Civil liberties have yet to alleviate the world's misery
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is 60 years old this week, and just as relevant as when it was first conceived
By Francesca Klug
The most translated document in the world is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is 60 years old this week. Drafted as the first leg of an international bill of rights, it's a marvel it was ever produced. Writing in the aftermath of a devastating world war and at the beginning of the cold one, the drafters did not contemplate torture warrants or dabble with detention without charge. The atrocities they had witnessed convinced them that only an "international Magna Carta" for mankind, in Eleanor Roosevelt's words, could bring peace within and between nations.
A mixture of law, politics, autobiography and humour. Once described as "The Devilish Advocate" (Guardian), I do have the ability to provoke a response. Sometimes it comes from someone who uses a thought process, and sometimes from jerks usually associated with the knee.
2 comments:
and to celebrate, jack straw gives an interview to the daily mail in which he takes pops at the human rights agenda. Timing is everything...
That's what I thought I would do on Wednesday the 10th Human Rights Day, write a critique of Jack Straw and how he celebrates it with an interview and article in the Daily Mail stating he intends to limit human rights.
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