 1966 and came into force in 1976. Although
not legally binding
, the contents of the UDHR have been elaborated and incorporated into subsequent
international treaties
, regional
human rights
instruments, and national
constitutions
and legal codes.
All 193 member states of the UN have ratified at least one of the nine binding treaties influenced by the Declaration, with the vast majority ratifying four or more.
While there is a wide consensus that the declaration itself is non-binding and not part of
customary international law
, there is also a
consensus
in most countries that many of its provisions are part of
customary law
10
although courts in some nations have been more restrictive in interpreting its legal effect.
11
12
Nevertheless, the UDHR has influenced legal, political, and social developments on both the global and national levels, with its significance partly evidenced by its 530 translations.
13
Structure and content
edit
The underlying structure of the Universal Declaration was influenced by the
Code Napoléon
, including a
preamble
and introductory general principles.
14
Its final structure took form in the second draft prepared by French jurist
René Cassin
, who worked on the initial draft prepared by Canadian legal scholar
John Peters Humphrey
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights consists of the following:
The preamble sets out the historical and social causes that led to the necessity of drafting the Declaration.
Articles 1–2 establish the basic concepts of dignity, liberty, and equality for all humans regardless of characteristics such as race, gender, religion, or nationality (later interpreted to include sexual orientation and disability).
Articles 3–5 establish other individual rights, such as the
right to life
and the prohibition of
slavery
and
torture
Articles 6–11 refer to the fundamental legality of human rights with specific remedies cited for their defence when violated.
Articles 12–17 set forth the rights of the individual towards the community, including
freedom of movement
and
residence
within each state, the right of
property
, the right to a
nationality
and
right to asylum
Articles 18–21 sanction the so-called "constitutional liberties" and spiritual, public, and political freedoms, such as
freedom of thought
conscience
religion
expression
media
association
, and
assembly
Articles 22–27 sanction an individual's economic, social and cultural rights, including the
right to work
health
housing
, and
education
. It upholds an expansive
right to an adequate standard of living
, and makes special mention of care given to those in motherhood or childhood.
Articles 28–30 establish the general means of exercising these rights, the areas in which the rights of the individual cannot be applied, the duty of the individual to society, and the prohibition of the use of rights in contravention of the purposes of the United Nations Organization.
15
Cassin compared the Declaration to the
portico
of a Greek temple, with a foundation, steps, four columns, and a
pediment
16
Articles 1 and 2—with their principles of dignity, liberty, equality and brotherhood—serve as the foundation blocks. The seven paragraphs of the preamble, setting out the reasons for the Declaration, represent the steps leading up to the temple. The main body of the Declaration forms the four columns. The first column (articles 3–11) constitutes rights of the individual, such as the right to life and the prohibition of slavery. The second column (articles 12–17) constitutes the rights of the individual in civil and political society. The third column (articles 18–21) is concerned with spiritual, public, and political freedoms, such as freedom of religion and freedom of association. The fourth column (articles 22–27) sets out social, economic, and cultural rights. The final three articles provide the "
pediment
" which binds the structure together, as they emphasize the mutual duties of every individual to one another and to society.
16
Charles Malik
, the
Lebanese
representative on the drafting commission, pointed out the need for an article on the right or popular entitlement to "a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realised", which became Article 28.
17
Freedom from Fear
(Saturday, March 13, 1943)–from the
Four Freedoms
series by
Norman Rockwell
. The freedom from fear is mentioned in the preamble of the Declaration.
18
During
World War II
, the
Allies
—known
formally as the United Nations
—adopted as their basic war aims the
Four Freedoms
freedom of speech
freedom of religion
freedom from want
, and
freedom from fear
19
20
Towards the end of the war, the
United Nations Charter
was debated, drafted, and ratified to reaffirm "faith in
fundamental human rights
, and dignity and worth of the human person" and commit all member states to promote "universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion".
21
When the atrocities committed by
Nazi Germany
became fully apparent after the war, the consensus within the world community was that the
UN
Charter did not sufficiently define the rights to which it referred.
