The declaration of universal human rights was made a little over 75 years ago, on December 10, 1948, during the United Nations General Assembly at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris. The human rights declaration consists of 30 articles. They contain basic views on the rights that every person should have. But what are the 30 human rights? Let’s find out.
Human Right #1: All people are equal and free from birth
All people are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and knowledge and should live with a spirit of brotherhood.
Human Right #2: Nobody should be discriminated against
We all have a right to equal treatment. Human rights apply equally to all people. Nobody should be disadvantaged because of their gender, skin color, religion, nationality, political conviction, property, or other differences.
Human Right #3: Right to life
Everyone has the right to live with freedom and security.
Human Right #4: No slavery
Nobody can be held in slavery. We cannot make others slaves.
Human Right #5: Nobody can be tortured.
Nobody can be tortured. Nobody has any right to cruelly treat or torture another person.
Human Right #6: Everyone has rights, no matter where you go.
The laws are there for everyone, and everyone has the right to invoke it, regardless of their nationality.
Human Right #7: All are equal before the law
Everyone is entitled to equal protection by law without distinction. All are equal before the law. The law has to treat everyone fairly.
Human Right #8: Everyone has the right to a fair negotiation
Everyone has the right to a fair trial by an impartial court. Anyone can call the courts for help if they feel they have been treated unfairly.
Human Right #9: Nobody can be arbitrarily detained
No one may be unreasonably arrested, detained or expelled from the country.
Human Right #10: Everyone has the right to a public hearing
If someone is charged with a crime, it should be done publicly before an impartial and independent court.
Human Right #11: Everyone is innocent unless proven otherwise
Nobody can be called guilty unless their crime is proven. The accused have the right to prove their innocence. Nobody should be convicted of a crime that was not punishable at the time of the crime.
Human Right #12: Everyone has a right to privacy
Nobody is allowed to intervene in our personal lives without permission, open letters, listen in to conversations, or bother our family and us. Nobody has the right to defame in public as well.
Human Right #13: Everyone can move freely
Everyone has the right to move freely within a state and to choose their place of residence. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including their own, and return to their country.
Human Right #14: Right to asylum
People have the right to seek and receive protection from persecution in other countries. The right to asylum cannot be exercised if someone is persecuted for a non-political crime or violates the goals and principles of the United Nations.
Human Right #15: Everyone has the right to a nationality
Nobody may be arbitrarily withdrawn from their citizenship or denied the right to change their nationality.
Human Right #16: The right to marry and to start a family
Men and women have the right to marry and to start a family. They have equal rights in marriage, during the married life, and in dissolution. A marriage can only be concluded if both partners voluntarily agree to it. The family is entitled to protection from society and the state.
Human Right #17: Everyone has a right to property
Everyone may own property alone or with others. Nobody’s property may be arbitrarily taken away.
Human Right #18: Right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion
We all have the right to believe what we want. It also includes the right to change one’s religion or belief. We can live with our faith, alone or with others, and publicly confess it through teaching or worship. We have the right to say what we think.
Human Right #19: Right to freedom of expression
We are all allowed to form our own opinions and express them aloud. We can freely disseminate our opinions and make them public across borders and among all types of media.
Human Right #20: Right to peaceful assembly
All people have the right to gather peacefully and form associations. Nobody may be forced to become a member of an association.
Human Right #21: Right to democracy and free elections
We all have the right to work directly or indirectly in the government of our country through free elections. Everyone has the right to hold public office in their country. The will of the people forms the basis for every state. This requires regular, equal, and free elections to be held.
Human Right #22: Right to social security
The right to social security includes affordable housing, childcare, and affordable healthcare.
Human Right #23: Right to work and protection of workers
Everyone has the right to work, a free choice of profession, satisfactory working conditions, and protection against unemployment. Everyone has the right to equal wages for the same work. Everyone has the right to a fair wage that enables a decent life. If the wages are not sufficient for this, the state must also take care of it. Everyone has the right to form or join a union to protect their interests.
Human Right #24: Right to rest and leisure
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, to reasonable limits on working hours and paid holidays.
Human Right #25: Right to food, accommodation, and medical care
We are all entitled to a decent standard of living, even if we cannot make money. Children, the elderly or the disabled, the sick, and the unemployed deserve special protection. Mothers and children are particularly entitled to care and support. Marital and extramarital children enjoy the same social security.
Human Right #26: Everyone has a right to education
At least basic education must be free. Primary education must be compulsory. University education must be open to every one according to their abilities. Education must focus on personal development and on strengthening and respecting human rights.
Understanding, tolerance, and friendship between all nations and religions should be promoted. Parents can primarily determine what their children should learn.
Human Right #27: Culture and copyright
Everyone has the right to work as an artist or to enjoy art and science. For example, going to the museum, theater or cinema or reading books. Also, nobody is allowed to copy, use, or publish artistic creations, literary works, or intellectual property of others without permission.
Human Right #28: Everyone has a right to a free and just world
Everyone has the right to a society and a world in which human rights and freedom can be fully realized.
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Human Right #29: Everyone has duties towards others and society
We should protect the rights and freedoms of others. Our rights and freedoms can only be limited if they violate the rights and freedoms of others.
Human Right #30: Nobody can take away your human rights
Nobody has the right to deprive others of the rights and freedoms set out in Articles 1 to 29.