What are International Human Rights?

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 10, 1948, as a result of the experience of the Second World War. The idea of equality in human rights is one of the most important fundamentals of peaceful human co-existence. At the same time, human rights are subject to fierce debates and violations are common all over the world.

Human Rights, according to the Declaration, include:

1. We are all free and equal. We are all born free. We all have our own thoughts and ideas. We should all be treated in the same way.

2. We don’t discriminate. These rights belong to everybody, whatever our differences.

3. We all have the right to live in freedom and safety.

4. No slavery. Nobody has the right to make us a slave, and we cannot make anyone our slave.

5. No Torture. Nobody has the right to hurt or torture us.

6. We all have the same right to use the law. I am a person, just like you!

7. We are all protected equally under the law. The law is the same for everyone, and it must treat us all fairly.

8. We all receive fair treatment by the court. We can ask for the law to help us when we are not treated fairly.

9. No unfair detainment. Nobody has the right to put us in prison without a good reason and keep us there, or send us away from our country.

10. We have the right to trial. If we are put on trial it should be in public. The people who try us should not let anyone tell them what to do.

11. We are innocent until proven guilty. Nobody should be blamed for doing something until it is proven. When people say we did a bad thing we have the right to show it is not true.

12. We have the right to privacy. Nobody should try to harm our good name. Nobody has the right to come into our home, open our letters or bother us or our family without a good reason.

13. We have the freedom to move. We all have the right to go where we want in our own country and to travel as we wish.

14. We have the right to asylum. If we are frightened of being badly treated in our own country, we have the right to run away to another country to be safe.

15. We have the right to a nationality. We all have the right to belong to a country.

16. We have the right to marriage and family. Every adult has the right to marry and have a family. Men and women have the same rights when they are married as when they are separated.

17. We have a right to own property. Everyone has the right to own things or share them, and nobody should take our belongings from us without a good reason.

18. We have freedom of thought. We all have the right to believe in what we want to believe, to have a religion (or not), and to change it if we want.

19. We are free to say what we want. We all have the right to make up our own minds, to think what we like, to say what we think, and to share our ideas with other people.

20. We are free to meet where we like. We all have the right to meet our friends and to work together in peace to defend our rights. Nobody can make us join a group if we don’t want to.

21. We have the right to democracy. We all have the right to take part in the government of our country. Every adult should be allowed to choose their own leaders.

22. We have the right to social security. We all have the right to affordable housing, medicine, education, and child care, enough money to live on and medical help if we are ill or old.

23. We have the right to work. Every adult has the right to do a job, to receive a fair wage for their work, and to join a trade union.

24. We have the right to play. We all have the right to rest and relax from work.

25. We have the right to a bed and some food. We all have the right to a good life. Mothers and children, people who are old, unemployed or disabled, and all people have the right to be cared for.

26. We have the right to education. Education is a right. Primary school should be free. We should learn about the United Nations and how to get on with others. Parents can choose what their children learn.

27. We have the right to culture and copyright. Copyright is a special law that protects one’s own artistic creations and writings; others cannot make copies without permission. We all have the right to our own way of life and to enjoy the good things that art, science and learning bring.

28. We have the right to a free and fair world. There must be proper order so we can all enjoy rights and freedoms in our own country and all over the world.

29. We also have responsibilities. We have a duty to other people, and we should protect their rights and freedoms.

30. Nobody can take away these rights and freedoms from us.

Read the full Declaration here.  Watch this short video to learn more.