International Human Rights Day

International Human Rights Day, Thursday, December 10, 2009, celebrates the adoption and proclamation in 1948 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the General Assembly of the United Nations.

That day in 1948 is arguably the birth of the modern human rights movement. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a visionary document that articulates, in the Preamble and the subsequent 30 Articles, the human rights standards that United Nations member nations agree to guarantee. Among the Articles are the rights to be free and equal in dignity and rights; the right to life, liberty, and security; to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; rights to be educated, work, and a standard of living adequate for the health and well being of himself and his family; and the right to take part in government.

Certainly, there has been progress in the support of human rights in many nations in the world, but 61 years later the fulfillment of the promises of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights remain a distant goal that require constant reminders and relentless efforts.

Human Rights Day passes largely unnoticed in the United States. The date is seldom identified on a home calendar, receives only cursory notice by the news media, is rarely addressed by our governments at any level, and is infrequently a topic of people's conversations.

However, numerous organizations, among them Amnesty International and their affiliate chapters, work daily in the cause of human rights around the world and do champion Human Rights Day.

The Friday Harbor Chapter of Amnesty International invites you to drop in to the "Freeing Prisoners of Conscience Write-A-Thon" on December 10 at the Naked Bean Cafe, 150B First Street, Friday Harbor, from 4:30 to 6:30 PM.

In addition, we encourage you to visit the Amnesty International USA website (amnestyusa.org) to join supporters from Canada to Japan to Mongolia to Uruguay in the "Write For Rights" letter writing campaign. The letters you sign, locally and on the web, will bring hope and courage to a prisoner of conscience or help persuade an official to correct an injustice or to secure someone's freedom.

Additional information on the Friday Harbor Chapter of Amnesty International may be obtained from Steve Kirk at 378-8567.

Steering Committee
Friday Harbor Chapter
Amnesty International
Friday Harbor, Washington

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