22
23
It was deemed necessary to create a universal declaration that specified the rights of individuals so as to give effect to the Charter's provisions on
human rights
24
The drafting committee
edit
In June 1946, the
Economic and Social Council
(ECOSOC)—a
principal organ
of the newly founded United Nations that is responsible for promoting human rights, created the
Commission on Human Rights
(CHR)—a standing body within the United Nations that was tasked with preparing what was initially conceived as an
International Bill of Rights
25
It had 18 members from various national, religious, and political backgrounds, so as to be representative of humanity.
26
In February 1947, the Commission established a special
Universal Declaration of Human Rights Drafting Committee
, chaired by
Eleanor Roosevelt
of the United States, to write the articles of the Declaration. Roosevelt, in her position, was key to the U.S. effort to encourage the General Assembly's adoption of a Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
27
The Committee met in two sessions over the course of two years.
28
Canadian
John Peters Humphrey
, the newly appointed Director of the Division of Human Rights within the United Nations Secretariat, was called upon by the
UN Secretary-General
to work on the project, becoming the Declaration's principal drafter.
29
30
Other prominent members of the Drafting Committee included Vice-Chairman
P.C. Chang
of the
Republic of China
René Cassin
of France; and its Committee Rapporteur
Charles Malik
of
Lebanon
31
A month after its creation, the Drafting Committee was expanded to include representatives of
Australia
Chile
France
, the
Soviet Union
, and the
United Kingdom
, in addition to the inaugural members from
China
France
Lebanon
, and the
United States
32
Creation and drafting
edit
Humphrey is credited with devising the "blueprint" for the Declaration, while Cassin composed the first draft.
33
Both received considerable input from other members, each of whom reflected different professional and ideological backgrounds. The Declaration's pro-family phrases allegedly derived from Cassin and Malik, who were influenced by the
Christian Democracy movement
34
Malik, a Christian theologian, was known for appealing across religious lines; he cited the
Summa Theologica
of
Thomas Aquinas
, and studied the different Christian sects.
32
Chang urged removing all references to religion to make the document more universal, and used aspects of Confucianism to settle stalemates in negotiations.
35
Hernán Santa Cruz
of Chile, an educator and judge, strongly supported the inclusion of socioeconomic rights, which had been opposed by some Western nations.
32
The members agreed that the philosophical debate centered between the opposing opinions of Chang and Malik, with Malik later singling out Chang when thanking the members, saying that there were too many to mention, but Chang's ideas impacted his own opinions in the making of the draft.
36
37
38
In her memoirs, Roosevelt commented on the debates and discussions that informed the UDHR, describing one such exchange during the Drafting Committee's first session in June 1947:
Dr. Chang was a pluralist and held forth in charming fashion on the proposition that there is more than one kind of ultimate reality. The Declaration, he said, should reflect more than simply Western ideas and Dr. Humphrey would have to be eclectic in his approach. His remark, though addressed to Dr. Humphrey, was really directed at Dr. Malik, from whom it drew a prompt retort as he expounded at some length the philosophy of
Thomas Aquinas
. Dr. Humphrey joined enthusiastically in the discussion, and I remember that at one point Dr. Chang suggested that the Secretariat might well spend a few months studying the fundamentals of Confucianism!
32
In May 1948, roughly a year after its creation, the Drafting Committee held its second and final session, where it considered the comments and suggestions of member states and international bodies, principally the United Nations Conference on Freedom of Information, which took place the prior March and April; the Commission on the Status of Women, a body within ECOSOC that reported on the state of women's rights worldwide; and the Ninth International Conference of American States, held in Bogota, Colombia from March to May 1948, which adopted the South American-based
American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man
, the world's first general
international human rights instrument
39
Delegates and consultants from several United Nations bodies, international organizations, and nongovernmental organizations also attended and submitted suggestions.
40
It was also hoped that an International Bill of Human Rights with legal force could be drafted and submitted for adoption alongside the Declaration.
39
Upon the session's conclusion on 21 May 1948, the Committee submitted to the Commission on Human Rights a redrafted text of the "International Declaration of Human Rights" and the "International Covenant of Human Rights", which together would form an International Bill of Rights.
39
The redrafted Declaration was further examined and discussed by the Commission on Human Rights in its third session in Geneva 21 May through 18 June 1948.
41
The so-called "Geneva text" was circulated among member states and subject to several proposed amendments; for example,
Hansa Mehta
of India notably suggested that the Declaration assert that "all human beings are created equal", instead of "all men are created equal", to better reflect gender equality.
