Resolution 217A (III) of 10 December 1948
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
cooperation 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.
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.
2 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.
3 Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
4 No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the
slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
5 No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment.
6 Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person
before the law.
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 the
Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.
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.
9 No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or
exile.
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.
111 Everyone charged with a penal offense 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
defense.
2 No one shall be held guilty of any penal offense on account of
any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offense, under
national or international law, at the time it was committed. Nor
shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable
at the time the penal offense was committed.
12 No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his
privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his
honor and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of
the law against such interference or attacks.
13.1 Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence
within the borders of each state.
13.2 Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own,
and to return to his country.
14.1 Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries
asylum from persecution.
14.2 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.
15.1 Everyone has the right to a nationality.
15.2 No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor
denied the right to change his nationality.
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.
16.2 Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full
consent of the intending spouses.
16.3 The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society
and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
17.1 Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in
association with others.
17.2 No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
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.
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.
20.1 Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and
association.
20.2 No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
21.1 Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his
country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
21.2 Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his
country.
21.3 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.
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.
23.1 Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment,
to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against
unemployment.
23.2 Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal
pay for equal work.
23.3 Everyone who works has the right to just and favorable
remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy
of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of
social protection.
23.4 Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the
protection of his interests.
24 Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including
reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with
pay.
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.
25.2 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.
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.
26.2 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.
26.3 Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that
shall be given to their children.
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.
27.2 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.
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.
29.1 Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free
and full development of his personality is possible.
29.2 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.
29.3 These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary
to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
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.
Information courtesy of Amnesty International
