Rene Cassin, a French jurist, law professor, and humanitarian, is credited with composing the final draft. He dedicated his life to establish legal and moral recognition to the rights of man. He served as a French delegate to the League of Nations from 1924-1938. After the German occupation of France, he joined Charles de Gaulle in London and worked tirelessly drafting legal texts and acting as a negotiator for the Free French forces. He would eventually be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1968.
Date/Context: After World War II, in response to the horrors of the Holocaust, the international community created the United Nations to prevent future atrocities. Leaders that it was necessary to create a document that explicitly detailed the rights and protections of all human beings. The Commission consisted of members from all represented regions. After less than two years of drafting, he UDHR was adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 10, 1948. Over 50 member states participated in the ratification of the UDHR with 8 nations abstaining from the vote. Since its ratification, this document has come to represent a contract between governments and their people. It is hoped that by protecting the rights of the individual there can be peace.
Summary: The UDHR describes those rights to which each person is legally and morally entitled. The rights themselves can be divided into four categories: equality of rights (Articles 1 & 2), civil and political rights (Articles 3-21), economic and social rights (Articles 22-27) and the duties and responsibilities to uphold these rights for others (Articles 28-30). Through the implementation and protections of these rights the world will establish lasting peace.
Key Quotation:
- "Recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace."
- "A common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration in constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms."
Article 7 describes equal protection of the law for all people, which is a very hot topic currently in the United States, especially with African-American discrimination by federal forces.
ReplyDeleteWell done- however I would have mentioned the 30th article as a key quotation in the sense that it is important for everyone to be aware of.
ReplyDeleteAdding who made the document was a good idea, as most people probably do not know who made it.
ReplyDeleteWithin this document located in the eighth paragraph, is a rather lengthy sentence that I feel could be included as a key quotation simply on the fact that it is a summary of everything this document states.
ReplyDeleteI believe it was a smart idea to mention in the Date and Context section that this document was written after the Holocaust had taken place because in the actual UDHR document this tragic event was only referred to as "barbarous acts" which is very vague.
ReplyDeleteThe post contained many key components to the UDHR, such as mentioning the order of articles and the topics within. It also provided substantial background information and of people involved in the making of UDHR. I thought including key quotations directly from the document was critical in understanding what UDHR is all about. The "date and context" section was very well thought of and done. Perhaps, though, I would suggest having more depth in the general summary, and talk less about the authors, as well as listing more quotes that capture the idea of the UDHR. Overall, however, the post was clear, informative, and had all of the relevant information required.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I believe that this document greatly represented each human right into detail and straightforwardly for others to comprehend. Including the preamble, was a good addition in order for one to get a clear knowledge before reading the rest of the document as well as getting a better understanding on most of the background information.
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ReplyDeleteOverall I felt that the post was very well written and also contained a decent mount of information although, in article 13 part 2, it states that one has the right to leave a country and also that he/she has the right to return home to their own country. However, there are a staggering amount of airports that do not provide transportation out of a country, (i.e. from the United States to Spain) without a VISA if the person is not a citizen from the country in which he is leaving from. This interferes with part 1 when it says that all people have the freedom to move from country to country. Also, there are many foreigners to the United States, such as Mexicans, who are being deported from America back to Mexico which also interferes with the right of residence as stated in part 1 of article 13. I feel that this should have been analyzed and also mentioned within the post for it is curtail information.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Joel, and in my opinion the 30th article should belong in its own category because it is reserving this document for future generations where today's lifestyle may not still apply and some other form of racism, genecide, etc. I think that it should be highlighted a little more in the summary.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the organization of the post is a key component that made this a well-written post. Everything is organized and easy to find, and there are multiple references to the UDHR including specific articles that address the four categories of human rights. Although I found the post to be informative and well written for the most part, personally, I think some extra detail in the Date/Context section would do us all some good by clarifying the importance of these events.
ReplyDeleteI feel that this document is a standard that every person in the world should live by. However, that is definitely not the case in some countries where the government grants its people few rights and treats them extremely poorly. I think that our society needs to better promote peace and stand up for the people whose governments decide that these rights do not apply to them.
ReplyDeleteAll in all, I would say that the document was very well written and very well organized. One aspect I liked about the document was that every article was easy to find and easy to understand and comprehend. I would have liked to see more quotations regarding the general ideas of the UDHR.
ReplyDeleteI believe that this document is very well organized and makes it easy to find what you are looking for, due to the left column that provides instant links to the different articles in the UDHR. However, I think that the document could include a more detailed introduction, in which one may add in specific details on the formation and collaboration of the document.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the summary was written very well, but I feel that a quotation or a paraphrase from each category of rights would be appropriate, so one can have a better understanding of each category.
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