The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is primarily a Western document, limiting the claimed universal applicability of Human Rights

Type :

Term papers

Pages :

5 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

01/12/2009

Category :

Law & contracts

Sub category :

International law

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Summary :

Introduction.
How far did the great Western powers influence the writing of the UDHR.
UDHR viewed as being Western.
Cultural relativism.
Conclusion.

Abstract

On 10 December 1948, the universal declaration of human rights (UDHR) was adopted by the Third General Assembly of the United Nations. In the aftermath of WW2, nearly every state that had fought with the western Allies wanted the atrocities of Nazism and Fascism to be prohibited. To do this solemnly, the concept of human rights hold by every human being seemed to be a good way of preventing such horror to happen again: it was condemning Nazism and Fascism as well as every other doctrine that would aim at the destruction of any population, individual, or culture. It was defending each person from aggression, torture and discrimination, only because of his or her being human, regardless of his/her nationality, religion, sex, and so on. At the time of writing, no one objected that it was a purely western set of values, nor was it viewed as a kind of cultural imperialism. Criticisms emerged later. Today, the denying by some state of the existence of human rights occurs on a regular basis. Indeed, many states have tried to justify their practice by asserting that the right they apparently violate does not exist at all, with regards to their culture, customs or beliefs.