As a temporary partial definition, see https://politicalmusingsofkayleen.blogspot.com/2020/08/human-rights-few-legalistic-pandemic.html.
The UDHR is not enforceable because it is a Declaration, but its rights have been encoded into the enforceable twin covenants (which I consider more activists should use). From the above link:
The “twin covenants”, the aforementioned International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), were developed (too
slowly, thanks to the ideologically driven Cold War - they were opened
for signature in 1966, after nearly three decades of wrangling, and took
a decade each to collect enough signatures to come into force) to develop a legally binding form of the principles set out in the UDHR.
See also the following, which includes what I consider useful and valid extensions to/updates of the UDHR:
On the UDHR, there
are some important points that not enough people know about. From Geoffrey
Robertson’s “Crimes Against Humanity”, and Mary Ann Glendon’s “A
World Made New”:
- the United Nation’s Commission on Human Rights,
chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt
, supported by Canadian law professor John Humphrey
, and with outstanding contributions from China’s PC Cheng
and Lebanon’s Charles Malik
, and France’s René Cassin
, had the task of developing the UDHR;
- the appalling crimes committed by nazi Germany
and imperial Japan (see World War (part)
Two) were major influences on the Commission’s thinking:
o
“except in cases prescribed by law” was removed
from Article 3 because the nazis did many murders in accordance with their
perverted laws;
o
parent’s right to choose the education of their
children was a reaction to the brainwashing of the nazis;
o
the emphasis on individual rights in response to
totalitarianism unfortunately also resulted in minority rights not being
protected (also not helped by Australia’s assimilationist thinking);
o
legal protections were partly because of nazi
show trials, but others also had a history of show trials;
- the USSR opposed enforceability and eventually
got the USA on side so enforceability was removed, giving us “just” a
declaration instead (the “twin covenants”, however, make the rights listed
in the UDHR enforceable - and Australia suggested an international human rights
court). The USSR and its puppets also blocked mention of democracy, but
were - together with Central and South American nations and Sweden and
Norway - an influence in getting tights to work, education, and basic
subsistence included;
- India’s Hansa Mehta
was responsible for “human family” being used in the preamble instead of “man”;
- anthropologists warned the Commission, who
wanted to avoid cultural imperialism, of the dangers of ethnocentrism, and UNESCO
had a group of philosophers perform a cultural survey in 1947 that supported
the universality of these rights - it was not thought of as Western or
Eurocentric at the time, but as obvious;
- some matters were omitted that would have been
possibly beneficial - such as a commentary on economic rights that was based on
an ILO definition, and the prevention of statelessness;
- the UDHR was adopted by 48 nations on 10th
December, 1948, with eight nations abstaining - the USSR and 5 of its puppet
states, South Africa (which wanted to keep its apartheid laws), and Saudi
Arabia (which wanted to punish people who change religion);
- the 56 nations of the General Assembly included
14 Asian, 4 African, and 20 Central or South American nations.
The UDHR lists the
following human rights (which I’ve rearranged and abbreviated a little):
- all humans are equal in dignity and rights, and
are entitled to rights without discrimination;
- everyone has the right to life, liberty and
security;
- slavery and the slave trade is banned in all its
forms;
- no one shall be subjected to torture or to
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;
- everyone has the right to equal treatment before
the law (“everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person
before the law”) and associated rights;
- everyone has the right to privacy and to the
protection of law in that and honour and reputation (and to protection of
property);
- everyone has the right to freedom of movement,
and to seek asylum;
- everyone has the right to marry and found a
family;
- everyone has the right to freedom of thought
& religion, to freedom of opinion and expression, of association or not, and
to cultural & intellectual rights;
- everyone has the right to take part in the
governance of their nation;
- everyone has the right to social services, fair work,
and an adequate standard of living;
- right to education.
The are other international treaties which
add details or expand on these rights - for instance, the rights of children,
and specifics around countering sexism and racism.
- European Convention of Human Rights:
- the Yogyakarta Principles:
Posts of mine which include or touch on the UDHR include the following (which is not an exhaustive list):
