The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights embodies a conception of human rights that can be ascertained and compared to other approaches in the literature on the subject of human rights. These differing conceptions of what human rights are and how they can or cannot be protected. How some theorists might change the UN Declaration in keeping with their particular view of human rights will be considered as well.
THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is an example of quasi-legislation by non-binding instrument, something the United Nations has created for a number of different purposes. The Declaration was created in 1948. The fact that the United Nations would make a declaration on the issue of human rights is in keeping with the structure and genesis of the entire organization. Three years before the passage of the Declaration, the Charter for the United Nations was written, and in Article 56 it is stated that
all Members pledge themselves to take joint and separate action in cooperation with the Organization for the achievement of the purposes set forth in Article 55 (Carey 12).
Article 55 in turn provides that the United Nations shall promote
universal respect for, and observation of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion (Carey 13).
The United Nations Charter is seen as the document that originally gave human rights their international recognition. This was a revolution that was far-reaching. The Declaration of Human Rights that followed and that made an even more direct statement of the importance of human rights.
Other international agreements on human rights were passed after the creation of the Declaration. notably the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 on the treatment of certain groups of people in times of armed conflict and in the statement of a wide range of rights ad...