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On December 10, 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights web site provides the full text of the document translated into over 300 languages and dialects, ranging from Abkhaz to Zulu. Called the "global bill of human rights," this document is perhaps the most comprehensive statement of human rights the U.N. has created. You'll have to read the full
document to learn every right considered due to all human beings, but here are some of the key ones: - All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
- Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of person.
- No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
- No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.
- Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law, and all are equal before the law.
- Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defense.
- Everyone has
the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.
- Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
- Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
Although the declaration itself is not law, it was the basis for the International Bill of Human Rights, which includes two legally binding International Covenants on Human Rights.
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