1. effectmeasure
  2. UN Declaration of Human Rights in audiobook form

UN Declaration of Human Rights in audiobook form

By revere on October 25, 2006.

[NB: This is a companion to today's post on the Tripoli 6]

Yesterday (October 24) was United Nations Day. Thanks to BoingBoing we were alerted that Librivox, an organization devoted to making available US Public Domain recordings, has an audiobook of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 21 languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Afrikaans, English and Esperanto.

It is almost 60 years since the UN General Assembly ratified the Declaration in the wake of Nazi atrocities before and during WWII. It was meant to clarify the UN charter on matters of human rights and to emphasize their importance. It was ratified on December 10, 1948 by a vote of 48 to 0, with eight abstentions (the Soviet Bloc, South Africa and Saudi Arabia). (Wikipedia)

The thirty articles of the Declaration represent objectives to be aspired to by member states. It is not a legal binding treaty but a statement of principles stating the obligations of members of the international community. Among the thirty articles are these:

  • The right to life, liberty and security of person.
  • The right to an education.
  • The right to employment, paid holidays, protection against unemployment, and social security.
  • The right to participate fully in cultural life.
  • Freedom from torture or cruel, inhumane treatment or punishment.
  • Freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
  • Freedom of expression and opinion.

Here'sthe audiobook link again to hear the Declaration read in your chosen language.

Tags
human rights

More like this

An Islamic assault on human rights
Sixty years ago, the UN composed a document setting out a Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It lists a set of basic principles, such as that everyone should be treated equally, torture and slavery are forbidden, and everyone has the right to life, liberty and security. It's a lovely set of…
Cut off Martin Cothran's internet access
Martin Cothran, the bigoted, anti-semite defending, Holocaust-denial whitewashing, misogynistic, homophobic, creationist, authoritarian, logic-impaired mouthpiece for the Kentucky theocracy movement wonders Is Internet access a human right?: In what sense is Internet access as a "right"? I listened…
Religious exceptionalism and the UN
So there's a rather livid article in the Independent by Johann Hari, titled "Why should I respect these oppressive religions?" Starting in 1999, a coalition of Islamist tyrants, led by Saudi Arabia, demanded the rules be rewritten. The demand for everyone to be able to think and speak freely failed…
The Vatican on Religious Freedom
The Vatican's observer to the UN addressed the General Assembly yesterday on the subject of religious freedom and made quite a mess of it. The occasion was the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion…

Do you have a right to have your vote protected on November 7, or are the voting machines allowed to eat your vote?