"Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status."
(United Nations)
"The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a milestone document in the history of human rights. Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, the Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948"
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights contains 30 Articles outlining the basic human rights that all are entitled to.
Here are several examples:
Article 4: No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
Article 5: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 9: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
The videos below are just a small sampling of background information, campaigns, and human rights violations that are happening around the world. Check the links on the "Topic Ideas & Resources" page in this guide for more information.
The Story of Human Rights provides an overview of the history of human rights from its earliest development to current day.
Philippine police are falsifying evidence to justify unlawful killings in a “war on drugs” that has caused more than 7,000 deaths.
A message about using power to address human rights violations.
A short video about division vs. unity...
This video takes viewers through the 30 articles found in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Afghan government is failing to protect tens of thousands of children, some as young as 5, from hazardous conditions in the workplace, in violation of Afghanistan’s labor laws.
Survivors of acid violence in Cambodia are unlawfully denied free medical care and face pressure to accept inadequate settlements. The Cambodian government should enforce its laws that require legal, social, and medical support to survivors of acid attacks.
2014 documentation of some of the human rights violations around the world...
“North Korea: Accounts from Camp Survivors” features interviews of North Koreans who survived years of abuse while incarcerated in political prison camps, including systematic use of beatings, food deprivation and starvation, and public executions, to control those held there.