Human Rights Day is celebrated annually across the world on 10 December.
The date was chosen to honour the United Nations General Assembly's adoption and proclamation, on 10 December 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the first global enunciation of human rights. The commemoration was established in 1950, when the General Assembly invited all states and interested organisations to celebrate the day as they saw fit.
The day is a high point in the calendar of UN headquarters in New York City, United States, and is normally marked by both high-level political conferences and meetings and by cultural events and exhibitions dealing with human rights issues. In addition, it is traditionally on 10 December that the five-yearly United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights are awarded.
Many governmental and nongovernmental organisations active in the human rights field also schedule special events to commemorate the day. The theme of the day for 2006 is the fight against poverty as a human rights issue. Several statements were released on that occasion, including the one issued by 37 United Nations Special Procedures mandate holders
Human Rights Day is marked by many civil society organisations.
| “ | Today, poverty prevails as the gravest human rights challenge in the world. Combating poverty, deprivation and exclusion is not a matter of charity, and it does not depend on how rich a country is. By tackling poverty as a matter of human rights obligation, the world will have a better chance of abolishing this scourge in our lifetime...Poverty eradication is an achievable goal. | ” |
| —UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour, 10 December 2006 | ||
Human Rights
Human Rights day is celebrated to promote the universal human right: to live and to do so peacefully. Some of the world's occupants have this right suppressed [e.g. the right to equality]. This day was declared to raise awareness of our rights, and of those who are deprived of these rights.
In India, the Fundamental Rights are as follows: 1. The Right to Equality 2. The Right to Freedom 3. The Right to Freedom of Religion 4. The Right against Exploitation 5. Cultural and Educational Rights 6. The Right to Constitutional Remedies
See the United States' Bill of Rights
Past Observances
1979
- Shih Ming-teh organizes a human rights campaign in Kaoshiung, Taiwan. This will lead to the Kaoshiung Incident characterized by three rounds of arrests and mock trials of political opponents of the ruling KMT party and their subsequent imprisonment.
2004
- International PEN announced the launch of a new campaign to secure the release from prison of "cyber-dissidents" in PR China, Maldives and Vietnam. [1]
- The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the UN's Special Representative for Human Rights Defenders and the African Union's Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights issued a joint communiqué in which they commended the European Union for its recent adoption of a set of guidelines for protecting human rights defenders and urged the world's other regions to take similar steps in that direction. [2]
- The American Association for the Advancement of Science organised a seminar in New York City on academic freedom in Iraq. [3]
- Human Rights Day is endorsed by the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) as an official day of Humanist celebration.
2006
- In a curious irony of fate, former Chilean president/dictator Augusto Pinochet, known for human rights violations committed during his authoritarian rule, died of a heart attack on 10 December 2006, at the age of 91.[4]
Date variance
- In South Africa, Human Rights Day is celebrated on 21 March, in remembrance of the Sharpeville massacre. [5]
References
- ^ A global campaign against Internet censorship and the long-term imprisonment of cyber-dissidents in Asia. PEN American Center. Retrieved on 15 December 2006.
- ^ Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (10 December 2004). On the occasion of Human Rights Day, the UN, Inter-American and African protection mechanisms call on governments to protect human rights defenders.. Press release. Retrieved on 15 December.
- ^ Satellite Imagery for Conflict Prevention and Human Rights: An Event in Honor of Human Rights Day 2006. The American Association for the Advancement of Science, Science and Human Rights Program (16 June 2006). Retrieved on 15 December 2006.
- ^ Catan, Thomas and Crooks, Nathan (2006). General Pinochet, 91, dies awaiting trial for murder. The Times. Retrieved on 11 December 2006.
- ^ Human Rights Day. South African Human Rights Commission. Retrieved on December 15, 2006.
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