42
Charles Theodore Te Water
of South Africa fought very hard to have the word dignity removed from the declaration, saying that "dignity had no universal standard and that it was not a 'right'". Te Water believed—correctly, as it turned out—that listing human dignity as a human right would lead to criticism of the
apartheid
system that had just been introduced by the new National Party government of South Africa. Malik in response stated that Prime Minister
Jan Smuts
of South Africa had played an important role in drafting the United Nations Charter in 1945, and it was Smuts who inserted the word dignity as a human right into the charter. Despite te Water's efforts, the word dignity was included in the declaration as a human right.
With a vote of twelve in favour, none opposed, and four abstaining, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, with
Eleanor Roosevelt
in the chair, approved the proposed Declaration on 18 June 1948, although it was unable to examine the contents and implementation of the proposed Covenant.
44
The Commission forwarded the approved text of the Declaration, as well as the Covenant, to the
Economic and Social Council
for its review and approval during its seventh session in July and August 1948.
45
The Council adopted Resolution 151(VII) of 26 August 1948, transmitting the draft International Declaration of Human Rights to the UN General Assembly.
45
The Third Committee of the
General Assembly
, which convened from 30 September to 7 December 1948 during the
third session of the United Nations General Assembly
, held 81 meetings concerning the draft Declaration, including debating and resolving 168 proposals for amendments by United Nations member states.
46
47
On its 178th meeting on 6 December, the Third Committee adopted the Declaration with 29 votes in favour, none opposed and seven abstentions.
46
The document was subsequently submitted to the wider General Assembly for its consideration on 9 and 10 December 1948.
The Universal Declaration was adopted by the
General Assembly
as
UN Resolution A/RES/217(III)[A]
on 10 December 1948 in the
Palais de Chaillot
, Paris.
48
Of the 58 United Nations members at the time,
49
48 voted in favour, none against, eight
abstained
50
51
and
Honduras
and
Yemen
failed to vote or abstain.
52
Eleanor Roosevelt is credited with having been instrumental in mustering support for the Declaration's adoption, both in her native U.S. and across the world, owing to her ability to appeal to different and often opposing political blocs.
The meeting record provides firsthand insight into the debate on the Declaration's adoption.
53
South Africa
's position can be seen as an attempt to protect
its system of apartheid
, which clearly violated several articles in the Declaration.
50
Saudi Arabia
's abstention was prompted primarily by two of the Declaration's articles:
Article 18
, which states that everyone has the right "to change his religion or belief", and Article 16, on equal marriage rights.
50
The abstentions by the six communist nations were explained by their claim that the Declaration did not go far enough in condemning fascism and national-socialism.
50
However,
Eleanor Roosevelt
felt that the reason for the abstentions was Article 13, which provided the
right of citizens to leave their countries
54
Other observers pin the Soviet bloc's opposition to the Declaration's "
negative rights
", such as provisions calling on governments not to violate certain civil and political rights.
The
British
delegation, while voting in favour of the Declaration, expressed frustration that the proposed document had moral obligations but lacked legal force;
55
it would not be until 1976 that the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
came into force, giving a legal status to most of the Declaration.
Voting in the plenary session:
Green countries: voted in favour;
Orange countries: abstained;
Black countries: failed to abstain or vote;
Grey countries: were not a part of the UN at time of voting
The 48 countries that voted in favour of the Declaration are:
56
a.
Despite the central role played by the Canadian John Peters Humphrey, the Canadian Government at first abstained from voting on the Declaration's draft, but later voted in favour of the final draft in the General Assembly.
57
Eight countries abstained:
56
Two countries did not vote:
Current UN member states
, particularly in Africa, gained sovereignty later, and many nations in Europe and the Pacific were under administration due to the recently concluded
World War II
, which accounts for the comparatively smaller number of states who participated in the historic vote.
58
International Human Rights Day
edit
Former Foreign Office minister
Baroness Anelay
speaking at the Commemorating Human Rights Day event in London, 8 December 2016
10 December, the anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration, is celebrated annually as
World Human Rights Day
or International Human Rights Day. The commemoration is observed by individuals, community and religious groups, human rights organizations, parliaments, governments, and the
United Nations
Decadal
commemorations are often accompanied by campaigns to promote awareness of the Declaration and of human rights in general. 2008 marked the 60th anniversary of the Declaration, and was accompanied by year-long activities around the theme "Dignity and justice for all of us".
