Introduction

Since the beginning of the second term, we have been discussing the importance of the

Human Rights. It is known that they have been evolving along with the human needs,

affecting the daily life of people in so many different situations, although it does not interfere

with their lives by the same way. There are still many people who are not even aware of the

rights they could claim, just because they are.

We can compare the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the

landing on the moon, a small step for a human being, but a giant step for Humanity. As we

consider this document a very important piece, we will mention its creation and what it

provoked during the past decades. We will also be focusing on the more fundamental rights

like women, children and labour’s rights, which, unfortunately, are not that well respected in

so many places throughout the world.

To enrich our research we will choose an icon for the Human Rights. As we think of

Nelson Mandela as one of the most propelling people for the fight against the violation of the

Human Rights, we will speak about his life and his struggle against apartheid in South-Africa.

Human rights

The Human Rights didn’t emerge out of nowhere. The fundamentals can be found

through history, in religious beliefs and cultures all over the world. The first declaration,

comparable to the UDHR, is the Cyrus Cylinder, written in 539 B.C., by Cyrus the Great,

king of Persia.

After the Second World War the world needed to re-establish, and there were so many

significant differences between people and their conditions, that something had to be done. By

these days the allies agreed about the freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom from

fear and freedom from want. As soon as the cruelties done by Germany became clear the

world community realised that the United Nations Charter was not sufficient. Therefore a new

document, which specified all individual rights, had to be formed to the acceptance of all

nations.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the United

Nations General Assembly on the 10th December in 1948 at the Palais de Chaillot, Paris. At

first it consisted of 30 inherent articles to international treaties, regional human rights

associations, national constitutions and laws. In 1966 two detailed Covenants were adopted by

the General Assembly, they completed the International Bill of Human Rights. In 1976 these

Covenants took on the force of international law, because it had been ratified by a large

number of individual nations.

Most of the work to form to form the UDHR was done by John Peters Humphrey who

was called upon by the United Nations Secretary-General. Humphrey was working as

Director of the Division of Human Rights by the United Nations Secretariat. Initiating with an

International Bill of Rights, the Commission on Human Rights, an instrument of the United

Nations, was constituted to undertake the work. The Commission was formed by members

such as Australia, Belgium, Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Chile, China, Egypt,

France, India, Iran, Lebanon, Panama, Philippines, United Kingdom, United States of

America, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Uruguay and Yugoslavia. The Commission

included well-known members like Eleanor Roosevelt(USA), Chairman, Jacques Maritain

and René Cassin(FR), Charles Malik(Lebanon) and P.C. Chang(China).

Finally on 10 December 1948 the UDHR was accepted and adopted by the General

Assembly by a vote of 48 in favour, 0 against and 8 abstentions(all Soviet Bloc states, South

Africa and Saudi Arabia.

The following countries voted in favour of the Declaration:

Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Burma, Canada, Chile, China,

Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El

Salvador, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Iceland, India, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon,

Liberia, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Pakistan,

Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Thailand, Sweden, Syria, Turkey, the United Kingdom,

the United States of America, Uruguay, Venezuela.

Despite the central role played by Canadian John Humphrey, the Canadian

Government at first abstained from voting on the Declaration's draft, but later voted in favour

of the final draft in the General Assembly.

Back to basics

The UDHR issues a large number of rights with uncountable backgrounds, therefore

we will be discussing the more basic ones.

Starting with the rights of children and youngsters, we have to realise that the way we

live here, in Western-Europe, is not at all, compared to the rest of the world, the average.

Many children, in for example Third World countries, do not have access to clean water,

hygiene or time to themselves, not to mention access to education. Many children have to go

and work to earn money to supply their families and keep them alive. This drowses against all

children’s rights, as they have the right to a standard of living adequate for a child’s

intellectual, physical, moral and spiritual development, including adequate food, shelter and

clothing. These rights are just basic human rights, such as the right to freedom of

discrimination based on gender, race, colour, language, religion, nationality, ethnicity, or any

other status, or on the status of the child’s parents. And this last part, the right to freedom of

discrimination based on the status of the child’s parent, is already more specific. The Human

Rights belong to all human beings, therefore including children and young people. But young

people also enjoy certain human rights specifically linked to their status as under-aged and

their need for special care and protection. A good example is the right of the child to live in a

family environment. States should provide families with assistance and support if necessary

for meeting the fundamental needs of the child. Another very well known children’s right, is

the right to education – to free and compulsory education, to readily available forms of

secondary and higher education, and to the freedom from all types of discrimination at all

levels of education.

Other, not less important, rights are the women’s rights. Although women are, in First

World countries, accepted as equal to men within public treaties and legal procedures, they

are still understated by large numbers in other parts of the world. Millions of women live in

conditions of direct deprivation of, or attack against, their fundamental rights with as single

motive their being women. Abuses against them are relentless, systematic and tolerated, if not

silenced. Many bodies, associations and foundations have been set up for the protection of

women’s rights. They provide shelter for those who have fled their homes, register cases of

rape, domestic violence, trafficking of women, female genital mutilation, and so on, and they

are committed to voicing a worldwide call for justice and equality for women. Other concerns

of theirs are reproductive rights and equal access to economic opportunity and political

participation. As the Human Rights are meant for all human beings, they include children and

women. Children’s and women’s right over lapse each other in when a girl or young woman

is denied higher education, a situation much more common than denial of education to

children in general. Even in our western society girls are brought up with the idea that

secondary or higher education is not part of their future. Their concerns should be finding a

good husband, having a lot of children and a neat house.

