/* The full text of the United Nation's Universal Declaration

of Human Rights Follows */

Universal Declaration of Human Rights [1948]

Preamble

Whereas 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 in the world,

Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted

in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind,

and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy

freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has

been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have

recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and

oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of

law,

Whereas it is essential to promote the development of

friendly relations between nations,

Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter

reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the

dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of

men and women and have determined to promote social progress and

better standards of life in larger freedom,

Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in

co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal

respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental

freedoms,

Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is

of the greatest importance for the full realization of this

pledge,

Now, therefore,

The General Assembly

Proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as 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 constantly in mind, shall strive by

teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and

freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international,

to secure their universal and effective recognition and

observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves

and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

Article 1

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and

rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should

act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2

Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth

in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as

race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other

opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other

status.

Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the

political, jurisdictional or international status of the country

or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be

independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other

limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and the security of

person.

Article 4

No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the

slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or

degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 6

Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person

before the law.

Article 7

All are equal before the law and are entitled without any

discrimination to equal protection against any discrimination in

violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such

discrimination.

Article 8

Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent

national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights

granted him by the constitution or by law.

Article 9

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or

exile.

Article 10

Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair, and public

hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the

determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal

charge against him.

Article 11

1. Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be

presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law in a

public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for

his defence.

2. No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on

account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal

offence, under national or international law, at the time when it

was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the

one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was

committed.

Article 12

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his

privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his

honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection

of the law against such interference or attacks.

Article 13

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and

residence within the borders of each State.

2. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his

own, and to return to his country.

Article 14

1. Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other

countries asylum from persecution.

2. This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions

genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary

to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 15

1. Everyone has the right to a nationality.

2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality

nor denied the right to change his nationality.

Article 16

1. Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to

race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to

found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to

marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.

2. Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full

consent of the intending spouses.

3. The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of

society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

Article 17

1. Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in

association with others.

2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Article 18

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and

religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or

belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and

in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in

teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression;

this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference

and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any

media and regardless of frontiers.

Article 20

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and

association.

2. No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Article 21

1. Everyone has the right to take part in the government of

his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.

2. Everyone has the right of equal access to public service

in his country.

3. The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority

of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and

genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage

and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting

procedures.

Article 22

Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social

security and is entitled to realization, through national effort

and international co-operation and in accordance with the

organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social

and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free

development of his personality.

Article 23

1. Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of

employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to

protection against unemployment.

2. Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to

equal pay for equal work.

3. Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable

remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence

worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other

means of social protection.

4. Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions

for the protection of his interests.

Article 24

Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including

reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with

pay.

Article 25

1. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate

for the health and well-being of himself and of his family,

including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary

social services, and the right to security in the event of

unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other

lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

2. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and

assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock,

shall enjoy the same social protection.

Article 26

1. Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be

free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages.

Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and

professional education shall be made generally available and

higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis

of merit.

2. Education shall be directed to the full development of the

human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human

rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding,

tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious

groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations

for the maintenance of peace.

3. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education

that shall be given to their children.

Article 27

1. Everyone has the right freely to participate in the

cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in

scientific advancement and its benefits.

2. Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and

material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or

artistic production of which he is the author.

Article 28

Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in

which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can

be fully realized.

Article 29

1. Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the

free and full development of his personality is possible.

2. In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall

be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law

solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect

for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just

requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in

a democratic society.

3. These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised

contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 30

Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for

any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or

to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights

and freedoms set forth herein.