Before the international human rights protection system was formed, human rights protection was only an internal affair of a country. In other words, how a government treats its own citizens or citizens of other countries is entirely within the jurisdiction of domestic law, and what international law can interfere with is limited to the special legal treatment and immunity granted to foreigners by a country. In this case, when a country wantonly violates the rights of its own citizens or citizens of other countries, there is no institutionalized means to stop this behavior within the scope of international law, and civil war or war between countries has become the most commonly used means.
After the end of the First World War, the founding members of the League of Nations signed the Covenant of the League of Nations in April 19 19, stressing that under any circumstances in international relations, all members should not resort to war before disputes are submitted to a certain procedure. However, the cruel fact is that the Covenant failed to stop the Second World War. The war divided the world into two camps. More than 2 billion people from more than 60 countries and regions were involved in the war, with about 55 million casualties. It is against this background that the Charter of the United Nations declares: "We, the peoples of the United Nations, are determined to save future generations from the terrible scourge of war, and reaffirm our belief in basic human rights, human dignity and value, and equality of rights between men and women and all countries, big or small." At that time, the Second World War had just ended, and mankind was still shrouded in the shadow of war disasters. Representatives from 50 countries that participated in the formulation of the Charter gathered in San Francisco and agreed on the Charter of the United Nations with the sacred mission of saving mankind from future wars. China is one of the founding members of the Charter of the United Nations, and Mr. Dong signed the Charter as the representative of China.
However, the purposes and principles of the Charter do not show its legal binding force in international human rights protection. Words like "promoting", "encouraging" and "helping to realize human rights" are so vague. Therefore, it is suggested that in order to truly protect human rights, its legal meaning must be clarified. The representatives of Cuba, Mexico and Panama first proposed a declaration on the basic rights of human beings.
Despite the above mission, the 30-article declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 19481February 10 is still highly generalized relative to its target audience. But the message it conveys is multiple: emotionally, people can't lose their spirit and conscience and be indifferent to the inhuman treatment of others; Morally, people have the responsibility to protest and stop the immoral behavior of abusing and persecuting people through their own political and social institutions; Politically, the government should pay attention to human rights violations anywhere and raise them to the height of state relations; Legally speaking, human rights have become a concept with a strict definition of welfare, and the protection of human rights is linked to strict government responsibility. The Declaration wrote in very moral language: "To issue this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a standard for all people and all countries to strive to achieve, so that everyone and social institutions can remember this Declaration economically, strive to promote respect for rights and freedoms through education, and make these rights and freedoms universally and effectively recognized and observed by their own people and people in territories under their jurisdiction through national and international gradual measures."
Forty-eight countries voted for the declaration, with no negative votes, but 8 abstentions. Six Eastern European countries headed by the former Soviet Union abstained, as well as South Africa and Saudi Arabia. After learning the result of the voting, the President of the General Assembly said that the overwhelming majority of countries voted for it without direct opposition, which was a remarkable achievement in a divided world. In the name of an organized international community, a declaration on human rights and fundamental freedoms was issued, which was the first time in human history.
In the days to come, people all over the world, men and women, old people and children, will seek help, guidance and inspiration from it.
The Declaration promoted the emergence and development of the international human rights law system. The provisions of the Declaration later became the basis of many human rights conventions. Over the past 50 years, the United Nations has formulated a large number of international human rights documents, among which the six most important conventions are collectively called the International Bill of Human Rights, namely, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment. China has acceded to the last four conventions and signed two others. A big country with a population of/kloc-0.2 billion has actively joined the international human rights protection system and assumed the responsibility of fulfilling the contents of international conventions, which is a remarkable achievement in the cause of human rights protection.
The Declaration has fostered a brand-new culture of human rights. For a long time, human rights are only the patent of western culture. In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, human rights are universal rights determined by people's moral nature and belong to anyone in any society, which is the root of human rights being called human rights. Due to the advocacy of the Declaration, almost all countries in the world have written human rights protection into their constitutions or government policy agendas. Louis Henkin, a famous American human rights theorist, once asserted that the era we live in is the era of rights, and human rights are the only universally accepted political and moral concept in this era. Worldwide, as a new language, international human rights have been institutionalized not only in rich academic works, extensive mass movements, domestic courts and legislative bodies of various countries, but also in international bilateral and multilateral treaties and solemn international documents.
The declaration advocates the spirit of tolerance. It is not based on any particular ideology, and its purpose is to avoid discussing philosophy and ideology. No matter what beliefs a social system has, no matter what its religious and cultural background is, the concept of human rights does not exclude it. On the contrary, any ideology needs public support to protect human rights. In the complex world we live in, the Declaration expresses the will among various values, cultures, concepts and principles.
Nor is the declaration based on admiration for any particular economic system. Any society can choose between planned economy, market economy or any combination of the two. However, whatever the outcome of the choice, certain human rights principles must be observed. For example, the right to inviolability of personal property, the right to work, the right to choose a job and so on. The realization of these principles has become the standard to test the economic system.
The declaration advocates a political morality generally accepted by modern society, that is, sovereignty belongs to the people and the will of the people is the basis of government power. The way for people to express their will is periodic and genuine elections, and the right to vote should be universal and true, and guaranteed by fair procedures. According to this principle, the government is responsible for realizing and protecting individual rights. "As a member of society, everyone has the right to enjoy social security and realize all kinds of economic, social and cultural rights necessary for the free development of his personal dignity and personality."
The Declaration advocates the balance between individual obligations to society and the exercise of rights. Article 29 says, "Everyone has an obligation to society, because only in society can his personality be developed freely and fully. In exercising their rights and freedoms, everyone is only subject to the restrictions prescribed by law. The sole purpose of determining such restrictions is to ensure proper recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and to meet the legitimate needs of morality, public order and general welfare in a democratic society. " Abuse of rights itself is a violation of human rights.
Of course, when praising the achievements of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, describing lofty international human rights legal norms and evaluating the promotion of human rights culture in society and academia, we should not only indulge in the joy and comfort of the achievements of the human rights movement. We should not forget that evil is still hidden under wonderful norms. Large-scale and organized human rights violations are still taking place. As recently as May this year, Indonesian armed military groups took organized violence against women in China and China, and large-scale human rights violations occurred in the capital of this country. Until now, people have not received any explanation, nor have they seen any action against criminals. At this moment, many refugees in Kosovo, the former Yugoslavia, are hungry and cold in the cold wind, and their helpless state will make anyone with conscience feel sad. We have witnessed the superpowers' double standards on human rights issues and the violations in the name of protecting human rights. We are faced with conflicts and contradictions between rights and the reality of rights protection and resource shortage.
We cannot expect a "declaration" to avoid all kinds of twists and turns and wars that accompany human civilization. In this world, human rights ideal and human rights pragmatism, international and domestic legal norms and powers, human moral rationality and practical interests, harmony and conflict are always in fierce contradictions. We can console ourselves that with the clear standards of human freedom and rights stipulated in the Declaration, all human rights violations and all evils will be morally condemned under the same standards. It is in this sense that we commemorate the birth of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, congratulate it on its contribution to mankind, and hope that its future will be smoother and less bumpy. Because, after all, the future of mankind is closely related to its destiny.