Excerpt from:
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Adopted and proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United
Nations on 10 December 1948
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,
[…]
The General Assembly proclaims this universal declaration of human
rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations
[…]
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. […]
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 7
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection
of the law. […]
[…]
Article 9
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
[…]
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.
[…]
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.
[…]
Article 16
(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or 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.
[…]
Article 17
(1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
[…]
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 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 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.
[…]
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 supplemented, if necessary, by other means
of social protection.
[…]
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. […]
[…]
Source: http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html