INTRODUCTION

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was proclaimed and adopted by the United
Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on 10 December 1948. The General Assembly called upon all
Member countries to publicize the text of the
Declaration and “to cause it to be disseminated,
displayed, read and expounded principally in schools
and other educational institutions, without
distinction based on the political status of countries
or territories.” Its adoption was a milestone in the
history of the development of international human rights law and because of its profound
significance it is also termed as ‘Magna Carta’ of all mankind. The UDHR represents the earliest
international agreement on the content of ‘human rights’, the term that finds reference at several
places in the UN Charter but is nowhere elaborated in the Charter. It catalogues basic human rights
and fundamental freedoms that all human beings are entitled and should enjoy.

Contents of the UDHR

The general explanation of human rights states that civil, political and social rights belong to
human beings in order to preserve one’s dignity. The Declaration consists of thirty articles which have
been elaborated in subsequent international treaties, regional human rights instruments, national
constitutions, and other laws.
These 30 Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees protection of
the person, of procedural law (claim of effective legal remedy), classical freedom rights such as
freedom of expression, as well as economical, social and cultural rights. These rights should apply
to all people irrespectively of their race, gender and nationality, as all people are born free and equal. The
International Bill of Human Rights consists of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its two Optional Protocols.
In 1966, the General Assembly adopted the two detailed Covenants, which complete the
International Bill of Human Rights. In 1976, after the Covenants had been ratified by a sufficient
number of individual nations, the Bill took on the force of international law.
Article

Based on the content and the nature of the rights enumerated therein, the 30 Articles of the UDHR
can be broadly classified into fourcategoriesArticles general in nature
Articles 1 and 2 of the UDHR come under this category. Both the Articles provide the philosophical
assumptions upon which UDHR is founded.
Article 1 proclaims that ‘All human beings are born free and are equal in dignity and rights’. It
emphasizes that humans are endowed with reason and conscience and they should act towards each
other in a spirit ofbrotherhood.
Article 2 states that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in the UDHR,
without distinction of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or
social origin, property, birth or other status. It further states that ‘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’. In brief, Article 2 incorporates the principles of equality and non-discrimination
and states in a negative way what Article 1 states in positive terms. These two articles assure that human rights
are the birth right of everyone and not privileges of a
select few. All human beings are entitled to these rights, not because of any State or international
organization, but simply because of their common birth into the human family.
Articles proclaiming civil and political rights
This category comprises the largest number of Articles. Articles 3 to 21 of the UDHR set forth the
civil and political rights to which everyone isentitled. Articles 3 proclaims that ‘Everyone has the
right to life, liberty and security of person’, i.e., the right to live and to live in freedom and safety.
The rights recognized in Article 3 sets the base for all following political rights and civil liberties,
enumerated in the UDHR.
Article 4 provides that ‘No one shall be held in slavery or servitude’. It further prohibits all forms
of slavery and slave trade. Thus, not only slavery but slavery-like practices, e.g., servile marriages
in which women have no rights to refuse marriage or may be transferred from one person to another
upon the death of the husband, are also proscribed by this Article.
Article 5 proclaims the individual’s right not to be subjected ‘to torture or to cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment’.