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.
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.
Source: http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/
