Universal Declaration and Bill of Rights
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Charter and U.S. Bill of Rights: A Discussion
Throughout our history, leaders have published documents that delineate acceptable behavior for the people they govern. These writs include the original Bill of Rights, which stands as the basis for our democratic government, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the UN Charter. These documents form the basis from which law officials draw upon knowledge in order to prosecute or condone acceptable behavior. It is imperative to understand how they work together, and the significance of each in our times.
The original ten articles of the Bill of Rights were passed and ratified in the late 1700's. They identified the basic freedoms and inalienable rights belonging to each individual. The amendments that followed developed as needs of the times proved that they were necessary, and limits to the original identified rights needed to be clarified (www.ushistory.org). The Bill of Rights is the fundamental document that serves as the basis for our country's laws.
The UN Charter was drafted in 1945 after the formation of the United Nations as a world-peace upholding organization. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a fairly recent document in comparison to the original...
In 1948, following World War II, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the basis for its functioning. 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 (www.un.org)." It was a document meant for the entire world, hence its universality, not just the citizens of the United States. For this reason, perhaps, it has become commonly used and referred to in contemporary court cases, and is often seen a guide pointing the direction to the final word in disputing a case, especially one of international significance.
In most documents that were written many years ago, the wording often needs to be clarified and adapted to contemporary cases as do the limits of those concepts stated. The fundamental purpose of the Universal Declaration was to clarify what is meant by the words "fundamental freedoms" and "human rights" that appear in the UN Charter as the language was vague and up for debate. Because it provided this clarification in the form of principles outlined, the Universal Declaration…
(Deuteronomy 22:28-29). While these Biblical endorsements of unequal treatment may seem historical and antiquated to a modern, Western audience, the fact is that many parts of the world still treat women in a similar fashion, so that the Bible would be useless in helping to determine a standard of human rights for women. In addition, many human rights activists believe that the death penalty is a de facto violation of
Human Rights The concept of Human Rights has a long history of over two thousand years and its origin can be traced to the moral philosophies of Aristotle and the Stoic philosophers. The theory of human rights, however, has broadened in concept over the centuries and its contemporary form reflects the development in human thought over time. In the present day world, Human Rights aim to secure for individuals the necessary
As it pertains to sweatshops, indications that the company was operating sweatshops came first in 1998. During this time sweatshops were found in Asia and the company was only paying workers 80 cents per day. Nike's behavior in both these instances created a backlash that is still present. Prior to the findings of human rights violations, Nike had a good reputation as an employer. However, after the presence of human
Shell Oil in Nigeria Discussions on economic hardship, environmental devastation, and political corruption in Nigeria always seem to come back to the Dutch Shell Oil Company. The company is charged by activists and Wiwa as influencing the Nigerian government to act illegally and, if we believe the allegations, monstrously in violation of human rights in order to exploit the oil resources in the Niger River Delta area (Livesey 58; Saro-Wiwa 7).
" (Lindsey, 2004, p.1) it is interesting to note that one of the young protestors stated: "[the world leaders] are sitting over there on Sea Island having their little party only talking about how to fix things, but we are over here actually doing something to make things better" -- Laurel Paget-Seekins (Lindsey, 2004, p. 1) the U.S.A. Patriot Act has been touted to do just this - or to
A long passage is quoted here by way of showing what all these various writers are concerned about: (Kane, 2003)May 2002 brought the odd spectacle of ex-President Jimmy Carter standing shoulder to shoulder in Havana with one of the U.S. government's oldest enemies, Cuban president Fidel Castro. Carter, on a mission to convey a message of friendship to the Cuban people and to seek some common ground between Cuba