The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Sadly enough, we have entered the 21th century with more human right inequalities and contradictions in the world than ever. Our parliaments have outlawed a range of inhumane practices and passed laws intended to ensure fair treatment for all; yet human rights organizations remind us that for many of the world’s 6 billion human beings, life continues to be a painful struggle for existence against injustice and abuse.



In its yearly reports, Amnesty International describes significant human rights violations in almost 200 countries. The number of complaints to the European Court of Human Rights has soared by over 3,000% between 1988 and 2008.



Human rights are defined as “the basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled, often held to include the right to life and liberty, freedom of thought and expression, and equality before the law.”



More than fifty years ago, the United Nations Human Rights Commission, chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Soon after, the Declaration inspired the European Convention on Human Rights, one of the most important Conventions in the European Community.