59
Likewise, the 70th anniversary in 2018 was marked by the global
#StandUpForHumanRights
campaign, which targeted youth.
60
At the time of the Declaration's adoption by the General Assembly in 1948, Eleanor Roosevelt said:
61
: 318
In giving our approval to the declaration today, it is of primary importance that we keep clearly in mind the basic character of the document. It is not a treaty; it is not an international agreement. It is not and does not purport to be a statement of law or of legal obligation. It is a declaration of basic principles of human rights and freedoms, to be stamped with the approval of the General Assembly by formal vote of its members, and to serve as a common standard of achievement for all peoples of all nations.
The UDHR is considered groundbreaking for providing a comprehensive and universal set of principles in a secular, apolitical document that explicitly transcends cultures, religions, legal systems, and political ideologies.
Its claim to universality has been described as "boundlessly idealistic" and the "most ambitious feature".
62
The Declaration was officially adopted as a
French
document,
63
64
with official translations in
Chinese
Russian
and
Spanish
, all of which are
official working languages of the UN
65
Due to its inherently universalist nature, the United Nations has made a concerted effort to translate the document into as many languages as possible, in collaboration with private and public entities and individuals.
66
In 1999, the
Guinness Book of Records
described the Declaration as the world's "Most Translated Document", with 298 translations; the record was once again certified a decade later when the text reached 370 different languages and dialects.
67
68
The UDHR achieved a milestone of more than 500 translations in 2016, and as of 2024, had been translated into 562 languages,
69
70
remaining the most translated document.
67
In its preamble, governments commit themselves and their people to progressive measures that secure the universal and effective recognition and observance of the human rights set out in the Declaration.
Eleanor Roosevelt
supported the adoption of the text as a declaration, rather than as a treaty, because she believed that it would have the same kind of influence on global society as the
United States Declaration of Independence
had within the United States.
71
Even though it is not legally binding, the Declaration has been incorporated into or influenced most national constitutions since 1948. It has also served as the foundation for a growing number of national laws, international laws, and treaties, as well as for a growing number of regional, subnational, and national institutions protecting and promoting human rights. These kinds of measures focus on some principles that regard every culture/community especially when martial status take place or inheritance. In other words, every culture has its own norms and every individual is allowed to practice them unless he/she use them as a source of power.
The Declaration's all-encompassing provisions serve as a "yardstick" and point of reference by which countries' commitments to human rights are judged, such as through the treaty bodies and other mechanisms of various human rights treaties that monitor implementation.
In international law, a declaration is distinct from a treaty in that it generally states aspirations or understandings among the parties, rather than binding obligations.
72
The Declaration was explicitly adopted to reflect and elaborate on the customary international law reflected in the "
fundamental freedoms
" and "human rights" referenced in the United Nations Charter, which is binding on all member states.
72
For this reason, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a fundamental constitutive document of the United Nations and, by extension, all 193 parties of the United Nations Charter.
Nevertheless, the status of the Declaration as a legally enforceable document varies widely around the world: some countries have incorporated it into their domestic laws, while other countries consider it merely a statement of ideals, with no binding provisions.
61
: 287–397
Many international lawyers believe that the Declaration forms part of
customary international law
and is a powerful tool in applying diplomatic and moral pressure to governments that violate its articles.
73
74
75
76
77
78
One prominent international jurist described the UDHR as being "universally regarded as expounding generally accepted norms".
79
Other legal scholars have further argued that the Declaration constitutes
jus cogens
, fundamental principles of international law from which no state may deviate or
derogate
80
The 1968 United Nations International Conference on Human Rights advised that the Declaration "constitutes an obligation for the members of the international community" to all persons.
81
The Declaration has served as the foundation for two binding United Nations human rights covenants: the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
and the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
. The principles of the Declaration are elaborated in other binding international treaties such as the
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
, the
International Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
, the
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
, the
United Nations Convention Against Torture
, and many more. The Declaration continues to be widely cited by governments, academics, advocates, and constitutional courts, and by individuals who appeal to its principles for the protection of their recognized human rights.
82
According to a 2022 study, the UDHR "significantly accelerated the adoption of a particular set of [national] constitutional rights".