Labour rights do not appear in the news every now and then, but they form the roots of

a healthy working situation. Labour rights are used with negotiation of workers’ wages,

benefits and safe conditions. They are based on, for example, the working terms and the

relation between workers and their employees. The most basic right within labour rights, is

the right to unionise. Unions make use of collective negotiating and industrial actions to

realise the raise of the wages or other concerns. “When Adam delved and Eve span, who was

then the gentleman?” is a famous quote by John Ball, one of the leaders of the Peasants’

Revolt, a foundation which defended the labour rights in the Middle Age. For example, they

fought against the enclosure movement, which took traditionally communal land and made

them private. A new law was accepted in 1833 which stated that children under the age of 9

could not work, between 9 and 13 only 8 hours a day and between 14 and 18 not more than 12

hours a day. In 1919 the International Labour Organisation was formed, which later became

part of the United Nations, causing the addition of two articles to the UDHR. These read that

everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to fair and reasonable

conditions of work and to protect against unemployment. The right to equal pay for equal

work, without any discrimination. Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including

reasonable limitation of work hours and periodic holidays with pay. All human rights are

linked to each other. As children have the right to education, this overlaps with the right

against discrimination of girls who are not allowed to go to school just because of their sex.

Labour rights have, for example, put an end to child labour, overlapping the children’s rights.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, also known as uTata Madiba in South Africa, was born on

the 18th July 1918, in Mvezo, a small village in the district of Umtata. Mandela's father, Gadla

Henry Mphakanyiswa, served as chief of the town of Mvezo. Gadla had four wives, with

whom he fathered thirteen children. Nelson Mandela was born to his third wife, Nosekeni

Fanny. Rolihlahla became the first member of his family to attend a school, where his teacher

gave him the English name Nelson. He completed his Junior Certificate in two years instead

of the usual three and he began to study for a Bachelor of Arts at the Fort Hare University.

Mandela worked as a guard at a mine, as an articled clerk at a Johannesburg law firm and

meanwhile he completed his B.A. degree at the University of South Africa via

correspondence. He was mainly an anti-apartheid activist and the leader of Umkhonto we

Sizwe, the armed department of the African National Congress (ANC). He coordinated

sabotage campaigns against military and government targets, making plans for a possible civil

war if the sabotage to end apartheid failed, even though he was against violence. In 1962 he

was arrested and convicted of sabotage and other charges and he was sentenced to 27 years

life in prison, on Robben Island, where he studied for a Bachelor of Laws from the University

of London External Programme. While in jail, his reputation grew and he became widely

known as the most significant black leader in South Africa. Nelson Mandela was finally

released on the 11th Following his release from prison on 11 February 1990. On that day, he

made a speech to the nation. He declared his commitment to peace and reconciliation, but

made clear that the ANC's armed struggle was not yet over.

Before his election, the first fully democratic multi-racial elections, Mandela led his

party in negotiations that improved multi-racial democracy in 1994, year of his election. As

President, from May 1994 until June 1999, Mandela presided over the transition from

minority rule and apartheid, winning international respect for his encouragement for national

and international reconciliation. Mandela encouraged black South Africans to get behind the

previously hated Springboks (the South African national rugby team) as South Africa hosted

the 1995 Rugby World Cup (Story of the film Invictus, recently made.) After the Springboks

won an epic final over New Zealand, Mandela presented the trophy to the captain, Francois

Pienaar, an Afrikaner, wearing a Springbok shirt with Pienaar's own number 6 on the back.

This was widely seen as a major step in the reconciliation of white and black South Africans.

After his retirement as President, Mandela became an advocate for a variety of social

and human rights organizations, mainly for SOS Children's Villages, the world's largest

organization dedicated to raising orphaned and abandoned children.

Mandela has received more than 250 South African and international awards over four

decades, but the most significant was the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. Many artists have

dedicated songs to Mandela and there are many published biographies about his life. Nelson

Mandela’s work was so important that the 18th July was adopted as his day, by the United

Nations. In order to honor him, individuals, communities and organizations are asked to

donate 67 minutes to do something for others, commemorating the 67 years that Nelson

Mandela gave to the struggle for social justice.

During Mandela’s lifetime he has dedicated himself to the struggle of African people,

fighting against white domination and also against black domination. He has loved the idea of

a democratic and free society in which everyone can live peacefully and equally. That is what

he still wants to achieve and like he said before ‘it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die’.

That is the reason why Nelson Mandela differs from so many other people who dreamt about

different conditions and rights. He refused to limit his action to dreams and hopes, he acted!

Mandela knew that he was able to make the difference, and he did it!

CONCLUSION

As we were able to see with this work realization, the theme Human Rights is a very complex

one. Nowadays, in developing countries, like Portugal, people are used to have their basic

rights for granted, they do not even think about their practical impact. People just know they

exist and that no one can violate them, just because they are human beings. In our opinion,

one of the best examples of this fact is the women’s rights situation. Today, every woman

born in a developed country is able to vote, to wear whatever she wants, to express herself, to

get married freely as well as to get divorced, to go to school, to have a career…Although it

was not always like that! The world needed someone like Florence Thomas, wanting to

change, to step forward,. What we frequently forget is that though our situation is different,

there are still many other women all over the world whose education is completely interdict,

who are not allowed to choose their husband and who are sold like simple sexual objects.

Human Rights are no longer a matter of black and white people’s rights. As our

economic, social and cultural level is increasing, also our rights and needs are changing, but

we cannot forget about people who had the misfortune of being born in a country where the

right to have a retirement is similar to our chance to go to the moon, a mirage.

The world needs more Nelson Mandelas, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther Kings, in short,

people aiming for a greater awareness of the abuse of the human rights. Going to school,

playing with our friends, making choices of our own, etc., all these are very normal actions

for the three of us. Still, there are many different realities among people our age throughout

the world. What are we waiting for? Let us make the difference.

Biography

Students’ Book

Internet:

http://www.hrea.org/erc/Library/First_Steps/index_eng.html