The Universal Declaration of Human rights Yunxi Wang, Annekatrin Nagel
Overview of the Drafting Process
March 1947 John Humphrey makes Draft outline June 1947 Review by Drafting Commission of CHR Cassin gets assignment to prepare Draft December 1947 Draft presented to CHR Working Group produces Geneva Draft
Overview of the Drafting Process May/ June 1948 Discussion about several points in the CHR Most troublesome meeting Sep-Dec 1948 Third Commission of the General Assembly meeting Several amendments to various articles December 10th 1948 UDHR adopted 48 to 0 votes (several abstentions!)
Overview of the Drafting Process Draft process proceeded rapidly: Advantage of the UDHR laying out moral principles and not binding law Discussion focused mainly on word choice and minor changes. Mrs. Roosevelt's skillful bureaucratic operation
The First Drafts of the Declaration
The First Drafts of the Declaration: John Humphrey’s Draft Outline Framework of western liberalism incorporating a range of social and economic rights Rights with legal details implying level of enforcement > rather convention than declaration Individual protected against state Right to petition Critique: Vladimir Koretsky (Representative of the Soviet Union)
The First Drafts of the Declaration: Cassin’s Draft Kept many of the articles of Humphrey’s Outline still intended to support implementation although not specific on the mechanisms Next 12 month his draft was discussed and revised: - text shortened - character changed from articles (legal character) to principles
UNESCO interlude
The UNESCO Interlude 1947 UNESCO project on the issue of Universal Human Rights was started (scholars and cultural theorists from all over the world wrote on the issue) Complicated Issues such as fundamental differences in the conception of rights and the relationship of individual and state, etc. The work was completely disregarded and remained unmentioned in the drafting process because of the bureaucratic issue that there was no prior information to the CHR
Some Participants E.H. Carr, Aldous Huxley Jacques Maritain Mohandas Gandhi, Humayun Kabir Benedetto Croce Richard McKeon, Quincy Wright Chung-Shu Lo
Negotiating the controversial articles
1 right to rebellion some countries supported because they attained independence through its exercise BUT ! Britain: feared that it would provide legitimacy to armed insurrection in the colonies US: the respect for human rights obviated the need for revolution
Negotiating the controversial articles 2 universal basis of human rights What is the original source of these inherent values. Nature? God? > Issue Remained unsolved. 3 from men to human beings The idea “woman” seems excluded, so became human beings. The item “brotherhood” as well
Negotiating the controversial articles 4 minority right are not recognized Because of sensitive domestic matters 5 death penalty Soviet Union PUSH US EU deny, blaming Soviet Union’s hypocrisy 6 right to social security or justice or insurance
Debating the hierarchy in universal right
Whether include economic, social, cultural rights U.S and Britain: not include them but they did not win the debate Relationship between economic, social, cultural rights and western civil and political right
Abstentions to the universal declaration
South Africa’s quit: it’s apartheid regime a human rights pariah Saudi Arabia: secular Eurocentric basis 1 their religious foundations 2 western imperialism
Abstentions to the universal declaration Soviet bloc: western ideological bias the interdependence between the citizen and the state Human right without state was “empty illusions” However, UDHR affirmed that individual human rights are transcending national boundaries.
Conclusion: searching for the universal in the declaration
Cultural imperialism Vs. cultural relativism US predominant influence English dominant However, the most important obstacle is enforcement
Conclusion: searching for the universal in the declaration But, at last a positive tone? “ The Declaration will develop its own implementation.”
Questions? Thank you