Human Rights and The Salvation Army

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HUMAN RIGHTS

THE SALVATION ARMY

REFLECTING ON THE 70th ANNIVERSARY OF THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS



HUMAN RIGHTS

THE SALVATION ARMY

REFLECTING ON THE 70th ANNIVERSARY OF THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS


Copyright Š 2018 The General of The Salvation Army ISBN 978-1-911149-79-8 e-book ISBN 978-1-911149-80-4 A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Published by Salvation Books The Salvation Army, International Headquarters, 101 Queen Victoria Street, London EC4V 4EH, United Kingdom www.salvationarmy.org Printed and bound in the UK by Page Bros, Norwich

Front cover credit: United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, www.standup4humanrights.org Each image illustrates one of the 30 Articles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.


CONTENTS Foreword by the General

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1. A Brief History of Human Rights

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2. The Development of Human Rights Since 1948

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3. Current Challenges to Human Rights

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4. Christian Reflections on Human Rights

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5. The Way Forward

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Appendix 1

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

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Appendix 2

Bibliography and References

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FOREWORD BY THE GENERAL OF THE SALVATION ARMY 2018 is the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and it is timely for The Salvation Army to take this opportunity to reflect on its understanding of human rights at this important moment in world history. Fifty years ago, in 1968, the United Nations designated it ‘International Human Rights Year’. The Salvation Army marked the 20th anniversary by publishing a book called Human Rights and The Salvation Army, and in 2018 it is important to reaffirm that commitment. As Christians, we believe that every human being is made in the image of God, which imbues each individual with dignity and worth. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is an internationally recognised and agreed framework for transferring such a belief into a tangible, measurable and enforceable reality in our world. The challenge is for each country and individual to live up to the Declaration. When we consider current events in our world – the mass migration of refugees and asylum seekers, uncovered historical abuse, the need for campaigns like #metoo, gun and knife crime, human trafficking – this 70th anniversary provides an opportunity to pause, reflect and recommit ourselves to work for a better world where every person is valued, respected and protected. As an international movement we encounter individuals daily who are deprived of the human rights noted in the Declaration. The battle continues and I call upon all who read this publication to personally become a defender of human rights because ours is the voice needing to be heard right now, right where you are. The words of this publication note the discovery and acknowledgement of human rights in the 1940s yet God, through the inspiration of Scripture, created a framework of equality and the value of each person. If history records a rather slow engagement in human rights, may it not be so for the future. Through my influence and yours may we accelerate and champion human rights in every sector of our society. I commend this booklet to you. It is useful for personal study and reflection, for linking to Bible studies in a Christian faith context, and as a basis for engagement with elected officials. Sincerely yours

Brian Peddle GENERAL 5


1.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF HUMAN RIGHTS


1 On 10 December 1948, in Paris, France, of the then 58 members of the United Nations (UN), 48 voted for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. No country voted against it, eight abstained, and two did not vote. Seventy years later, in 2018, there are 193 UN member states. Global politics has become more diverse. World War Two had only recently ended when the leaders of the world endorsed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In the first half of the 20th century, people endured two world wars. They had just experienced the horror of the Holocaust. There was a strong desire for a new world order. Despite the desire for change, agreeing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was a colossal task. The world was fractured and unstable. The Iron Curtain had just come down separating the world into eastern and western blocs. Colonialism was collapsing, yet those drafting the Declaration overwhelmingly came from Europe and North America. There were nine key people on the drafting committee. Only one was a woman – Eleanor Roosevelt, former first lady of the United States of America. There were no Africans or South Asians drafting the text and only one South American. It is important to note that the concept of human rights was not ‘discovered’ in the late 1940s. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was based on the concepts of natural law and natural rights. In doing so, those drafting it built on the philosophical tradition of, among others,

Aristotle (Greek), Cicero (Roman), and Thomas Aquinas (of the medieval Catholic natural law tradition). Philosophers such as John Locke, Thomas Hobbes and Francisco Suarez developed the concepts of natural law and natural rights further during the Enlightenment of the 18th century. These ideas featured prominently in the American and French Revolutions. The central idea underpinning natural law and natural rights was that while people belong to many different cultures and different nations, they are united by one moral order, and rights are part of that universal moral order. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights stands upon these foundations. It has been translated into more than 500 languages and contains 30 articles.1 Many of them are well known to us today. For example: Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. Article 3: Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. Article 25: Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/ The Declaration is printed in full as Appendix 1 of this book.