83
One scholar estimates that at least 90 national constitutions drafted since the Declaration's adoption in 1948 "contain statements of fundamental rights which, where they do not faithfully reproduce the provisions of the Universal Declaration, are at least inspired by it".
84
At least 20 African nations that attained independence
in the decades
immediately following 1948 explicitly referenced the UDHR in their constitutions.
84
As of 2014, the constitutions that still directly cite the Declaration are those of Afghanistan, Benin, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Chad, Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Guinea, Haiti, Mali, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Niger, Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Somalia, Spain, Togo, and Yemen.
84
Moreover, the constitutions of
Portugal
Romania
São Tomé
and Príncipe, and
Spain
compel their courts to "interpret" constitutional norms consistently with the Universal Declaration.
85
Judicial and political figures in many nations have directly invoked the UDHR as an influence or inspiration on their courts, constitutions, or legal codes. Indian courts have ruled the
Indian Constitution
"[embodies] most of the articles contained in the Declaration".
86
Nations as diverse as Antigua, Chad, Chile, Kazakhstan, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Zimbabwe have derived constitutional and legal provisions from the Declaration.
84
In some cases, specific provisions of the UDHR are incorporated or otherwise reflected in national law. The right to health or to protection of health is found in the constitutions of France,
87
Belgium, Kyrgyzstan, Paraguay,
Peru
Thailand
, and Togo; constitutional obligations on the government to provide health services exist in
Armenia
Cambodia
Ethiopia
Finland
South Korea
, Kyrgyzstan, Paraguay, Thailand, and Yemen.
86
A survey of U.S. cases through 1988 found five references to the Declaration by the United States Supreme Court; sixteen references by
federal courts of appeal
; twenty-four references by
federal district courts
; one reference by a
bankruptcy court
; and several references by five state courts.
88
Likewise, research conducted in 1994 identified 94 references to the Declaration by federal and state courts across the U.S.
89
In 2004, the
U.S. Supreme Court
ruled in
Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain
that the Declaration "does not of its own force impose obligations as a matter of international law", and that the political branches of the U.S. federal government can "scrutinize" the nation's obligations to international instruments and their enforceability.
12
However, U.S. courts and legislatures may still use the Declaration to inform or interpret laws concerned with human rights,
90
a position shared by the courts of Belgium, the Netherlands, India, and Sri Lanka.
90
The Universal Declaration has received praise from a number of notable activists, jurists, and political leaders.
Lebanese
philosopher and diplomat
Charles Malik
called it "an international document of the first order of importance",
91
while
Eleanor Roosevelt
—first chairperson of the
Commission on Human Rights
(CHR) that helped draft the Declaration—stated that it "may well become the international
Magna Carta
of all men everywhere".
92
At the 1993 United Nations
World Conference on Human Rights
, one of the largest international gatherings on human rights,
93
diplomats and officials representing 100 nations reaffirmed their governments' "commitment to the purposes and principles contained in the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights" and emphasized that the Declaration as "the source of inspiration and has been the basis for the United Nations in making advances in standard setting as contained in the existing international human rights instruments".
84
In a speech on 5 October 1995, Pope
John Paul II
called the Declaration "one of the highest expressions of the human conscience of our time", despite the Vatican never adopting it.
94
In a statement on 10 December 2003 on behalf of the
European Union
Marcello Spatafora
said that the Declaration "placed human rights at the centre of the framework of principles and obligations shaping relations within the international community".
95
As a pillar of international human rights, the UDHR enjoys widespread support among international and nongovernmental organizations. The
International Federation for Human Rights
(FIDH), one of the oldest human rights organizations, has as its core mandate the promotion of the respect for all rights set out in the Declaration, the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
, and the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
96
97
Amnesty International
, the third oldest international human rights organization,
98
has regularly observed Human Rights Day and organized worldwide events to bring awareness and support of the UDHR.
99
Some organizations, such as the
Quaker United Nations Office
and the
American Friends Service Committee
have developed curriculum or programmes to educate young people on the UDHR.
100
101
102
Specific provisions of the UDHR are cited or elaborated by
interest groups
in relation to their specific area of focus. In 1997, the council of the
American Library Association
(ALA) endorsed Articles 18 through 20 concerning freedoms of thought, opinion, and expression,
103
which were codified in the ALA Universal Right to Free Expression and the
Library Bill of Rights
. The Declaration formed the basis of the ALA's claim that
censorship
invasion of privacy
, and interference of opinions are human rights violations.
