Human Rights Day - Part 2

In our efforts to bring greater awareness to Human Rights Day on December 1o, we offer the following items:

Adoption of the Declaration of Human Rights.
Eleanor Roosevelt writes: "The long and meticulous study and debate of which this Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the product means that it reflects the composite views of the many men and governments who have contributed to its formulation. Not every man nor every government can have what he wants in a document of this kind. There are of course particular provisions in the declaration before us with which we are not fully satisfied. I have no doubt this is true of other delegations, but taken as a whole the Delegation of the United States believes that this a good document—even a great document—and we propose to give it our full support. The position of the United States on the various parts of the declaration is a matter of record in the Third Committee. I shall not burden the Assembly, and particularly my colleagues of the Third Committee, with a restatement of that position here. "

Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration is the primary international articulation of the fundamental and inalienable rights of all members of the human family. It represents the first comprehensive agreement among nations as to the specific rights and freedoms of all human beings. The Declaration has become a cornerstone of customary international law, binding all governments to its principles.

Human Rights and Human Freedom: An American View
As a member of the United States delegation to the United Nations General Assembly, Mrs. Roosevelt debates Andrei Vishinsky, chief Soviet delegate, over the proposed amendment that no propaganda should be permitted in refugee camps against the interests of the United Nations or its members. The success of her argument, based on the idea that such an amendment would violate human rights by restricting freedom of speech and expression, strengthened Mrs. Roosevelt’s position as a leading voice in the international defense of human rights.

The Promise of Human Rights
In this 1948, from the journal Foreign Affairs, Eleanor Roosevelt provides a brief history of the Commission on Human Rights and its efforts to write a draft international Bill of Human Rights, including a Declaration and a Convention. Mrs. Roosevelt discusses both documents, including the articles she thinks are of vital importance, and her views on the Commission’s work in general.

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

On the Draft Convention on the Political Rights of Women
In this article form 1953, Eleanor Roosevelt discusses the specific articles of the Convention and argues that the objectives of the United Nations are not only to encourage equal political rights for women in all countries, but also to ensure that women fully participate in directing the policy making of their governments.

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women