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Fact Sheet on Human Rights

Human Rights Day, 10 December this year is particularly charged with a number of important anniversaries. It is the 55th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). It is also the 10th anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights (Vienna, 1993); the 10th anniversary of the resolution creating the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights; and the10th anniversary of the adoption by the General Assembly of the international standards concerning national human rights institutions, known as the Paris Principles. In addition, the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights will be presented in New York on 10 December.

The United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights have placed human rights in the centre of the framework of principles and obligations shaping relations within the international community. Today, human rights provide a common benchmark for the United Nations efforts in the areas of peace, humanitarian assistance, sustainable development, and social and economic progress. There has been steady progress towards the ultimate goal of universal ratification of the principal human rights instruments, their substantive protocols and optional complaints procedures. Today, almost every Member State is party to three or more international human rights treaties. The newest treaty is the International Convention on the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Their Families, which entered into force on 1 July 2003. Last year, at its fifty-seventh session, the General Assembly adopted the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, establishing a system of regular visits by national bodies to detention places and a Subcommittee of the Committee against Torture composed of international experts, which will, among others, advise and assist States parties in the establishment of national preventive mechanisms and offer training and technical advice.

55th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights stands as one of the great documents in human history. On 10 December 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Declaration -- a common standard of achievement, which recognized the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all people in all nations. In its Preamble, the Universal Declaration affirms the dignity of each human being everywhere and gives expression to the universality and indivisibility of human rights and the interdependence of civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights. Its adoption fostered vigorous development of the international promotion and protection of human rights. The moral, political and legal strength of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has influenced many international instruments as well as domestic constitutions, and today it stands as the world’s most translated document. Over 300 different language versions are available in HTML, PDF and graphical forms on the following web site: www.unhchr.ch/udhr/index.htm.

Tenth anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the adoption by the World Conference on Human Rights in 1993 of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action – a common plan for the strengthening of human rights work around the world. The delegations to the Vienna Conference reaffirmed the universality and central role of human rights. They proclaimed that human rights had become the “legitimate concern of the international community”, and that “all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated”.

The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted by consensus on 25 June 1993, marked the culmination of a long process of review and debate over the status of human rights in the world. It also marked the beginning of a renewed effort to strengthen and further implement the body of human rights instruments that have been painstakingly constructed on the foundation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights since 1948. The Vienna Declaration’s recognition of the interdependence between democracy, development and human rights prepared the way for cooperation by international organizations and national agencies in the promotion of all human rights, including the right to development. Similarly, the Conference took historic new steps to promote and protect the rights of women, children and indigenous peoples. The Vienna Declaration also made concrete recommendations for the strengthening and harmonizing of the monitoring capacity of the United Nations system. In addition to recommending that the General Assembly consider the establishment of a High Commissioner for Human Rights, it emphasized the need for speedy ratification of human rights instruments. For the complete text of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, please visit the following web site: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu5/wchr.htm

UN Prize in the Field of Human Rights

On 10 December, the Secretary-General (or his designate) and the President of the General Assembly are scheduled to present the 2003 United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights at Headquarters in New York. The General Assembly established the human rights prizes in 1966 (Recommendation C of GA resolution 2217(XXI), 19 December 1966) in the lead-up to the International Year for Human Rights and the twentieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1968. In that recommendation, the General Assembly envisaged the prizes as one of the measures to honour and commend people and organisations which have made an outstanding contribution to the promotion and protection of the human rights embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in other United Nations human rights instruments. The Human Rights Prize, which is awarded every five years, was first awarded by the General Assembly on 10 December1968, and thereafter in 1973, 1978, 1988, 1993 and 1998. A list containing the names of past recipients is attached. For more information on the Human Rights Prize, please visit the following website: http://www.unhchr.ch/prize2003/hrprize.htm

Human Rights Day

Each year, on 10 December, the international community observes Human Rights Day. On 4 December 1950, the United Nations General Assembly, in its resolution 423 (V) entitled “Human Rights Day”, invited “all States and interested organizations to adopt 10 December of each year as Human Rights Day, to observe this day to celebrate the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the General Assembly on 10 December 1948, and to exert increasing efforts in this field of human progress.” Human Rights Day will be observed around the world by various entities of the United Nations, Governments, non-governmental organizations, schools and universities, and by others interested in promoting human rights.

For further information on the United Nations and human rights, please visit the following web sites: http://www.un.org/rights/ and http://www.unhchr.ch/