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2.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS SINCE 1948


2 Summarising the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN states: ‘Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status. We are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination.’2 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has proved to be very popular around the world. It has been widely used and endorsed by many governments, organisations and people. As the preamble to the Declaration proclaims, it has become ‘a common standard of achievement for all people and all nations’.3 Many Christians have seen the complementarity of the Declaration with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Twenty years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN designated 1968 ‘International Human Rights Year’. The Salvation Army marked the 20th anniversary by publishing a book

called Human Rights and The Salvation Army. The then international leader, General Frederick Coutts wrote: ‘In Human Rights Year, Salvationists are identified with the high ideals of social justice and acceptance as the unchallenged right of every man as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.’4 When he addressed the UN General Assembly in October 1979, Pope John Paul II defined the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as ‘a true milestone on the path of humanity’s moral progress’.5 In the past 70 years, human rights has developed into a multifaceted, comprehensive way of thinking and living.6 The UN has agreed new treaties that have defined and constantly redefined what is meant by human rights. For example, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights were signed in 1966.

https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Pages/whatarehumanrights.aspx http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/ 4 Human Rights and The Salvation Army, 1968 5 John Paul II, address to the 34th General Assembly of the UN (2 October 1979), 7: AAS 71 (1979), 1147-1148; quoted in Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, §152 6 See the UN definition of human rights http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Pages/ WhatareHumanRights.aspx 2 3

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2 These two covenants are based on the rights contained in the Declaration, are binding on all states who signed the treaty and have created international human rights law. Since then many new treaties – human rights instruments – have extended the meaning of human rights and the scope of human rights law.7 National courts and other bodies such as the European Court of Human Rights are also continually adding and redefining the scope of human rights law. And it is not only the courts that are trying to redefine human rights . There are nongovernmental organisations and advocacy groups constantly trying to widen the definition of human rights. For example, Amnesty International’s 2015 campaign contending that sex worker rights are human rights8 caused much controversy.

As Professor Linda Hogan has said, we find that ‘Human rights discourse … now functions as the primary language through which the goods that can only be pursued through global political action are sought and secured’.9 Therefore, it necessary to be careful and fully understand what is meant by the term ‘human rights’ when it is used these days.

Among the more important are: Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1966); Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979); United Nations Convention Against Torture (1984); Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989); International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (adopted 1990 but only came into force in 2003); Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006) 8 https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/08/sex-workers-rights-are-human-rights/ 9 Hogan, Linda, Keeping Faith with Human Rights, Georgetown University Press, 2015, 12 7

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‘

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven Matthew 6:10

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CURRENT CHALLENGES TO HUMAN RIGHTS


3 Human rights stands at the crossroads, facing an uncertain future. Questions are being asked of human rights: Is it fit to be the glue that binds together the world’s laws, politics and morality?

the promises of human rights can feel insulting to many poor and marginalised people. As a Zambian commented to a researcher a few years ago: ‘You cannot eat rights.’11

What is causing the loss of confidence? One reason is that talk of human rights does not seem to make much difference ‘on the ground’. Despite professions of equality, there is a growing inequality of wealth and power. We are living at time in world history where ‘increasingly interconnected global economic and social systems relentlessly and ruthlessly are creating truly obscene levels of riches, privilege and power for a tiny minority of mostly men. At the same time the income most people need to survive has stagnated or dramatically declined for decades.’10 There appear to be no solutions on the horizon. The rich get richer and the poor stay the same or become even poorer. Many people are struggling and suffering. They are desperate for solutions. Seventy years after the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

Another reason for a loss of confidence in human rights is that the governments who signed the Declaration have failed to live up to their promise to hold each other to a uniform standard. It appears that while nations claim human rights for themselves and their friends, there is an international trend towards being less concerned for minorities and foreigners, and little desire to give human rights to the enemy. Too often human rights violations by strong nations are ignored, while the weaker countries – with few powerful allies – are criticised. For example, nine of the first ten cases of the International Criminal Court (ICC) since it was launched in 2002 involved former African leaders.12 This sense of unfairness has resulted in many African countries threatening to withdraw from the ICC.13

Cox, Larry. ‘The Power of Religion and Human Rights’, 2017, https://kairoscenter.org/powerreligion-human-rights/ 11 https://bmcinthealthhumrights.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12914-015-0067-6 12 https://www.wits.ac.za/news/sources/wsg-news/2018/the-international-criminal-court-andaccountability-in-africa.html 13 Ibid 10

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Let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a neverfailing stream!