104
Soviet Union and Marxism–Leninism
edit
During the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the
Soviet Union
criticized its promoters for not prioritizing
social rights
over
individual rights
and
positive rights
over
negative rights
enough according to
Marxism–Leninism
105
Distribution map of
Islam by country
Most
Muslim-majority countries
that were then members of the United Nations signed the Declaration in 1948, including the kingdoms of
Afghanistan
Egypt
, and
Iraq
Pahlavi Iran
, and the
First Syrian Republic
; the
Republic of Turkey
, which had an
overwhelmingly Muslim population
but an
officially secular government
, also voted in favour.
106
Saudi Arabia
was the sole abstainer on the Declaration among Muslim-majority countries, claiming that it violated the
Islamic law
sharīʿa
).
107
108
Pakistan
, officially an
Islamic state
, signed the declaration and critiqued the Saudi position,
109
strongly arguing in favour of including
freedom of religion
as a fundamental human right of the UDHR.
110
full citation needed
Moreover, some Muslim diplomats would later help draft other United Nations human rights treaties. For example,
Iraq
's representative to the United Nations,
Bedia Afnan
's insistence on wording that recognized gender equality resulted in Article 3 within the
ICCPR
and
ICESCR
, which, together with the UDHR, form the International Bill of Rights. Pakistani diplomat
Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah
influenced the drafting of the Declaration, especially with respect to
women's rights
, and played a role in the preparation of the 1951 Genocide Convention.
110
In 1982, the
Iranian
diplomat to the United Nations, who represented the country's
newly installed Islamic republic
, stated that the Declaration was "a
secular
understanding of the
Judeo-Christian
tradition" that could not be implemented by Muslims without conflict with
sharīʿa
law.
111
On 30 June 2000, member states of the
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
, which represents the Muslim world's largest intergovernmental body,
112
officially resolved to support the
Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam
107
113
an alternative document that says people have "freedom and right to a dignified life in accordance with the Islamic Shari'ah", without any discrimination on grounds of "race, colour, language, sex, religious belief, political affiliation, social status or other considerations". The Cairo Declaration is widely acknowledged to be a response to the UDHR, and uses similar universalist language, albeit derived solely from
Islamic jurisprudence
fiqh
).
114
Regarding the promulgation of the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, T. Jeremy Gunn, Professor of Law and Political Science at the
International University of Rabat
in
Morocco
, has stated:
the twenty-two-member
League of Arab States
(Arab League)—each of whose members also belongs to the OIC and is majority-Muslim—created its own human rights instruments and institutions (based in Cairo) that set it apart from the international human rights regime. While the term "Arab" denotes an ethnicity and "Muslim" references a religion, all majority-Arab countries are also majority-Muslim countries, though the opposite does not hold. Indeed, the preponderance of Muslim-majority countries is not Arab. It has long been recognized that the Muslim-majority Arab world ranks particularly poorly with respect to human rights. According to the
2009 Arab Human Development Report
, written by Arab experts for the
United Nations Development Programme
Regional Bureau for Arab States, "Arab states seem content to ratify certain international human rights treaties, but do not go so far as to recognize the role of international mechanisms in making human rights effective." [...] The resistance to implementation of international human rights standards in parts of the Muslim and Arab worlds is perhaps most salient with the panoply of rights related to religion. In terms of the UDHR, the core of the resistance is centered on issues of the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion (Article 18), prohibition of discrimination on the basis of religion (Article 2), and the prohibition of discrimination against women (preamble, Article 2, Article 16). The same resistance to universal standards, already present in the UDHR, continued in subsequent elaborations of human rights, including the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR), the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
, the
Convention on the Rights of the Child
, and the 1981
Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief
107
A number of scholars in different fields have expressed concerns with the Declaration's alleged
Western
and
secularist
bias.
107
Abdulaziz Sachedina
observes that Muslims broadly agree with the Declaration's universalist premise, which is shared by Islam, but differ on specific contents, which many find "insensitive to particular Muslim cultural values, especially when it comes to speaking about individual rights in the context of collective and family values in Muslim society".
115
: 50–51
However, he notes that most
Muslim scholars
, while opposing the inherently secular framework of the document, do respect and acknowledge some of its "foundations".
