His voice was heard through crackling radio receivers in distant countries. It was January 1941, and US President Franklin D. Roosevelt was reading a speech that was to give hope to millions of listeners during the darkest days of World War II.
He spoke about four freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear. He gave people a vision of a future where the rights of each individual would be respected. The four freedoms, he said, were the necessary conditions for peace and a world lacking aggression, "a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our time and our generation."
His words were echoed by other leaders of the Allied front opposing the forces of the world's fascist and totalitarian regimes. Jointly, they declared their commitment to defend "life, liberty, independence, and religious freedom, and to preserve human rights and justice in their own lands, as well as in other lands."
They were responding to a widespread cry: Never again! Never again should the world allow a dictator to march people into slavery. Never again should Jews, Gypsies or any "undesirables" be herded into crematoriums, or should prisoners die of disease, malnutrition or torture.
This spirit was rekindled in San Francisco in 1945 when the United Nations was founded. Nongovernmental groups and dedicated individuals-many of them invited by the US government to serve as consultants-lobbied delegates from 51 governments. They managed to convince the doubters among the delegates that respect for human rights should be a major goal of the UN and that this should be spelled out in the organization's charter. The founders of the UN moved quickly after the adoption of the charter. A Commission on Human Rights was set up in early 1946. Its first task was to draft an International Bill of Human Rights.
Strong personalities were appointed to the commission. There was Eleanor Roosevelt, the president's charismatic widow. Unopposed, she was asked to take the chair. A vice-chair was offered to Rene Cassin, a French law professor who had fought in the Resistance and survived a German death sentence. He became a key member of the commission, his contributions belatedly recognized in 1968, when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. John Humphrey of Canada, an international lawyer and professor, was asked to serve as secretary. He became the first head of the Division of Human Rights.
The post of rapporteur was given to Dr. Charles Malik, a humanist Christian from Lebanon, who emphasized the importance of ethics and the freedom of spirit. A Chinese diplomat, Dr. P. C. Chang, also belonged to the inner circle; he talked about Asian values, advancing the view that the new human rights standards should reflect more than Western ideas. The most pragmatic member of the team, Chang was the architect who deftly designed several important compromises.
The working atmosphere was at times informal. On one occasion, Eleanor Roosevelt invited fellow commissioners to her apartment for discussion over tea, which she hoped would speed up the work. However, the meeting ended in a lofty debate between Dr. Chang and Dr. Malik on the comparative merits of the teachings of Confucius and Thomas Aquinas.
John Humphrey and his secretariat began work on the human rights bill, producing a documented outline of more than 400 pages. The original concept called for a three-part project: a declaration defining the general principles; a covenant, which would be more detailed and legally binding; and, finally, suggestions for implementation.
The declaration was to be tackled first. Rene Cassin pulled together a revised proposal, an amended version of which was ready for the General Assembly meeting in Paris during the fall of 1948. Two months later, after a preparatory committee had held 81 meetings and dealt with 168 proposed amendments, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the full Assembly. The historic vote was taken on December 10, now celebrated as Human Rights Day.
No country voted against the declaration, but there were significant abstentions. The Soviet Union and its allies wanted human rights to be treated as an internal matter; Saudi Arabia saw a conflict with the Koran; and South Africa was not prepared to extend equal rights to its majority black population.
The declaration had a wider audience than the member nations themselves. In the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, it could "serve as a guide and inspiration to individuals and groups throughout the world╔" Indeed, it became an inspiration for nongovernmental organizations in several countries. And it became a tool they could use when approaching governments to discuss human rights violations.
By: Thomas Hammarberg (excerpt from Defending Human Rights), from: A Global Affair: An Inside Look at the United Nations, published by Jones & Janello, copyright 1995, all rights reserved.
