The document summarizes 30 articles outlining fundamental human rights that everyone is entitled to without discrimination. It states that all humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights, such as the rights to life, liberty, security of person, equal protection under the law, and freedom from slavery, torture, and arbitrary detention or exile. It also covers rights to nationality, marriage and family, religion, opinion and expression, assembly, democratic participation in government, social security, education, and participation in cultural life.
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Universal declaration of human rights handout
1. Universal Declaration of Human Rights
1 When children are born, they are free and each should be
treated in the same way. They have reason and conscience
and should act towards one another in a friendly manner.
2 Everyone can claim the following rights, despite
- a different sex
- a different skin colour
- speaking a different language
- thinking different things
- believing in another religion
- owning more or less
- being born in another social group
- coming from another country
It also makes no difference whether the country you live in is
independent or not.
3 You have the right to live, and to live in freedom and safety.
4 Nobody has the right to treat you as his or her slave and you
should not make anyone your slave.
5 Nobody has the right to torture you.
6 You should be legally protected in the same way everywhere,
and like everyone else.
7 The law is the same for everyone; it should be applied in the
same way to all.
8 You should be able to ask for legal help when the rights your
country grants you are not respected.
9 Nobody has the right to put you in prison, to keep you there,
or to send you away from your country unjustly, or without
good reason.
10 If you go on trial this should be done in public. The people
who try you should not let themselves be influenced by
others.
11 You should be considered innocent until it can be proved that
you are guilty. If you are accused of a crime, you should
always have the right to defend yourself. Nobody has the
right to condemn you and punish you for something you have
not done.
12 You have the right to ask to be protected if someone tries to
harm your good name, enter your house, open your letters,
or bother you or your family without a good reason.
2. 13 You have the right to come and go as you wish within your
country. You have the right to leave your country to go to
another one; and you should be able to return to your
country if you want.
14 If someone hurts you, you have the right to go to another
country and ask it to protect you. You lose this right if you
have killed someone and if you, yourself, do not respect what
is written here.
15 You have the right to belong to a country and nobody can
prevent you, without a good reason, from belonging to a
country if you wish.
16 As soon as a person is legally entitled, he or she has the right
to marry and have a family. In doing this, neither the colour of
your skin, the country you come from nor your religion should
be impediments. Men and women have the same rights when
they are married and also when they are separated.
Nobody should force a person to marry.
The government of your country should protect you and the
members of your family.
17 You have the right to own things and nobody has the right to
take these from you without a good reason.
18 You have the right to profess your religion freely, to change it,
and to practise it either on your own or with other people.
19 You have the right to think what you want, to say what you
like, and nobody should forbid you from doing so. You should
be able to share your ideas alsowith people from any other
country.
20 You have the right to organize peaceful meetings or to take
part in meetings in a peaceful way. It is wrong to force
someone to belong to a group.
21 You have the right to take part in your country's political
affairs either by belonging to the government yourself or by
choosing politicians who have the same ideas as you.
Governments should be voted for regularly and voting should
be secret. You should get a vote and all votes should be
equal. You also have the same right to join the public service
as anyone else.
22 The society in which you live should help you to develop and
to make the most of all the advantages (culture, work, social
welfare) which are offered to you and to all the men and
women in your country.
3. 23 You have the right to work, to be free to choose your work, to
get a salary which allows you to support your family. If a man
and a woman do the same work, they should get the same
pay. All people who work have the right to join together to
defend their interests.
24 Each work day should not be too long, since everyone has the
right to rest and should be able to take regular paid holidays.
25 You have the right to have whatever you need so that you
and your family: do not fall ill or go hungry; have clothes and
a house; and are helped if you are out of work, if you are ill, if
you are old, if your wife or husband is dead, or if you do not
earn a living for any other reason you cannot help. Mothers
and their children are entitled to special care. All children
have the same rights to be protected, whether or not their
mother was married when they were born.
26 You have the right to go to school and everyone should go to
school. Primary schooling should be free. You should be able
to learn a profession or continue your studies as far as wish.
At school, you should be able to develop all your talents and
you should be taught to get on with others, whatever their
race, religion or the country they come from. Your parents
have the right to choose how and what you will be taught at
school.
27 You have the right to share in your community's arts and
sciences, and any good they do. Your works as an artist,
writer, or a scientist should be protected, and you should be
able to benefit from them.
28 So that your rights will be respected, there must be an 'order'
which can protect them. This order should be local and
worldwide.
29 You have duties towards the community within which your
personality can only fully develop. The law should guarantee
human rights. It should allow everyone to respect others and
to be respected.
30 In all parts of the world, no society, no human being, should
take it upon her or himself to act in such a way as to destroy
the rights which you have just been reading about.