115
: 50–51
Sachedina further argues that many Christians similarly criticized the Declaration for allegedly reflecting a secular and
liberal
bias in opposition to certain religious values.
115
: 50–51
Kazakh
religious scholars
Galym Zhussipbek and Zhanar Nagayeva have argued that the rejection or failed implementation of human rights in Muslim-majority countries and their seeming incompatibility with
sharīʿa
law originates from the current "epistemological crisis of conservative Islamic scholarship and Muslim mind", rooted in the centuries-old confinement of a role for
reason
within strict limits, and in the disappearance of
rationalistic
discursive Islamic theology
kalām
) as a dynamic science from the Muslim world.
116
Furthermore, they affirm the necessity of undertaking an epistemological reform in Islamic scholarship, which denotes the incorporation of international standards of human rights and justice into the epistemology and methodology of Islamic jurisprudence (
usul al-fiqh
).
116
Riffat Hassan
, a Pakistani-born American
Islamic feminist
scholar and
Muslim theologian
, has argued:
What needs to be pointed out to those who uphold the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to be the highest, or sole, model, of a charter of equality and liberty for all human beings, is that given the Western origin and orientation of this Declaration, the "universality" of the assumptions on which it is based is—at the very least—problematic and subject to questioning. Furthermore, the alleged incompatibility between the concept of human rights and religion in general, or particular religions such as Islam, needs to be examined in an unbiased way.
117
Faisal Kutty
, a Muslim Canadian human rights activist, opines that a "strong argument can be made that the current formulation of international human rights constitutes a cultural structure in which western society finds itself easily at home [...]. It is important to acknowledge and appreciate that other societies may have equally valid alternative conceptions of human rights."
118
Irene Oh, director of the peace studies programme at
Georgetown University
, has argued that Muslim reservations towards some provisions of the UDHR, and the broader debate about the document's secular and Western bias, could be resolved through mutual dialogue grounded in
comparative descriptive ethics
119
"The Right to Refuse to Kill"
edit
Groups such as
Amnesty International
120
and
War Resisters International
121
have advocated for "The Right to Refuse to Kill" to be added to the Universal Declaration, as has
Seán MacBride
, a former Assistant
Secretary-General of the United Nations
and
Nobel Peace Prize
laureate.
122
War Resisters International has stated that the right to
conscientious objection
to military service is primarily derived from Article 18 of the UDHR, which preserves the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.
121
Some
steps have been taken within the UN
to make the right more explicit, with the Human Rights Council repeatedly affirming that Article 18 enshrines "the right of everyone to have conscientious objection to military service as a legitimate exercise of the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion".
123
124
American Anthropological Association
edit
The
American Anthropological Association
criticized the UDHR during its drafting process, warning that its definition of universal rights reflected a
Western
paradigm that was unfair to non-Western nations. They further argued that the West's history of
colonialism
and
evangelism
made them a problematic moral representative for the rest of the world. They proposed three notes for consideration with underlying themes of
cultural relativism
The individual realizes his personality through his culture, hence respect for individual differences entails a respect for cultural differences.
Respect for differences between cultures is validated by the scientific fact that no technique of qualitatively evaluating cultures has been discovered.
Standards and values are relative to the culture from which they derive so that any attempt to formulate postulates that grow out of the beliefs or moral codes of one culture must to that extent detract from the applicability of any Declaration of Human Rights to mankind as a whole.
125
This stance has gradually been abandoned by most anthropologists, many of whom today see universal human rights as an important way through which discrimination and oppression of cultural minorities can be reduced.
126
Bangkok Declaration
edit
During the lead-up to the
World Conference on Human Rights
that was held in 1993, ministers from several Asian states
who?
adopted the Bangkok Declaration, which reaffirms their governments' commitment to the principles of the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They stated their belief that human rights are interdependent and indivisible, and stressed the need for universality,
objectivity
, and non-selectivity of human rights. However, at the same time, they emphasized the principles of
sovereignty
and non-interference, calling for greater emphasis upon economic, social, and cultural rights, and in particular, the right to economic development by establishing international collaboration directives between the signatories. The Bangkok Declaration is considered to be a landmark expression of
Asian values
with respect to human rights, which offers an extended critique of human rights
universalism
127
non-primary source needed
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