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Amos 5:24


3 Yet again, many of the prominent human rights activists have ignored or abandoned the moral underpinnings on which human rights rest. The foundations used to develop the Declaration in the late 1940s have been eroded in the past 70 years. Human rights discourse is now viewed by some of its critics as ‘nothing more than individualism, secularism, and Western political imperialism in disguise’.14 This is a very regrettable situation. As contemporary philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre has argued: ‘The current difficulties with the category of human rights arise precisely because it has been cut adrift from its original philosophical hinterland of natural rights – that is from the only foundation that could give it legitimacy.’15

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Human rights believers are often very passionate, believing they are on the ‘right side of history’ so their victory is inevitable. This is a risky and dangerous assumption. Canadian politician Michael Ignatieff warned: ‘In the next fifty years, we can expect to see the moral consensus that sustained the Universal Declaration [of Human Rights] in 1948 splintering still further … There is no reason to believe that economic globalization entails moral globalization.’16 An optimistic future for human rights cannot be guaranteed.

Hogan, 2015, 2 Hogan, 2015, 38. See MacIntyre, Alasdair, After Virtue, University of Notre Dame Press, 1981 Ignatieff, Michael, Human Rights as Politics and Idolatry, Princeton University Press, 2001, 93 15


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CHRISTIAN REFLECTIONS ON HUMAN RIGHTS


4 The Salvation Army is part of the universal Christian Church and therefore views human rights through the lens of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Two questions are central for Christian reflection on human rights – what is a human, and what part do rights play? a. Being human All supporters of human rights – Christian and non-Christian alike – agree that all people are born equal. The elderly, disabled, or the homeless person who lives on the streets is as valuable as the powerful politician, celebrity and sporting star. However, there is disagreement when we dig a little deeper into the question of ‘What is a human?’ Christianity has a rich understanding of what is means to be human: }} We

are not simply autonomous, rational individuals, as some secularists argue. Christians believe each human life is a gift, made in God’s image with an eternal purpose in the divine will of God. Each life must be respected and given every opportunity to glorify God throughout the time on earth. }} People made in the image of the Triune God are, in very essence, relational beings.

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}} People

are created as ‘body-soul in relation’ from the moment of fertilisation – body and soul are both important. }} All human beings bear the divine image equally. This is the basis for the Christian rejection of all the ‘isms – racism, sexism, ageism. Equality and relationality go together. It is not about my rights being protected because I am an individual – as some secularists argue – but rather my rights are to be protected because I am in relationship with and have moral accountability to all of creation and the creator. }} Human beings are stewards of what God has created. Out of this comes our understanding of ‘environmental’ ethics, of the equitable distribution of resources, tithing, care of the earth, etc. This appreciation of what it is to be human is needed to protect human rights from those who envision humanity as a collection of individuals who are ‘selfmade, independent, alone and fragile’.17 And on the other hand, this Christian understanding of humanity demands a strong belief in human rights. The future of human rights depends on people of faith promoting a richer, multilayered appreciation of what it means to be human.

Wilson E.O., The Meaning of Existence, Liveright Publishing, 2014, 26 17


b. Rights In its Handbook of Doctrine, The Salvation Army teaches this eternal truth: ‘Humanity is a special part of God’s good creation. Therefore we must learn to value the worth of all human beings as having been made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27; Psalm 8:5). God will hold us accountable for how we live: in community, in relationship to all living creatures as well as to the whole of our natural environment. This knowledge will shape our moral choices and our stewardship of creation.’18 The rights given to all people – human rights – are part of God’s gift to the world. The terms of engagement need to be clear. The Salvation Army does not support human rights just because the UN or the political rulers of this world say so. The Salvation Army supports human rights because they are a gift from God. They are universal, inherent, inviolable and inalienable.19

Human rights ‘apply to every stage of life and to every political, social, economic and cultural situation. Together they form a single whole, directed unambiguously towards the promotion of every aspect of the good of both the person and society ... The integral promotion of every category of human rights is the true guarantee of full respect for each individual right.’20 However, essential as individual human rights are, they are only part of the story as Christians understand it. Rights without duties make no sense. Corresponding to every individual human right is a universal obligation: everyone is obligated to everyone else to respect their human rights. Human rights law exists precisely to ensure the obligations are met. ‘Those, therefore, who claim their own rights, yet altogether forget or neglect to carry out their respective duties, are people who build with one hand and destroy with the other.’21 The relationship created by rights and duties is one of the many forms of relationship that should exist and be

