FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS

I. Bodily and Psychological Rights

1) Everyone has a right to existence, to bodily integrity and well-being, to everything
necessary to maintain a decent standard of living, such as food, clothing, and shelter,
means of subsistence and many other services indispensable to social security.
2) Everyone has a right to a good reputation and respect, to protection of privacy and to an
honest representation.
3) Slavery or servitude and the slave trade are prohibited. This entails the prohibition of
the selling of women and children presumably for purposes of prostitution.
4) Old people, orphans, the sick and those who are rejected have the right to such care
and assistance as maybe required.

II. Communication and Cultural Rights
1) Everyone has a right to act in accordance with the right norms of his own conscience
and to investigate the truth freely following the ways and means proper to man.
2) In certain instances, this may involve the right of dissent for reasons of conscience from
some rules of society.
3) Everyone has the right to express his ideas and opinions freely and to be correctly
informed about public events.
4) Everyone has a natural right to share in the benefits of a culture, and therefore the right
to a basic education and to technical and professional training in keeping with the level
of educational development of the country to which he belongs.
5) Everyone has the right to participate freely in the cultural life of the community, to
enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and benefits (UDHR, Art.27, 1).
6) In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging
to such minorities shall not be denied the right to enjoy their own culture, to profess
and practice their own religion, or to use their own language. (International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights, Art.27)
7) Not only individuals but also communities and particularly minority groups enjoy the
right to life, to personal and social dignity, to free association, to development within a
safe and improved environment, and to an equitable distribution of natural resources
and of the fruits of civilization.
8) Everyone has the right to rest and leisure. (UDHR, Art. 24)
9) 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. (UDHR, Art. 26)
10) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting
from any scientific, literacy or artistic production of which he is the author. (UDHR, Art.
27,2)

III. Political Rights
1) From the dignity of the human person derives everyones right to the active part in
public affairs and to contribute personally to the common good as well as the right to
vote and the right to have a voice in social decisions.
2) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of the government. (UDHR, Art.
21,3)
3) The persons fundamental right is to have all his rights safeguarded by law; namely, to
protection that is impartial, inspired by the true norm of justice and at the same time
effective. This means that all are equal before the law and any juridical procedure
should give the accused the right to know his accusers and also the right to a proper
defense.
4) No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment. (UDHR, Art.5)
5) Each State party shall take all necessary measures to abolish the death penalty (2
nd

Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Art.1)
6) Women are entitled to the respect due to the dignity of the human person and must
therefore be grated equality with men to participate in the educational, cultural,
economic, social and political life of the state.
7) Discrimination against women is fundamentally unjust and constitutes an offense
against human dignity. (Declaration on the Elam-nation of Discrimination against
Women, Art.1)
8) States have the duty to cooperate with each other in ensuring development and
eliminating obstacles to development. (Declaration of the Rights to Development,
Art.3,3)

IV. Associational Rights
1) All men have the right of free assembly and association which includes the right to
structure organizations according to the will of their members in order to achieve their
desired objectives.
2) States should encourage popular participation in all spheres. (Declaration on the Right
to Development, Art.8,2)
3) No one maybe compelled to belong to an association. (Art. 20,2)

V. Rights of Movement
1) Every human being has the right to freedom of movement and of residence within the
confines of his own country, and also the right to emigrate to other countries and so
take up residence there; special consideration and assistance should be extended to
exiles and refugees in accordance with humanitarian principle of the right to asylum.
2) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other country asylum from persecution.
(UDHR, Art.14,1)

VI. Sexual and Familial Rights
1) Every human being has the right to choose freely the state of life which he prefers and
to found a family with equal rights and duties for husband and wife or the right to follow
a vocation to the priesthood or the religious life.
2) The family, grounded on marriage freely contracted, monogamous and indissoluble, is
the primary and essential cell of human society and must therefore be accorded every
economic, social, cultural and moral considerations which will strengthen its stability,
facilitate the fulfilment of its specific mission, and ensure an ambiance for its healthy
development.
3) Parents have the right to beget children, and prior rights in their support and education
within the family
4) Children and young people have a special right to education and to morally correct
conditions of life and communications media.
5) No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family,
home or correspondence. (International Covenant on Civil and Political Right, Art. 17,1)
6) Children have the right to be protected from economic exploitation and from
performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with childs education
or health. (Convention on the Rights of the Child, Art. 32, 1)
7) Children have to be protected from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.
(Convention on the Rights of the Child, Art.34)
8) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children,
whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same equal protection. (UDHR,
Art.25,2)
9) Parents have prior rights to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their
children. (UDHR, Art.26, 3)

VII. Economic Rights
1) Everyone has the right to work, to develop his own personality and talents in the
exercise of his profession and also the right to exercise with due responsibility, to free
initiative in the economic field.
2) Everyone engaged in manual or intellectual work is entitled to a wage or salary
determined according to justice and equity.
3) Workers have the right to strike as an ultimate means of defense of their other rights.
4) Everyone has the right to have a share of earthly goods sufficient for himself and his
family-private ownership.
5) All men and nations enjoy the right to development, regarded as a dynamic
interpretation of all those fundamental human rights on which the aspirations of
individuals and nations are based; this includes the right to equal opportunities in the
cultural, civic, social and economic spheres and to an equitable distribution of natural
resources.
6) All peoples may, for their own needs, freely dispose of their natural wealth and
resources. (International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Art. 11,1)
VIII. Religious Rights
1) Everyone has a right to worship God according to the right norm of his own conscience,
to practice his religion both in private and in public and to enjoy religious liberty.