RADIO 2GB GLOBAL INSIGHT

The 20th century saw both some of history’s worst violations of human rights and yet also some of the most spectacular advances in their protection. There is a still long way to go. But at least there is the recognition that human rights are now a global (and not merely a national) issue. Human rights are still being violated. But people know their rights are being violated, and so there is less resigned acceptance that such violations are an inevitable part of life.

This week there have been global commemorations of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10 1948. Australia’s foreign minister Dr HV Evatt was in the chair.

This is the basic UN human rights document. Among its 30 Articles are: the right to life, liberty and security of person; equality before the law; freedom of movement and residence; freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; the right to seek in other countries asylum from persecution; freedom of thought, religion and conscience; the rights to vote and to participate in government; the right to education; the right to work; the right to form and join trades unions; the right to an adequate standard of living; the right to health protection; and the right to participate fully in cultural life.

Human rights had received considerable attention during the drafting of the UN Charter. Hitler had shown that a country that violates human rights at home may eventually violate human rights overseas. As US Secretary of State George Marshall was to tell the UN General Assembly session 60 years ago this week: Governments which systematically disregarded the rights of their own people were not likely to respect the rights of other nations and other people, and were likely to seek their objectives by coercion and force in the international field”. Thus, it was necessary to try to nip such potential violations in the bud.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the UN General Assembly with no negative votes. But there were some abstentions: the USSR and its satellite countries (Byelorussia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Ukraine and Yugoslavia) did not vote for it because of the Declaration’s stated right to own property, South Africa opposed the principle that blacks were equal to whites, and Saudi Arabia disagreed with the principle that women were equal to men.

It is a sign of the progress made that such objections would not be made nowadays.

First, human rights are part of the political vocabulary. Political claims are expressed in terms of “human rights”. Even if people are unfamiliar with the details of the UN’s declarations and treaties, there is widespread interest in human rights and people are now more likely than even before to oppose abuses of governmental power that violate human rights. People are still treated badly - but they now know their rights are being violated. People are not dying in ignorance.

Second, the human rights revolution has been aided by the growth of a global middle class. As societies become richer, so there is more popular attention to human rights matters.

South Korea and Indonesia are two examples of where modernization and wealth-creation have resulted in the overthrow of dictators.

Third, the UN is creating a network of techniques to assist governments protect human rights. For example, UN officials have helped the new governments in Eastern Europe devise electoral reforms and it has advised on the creation of national human rights institutions. The UN also has advisory services and technical assistance in the field of human rights, such as training programmes.

Fifth, the UN’s work is being copied at the regional level. The best example is the Council of Europe (which contains almost all Europe’s countries). The Council’s work is particularly good on civil and political rights and the Council’s human rights machinery has the power to coerce member-governments to change their policies or risk expulsion from the Council.

This happened when the Colonels took over in Greece in 1967 and began torturing their opponents. Greece wanted to join the then European Economic Community (which was separate from the Council) but the EEC’s membership would not accept it while it was ruled by an undemocratic government. Only after Greece had eventually returned to democracy could it begin the process of joining what is now the European Union.

Therefore the work done 60 years ago this week has been a great achievement.