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Toward the Creation of a Human Rights Culture
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You may wish to have various proclamations in local, state or national community. Such proclamations can create awareness of human rights principles. Following are two proclamations. One is to commemorate Human Rights Day, December 10th, when the Universal Declaration was endorsed by the General Assembly without dissent in 1948; the other is to commemorate March 21st as the International Day to Eradicate Racism recently proclaimed by Secretary General Kofi Annan.
PROCLAMATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS DAY
Whereas, the General Assembly of the United Nations endorsed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with no dissenting vote, on December 10th, 1948, under the able leadership of an American, Ms. Eleanor Roosevelt; and
Whereas, the Universal Declaration asserts the dignity of the human person; non-discrimination based on race, color, sex, age, language, religion, political opinion, nationality, social origin, birth, or other status [medical condition, sexual orientation, disability]; civil and political rights, such as freedoms of thought, speech, belief, and the press; economic, social, and cultural rights, such as rights to employment, food, shelter, and health care; the solidarity of the human race; the notion that every right has a corresponding duty; and the interdependence and indivisibility of all human rights and
Whereas, the Universal Declaration is referred to as the authoritative definition of human rights standards and increasingly referred to as customary international law, which all countries must abide; and
Whereas, the Universal Declaration gave birth to a long train of other declarations and covenants further defining human rights standards, such as the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, which have the status of treaty and are to be considered “Law of the Land” in accordance with the Supremacy Clause, of the US Constitution, Article VI(2); and
Whereas, the Universal Declaration avows legal mandates to fulfill human need,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Select Board of the Town of Amherst, does hereby proclaim
December 10, 2002 and every December 10th hereafter as
HUMAN RIGHTS DAY
In Amherst and the Select Board encourages all Amherst citizens to be mindful of human rights principles and urges all municipal, state, federal, and international bodies to incorporate said principles into their laws and policies as a means to move toward the creation of a human rights culture which is a “lived awareness” of human rights principles.
Voted and signed this 2nd day of December 2002.
Proclamation of March 21st as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in the Town of Amherst
Given that the Secretary General Kofi Annan and the General Assembly of the United Nations recently declared March 21st as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination;
Whereas on that day on March 21st 1960 police opened fired and killed 69 people in the township of Sharpeville, Africa who were peacefully demonstrating against apartheid;
Whereas the United Nations has called upon the international community not only to commemorate that tragedy, but also to work together to combat racism and discrimination wherever they exist;
Whereas the United States signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the authoritative definition of human rights standards, increasingly referred to as customary international law;
Whereas the Universal Declaration of Human Rights asserts the interdependence and indivisibility of human rights and prohibits all forms of discrimination , including race;
Given that the United States has ratified the International Covenant on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in 1994, a progeny of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights submitted its report on racial discrimination to the United States in 1999, and according to Article VI of the US Constitution that Covenant is considered a Treaty thereby being Law for the United States and the “judges bound thereby”;
The Town of Amherst, thereby, recognizes the importance of an international day to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination and recognizes the efforts of the United States for attempting to eliminate racial discrimination and urges the United States to continue with these efforts,
Hereby Declares March 21st 2003 as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and urges the community to commemorate this day to take constructive steps to advance human dignity for all, the essential thrusts of human rights instruments, and, if possible to attend a reading of select portions of the International Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination to be read in the Town Common on 7 PM on March 21st.
Select Board Members
Date: ____________
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Copyright 2004, Joseph Wronka. Please feel free of course to do whatever you want with these documents in ways that you may find helpful (Please refer to homepage). Thank you for your interest in human rights.
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