The Salvation Army Handbook of Doctrine (HOD), Salvation Books, International Headquarters, London, 2010, 39 19 In this the United Nations and Christian faith agree. See http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/ Pages/WhatareHumanRights.aspx and ‘Universal because they are present in all human beings, without exception of time, place or subject. Inviolable insofar as “they are inherent in the human person and in human dignity” and because “it would be vain to proclaim rights, if at the same time everything were not done to ensure the duty of respecting them by all people, everywhere, and for all people”. Inalienable insofar as “no one can legitimately deprive another person, whoever they may be, of these rights, since this would do violence to their nature”.’ Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, §153 20 John Paul II, Message for the 1999 World Day of Peace, 3: AAS 91 (1999), 379; quoted in Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, §154 21 John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris, AAS 55 (1963), 264; quoted in Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, §156 18

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4 nurtured. Covenanted relationships are even more central to a Christian understanding. ‘Since God is a covenantmaking and covenant-keeping God, our relationships should be characterised by the requirements of covenant responsibility. This means that our relationships, both with God and with others, must be built on love and faithfulness.’22 For Salvationists, the commitment to live in more than a bare rights relationship to the whole of creation is at the heart of the covenant made by every person who is enrolled as a soldier. Every Salvationist has publicly said: ‘I will maintain Christian ideals in all my relationships with others: my family and neighbours, my colleagues and fellow Salvationists, those to whom and for whom I am responsible, and the wider community.’23 Covenants grounded in love mean that sometimes one will forgo claiming what one has a legitimate right to claim. Since the earliest days of the Church and inspired by the life and teaching of Jesus, Christians have always believed

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more fortunate people should decide not to assert some of their rights so as to place their goods more generously at the service of others. Emphasising individual human rights exclusively can give rise to an individualism in which each one claims his own rights without wishing to be answerable for the common good. The good of the communities and societies of which individuals are part matters, as well as the good of the individual. The latter is the focus of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the former receives scant attention there. A Christian understanding will contend for the respect of both. If, therefore, the purpose of human rights is only to enable autonomous, rational individuals to have what they deserve, then talk of human rights needs to die. The world will be damaged irreparably in the next few decades if the purpose of human rights is only to secure individual rights. However, if human rights advocates can recapture a priority for the common good – promote a rights-based approach that teaches duties as well and welcome interpersonal relationships that are grounded in covenanted love, then we all need to fight for human rights to flourish.

HOD, 196 Soldier’s Covenant, HOD, 321. 19


5.

THE WAY FORWARD


5 The Salvation Army cannot give up on human rights. There is a way forward but it will need serious commitment and a willingness to change. The first change needs to come from those who see themselves as the modernday defenders of human rights. They need to recognise that human rights is not a recent gift from Western secular, liberal, atheists to the rest of the world. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was built on thousands of years of human experience and divine revelation. There are still those who are not keen on working with people of faith and some who go as far as setting up human rights against religion. By ignoring the complementarity of human rights and religion, the secular advocates have discredited human rights in the eyes of non-Westerners, who are mainly people of faith. People of different faiths, religions and world views – including the secularists – in every part of the world need to build a rich, comprehensive understanding of human rights. No one should be forced to

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accept the other person’s faith or world view – rather, we find each other through our differences, not by being forced to accept the most powerful group’s definition of human rights. ‘Human rights politics is best understood as a deliberative process through which we articulate a set of moral expectations to which we can be held to account’.24 The second essential change necessary for the success of a new form of human rights politics depends on people of different faiths agreeing that they share a belief in the dignity of human beings.25 This is a ‘common ground’ connection point – if people do not accept the dignity of human beings there is no opportunity for further discussion. Admittedly, there are many different ways in which people justify the inherent dignity of humanity. The plurality of meanings is okay. We can still find common ground and address issues of mutual concern as long as we agree that all people are equal and deserve dignity.26

Hogan, 5. Hogan, 117. Pallant, Dean. Keeping Faith in Faith-Based Organizations (Wipf & Stock, 2012) 21


5 This was restated in the Beirut Declaration on ‘Faith for Rights’ in March 2017 – a declaration made by religious experts with the support of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The declaration states: ‘We ground our commitments in this Faith For Rights declaration first and foremost in our conviction that religions and beliefs share common core values of respect for human dignity, justice and fairness. We also ground these commitments in our acceptance of the fact that “Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible”. (Article 29, paragraph 1, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948).) Our duty is to practice what we preach, to fully engage, to speak up and act on the ground in the defence of human dignity long before it is actually threatened.’27 The identification of common ground is key. We do not claim to share the same purpose – such as pretending we worship the same God. Such attempts to pretend we have no substantial differences are

bound to fail. Instead, let us find areas of common concern; places where we can come together, not to debate theology but to find practical solutions to real problems.28 A third change is required. Too few Christians appreciate the value of human rights and how they are constituent elements of God’s mission to the world. Too often people of faith stay silent when human rights abuses are occurring. Too often, Christians promoting human rights use a secular, liberal, individualistic justification. Christians – including members of The Salvation Army – need to clearly, confidently and publicly support the Declaration and use Christian convictions to explain why it is worth defending. As outlined in this booklet, the Declaration aligns with biblical principles and Christian theology. Christians can actively support it. Even more – Christian theology is able to contribute to the flourishing of human rights in the 21st century, and Christians should share this good news with the rest of the world.

OHCHR, Beirut Declaration, ‘Faith For Rights’, 2017, 10 https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/ Press/Faith4Rights.pdf 28 The Beirut Declaration includes 18 commitments on ‘Faith for Rights’, with corresponding follow-up actions. These include some very practical commitments: • to prevent the use of the notion of ‘State religion’ to discriminate against any individual or group; • to revisit religious interpretations that appear to perpetuate gender inequality and harmful stereotypes or even condone gender-based violence; • to stand up for the rights of all persons belonging to minorities; • to publicly denounce all instances of advocacy of hatred that incites to violence, discrimination or hostility; • to engage with children and youth who are either victims of or vulnerable to incitement to violence in the name of religion. 27

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What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Micah 6:8



APPENDIX 1 UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

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Preamble Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people, Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law, Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,

of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms, Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge, Now, therefore The General Assembly proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.Â

Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom, Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in cooperation with the United Nations, the promotion

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http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/ 25


Article 1. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. Article 2. Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty. Article 3. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. Article 4. No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms. Article 5. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Article 6. Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

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Article 7. All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination. Article 8. Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law. Article 9. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile. Article 10. Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him. Article 11. (1) 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 defence. (2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed.


Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed. Article 12. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks. Article 13. (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State. (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country. Article 14. (1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution. (2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution. (2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses. (3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State. Article 17. (1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others. (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property. Article 18. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 15. (1) Everyone has the right to a nationality. (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

Article 19. Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Article 16. (1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or

Article 20. (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

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(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association. Article 21. (1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives. (2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country. (3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

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supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection. (4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests. Article 24. Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Article 22. Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international cooperation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

Article 25. (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. (2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Article 23. (1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. (2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work. (3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and

Article 26. (1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit. (2) Education shall be directed to the full


development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace. (3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children. Article 27. (1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits. (2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society. (3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations. Article 30. Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.

Article 28. Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized. Article 29. (1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible. (2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the

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APPENDIX 2 BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES Catholic Church, Pontificium Consilium de Iustitia et Pace, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, New York: Burns and Oakes, 2005. Hogan, Linda. Keeping Faith with Human Rights, Georgetown University Press, 2016. Human Rights and The Salvation Army, International Headquarters, London, 1968. Ignatieff, Michael, Human Rights as Politics and Idolatry, Princeton University Press, 2001. MacIntyre, Alasdair, After Virtue, University of Notre Dame Press, 1981. Pallant, Dean, Keeping Faith in Faith-Based Organizations, Wipf & Stock, 2012. Rieff, David, ‘The End of Human Rights? Learning from the failure of the Responsibility to Protect and the International Criminal Court’, Foreign Policy, 9 April 2018. Roth, Kenneth, ‘The Dangerous Rise of Populism: Global Attacks on Human Rights Values’, 2017, 1, https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/world_report_download/ wr2017-web.pdf Shetty, Salil, Amnesty International, ‘The State of the World’s Human Rights 2017/18’, https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/POL1067002018ENGLISH.PDF The Salvation Army Handbook of Doctrine, Salvation Books, International Headquarters, London, 2010.

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The ISJC Team

Members of IMASIC with General Brian Peddle at Sunbury Court



A PUBLICATION FROM THE SALVATION ARMY’S INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL JUSTICE COMMISSION AND INTERNATIONAL MORAL AND SOCIAL ISSUES COUNCIL, MARKING THEIR 10TH ANNIVERSARY

www.salvationarmy.org/isjc


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