A Brief History of The International Bill of Human Rights

WHAT CHINESE PRESIDENTS--AND AMERICAN JOURNALISTS--DON'T KNOW, AND YOU CAN FIND OUT RIGHT NOW

On Oct. 29, 1997, Jiang Zemin, president of China, told a press

conference in Washington D.C.: "concepts on human rights are relative and to be determined by the specific national situation of different countries." Like the Prime Minister of Malaysia three months earlier, he complained on his visit that western nations are trying to impose their particular concept of human rights on Asian countries.

The obvious response, for anyone who knows modern history,

as you will after you read the first few pages of Peter Meyer's Brief History of the International Bill of Human Rights (click the HISTORY button), is that the basic description of what human rights are, a text embraced and referred to by every nation of the world over the past five decades, was written in 1947-48 by a small international committee. The chairman of the committee was a western woman, true (Eleanor Roosevelt), but the vice-chairman and the other primary author of the text of the Universal Declaration was a Chinese diplomat, Chang Peng-chung. American journalists evidently don't realize this. I haven't seen it mentioned in any of the voluminous coverage and commentary on Jiang's statement.

Who defined "human rights" in the 20th Century?

An international committee co-chaired by an Asian, a Chinese diplomat.

In July 1997 the Prime Minister of Malaysia called for the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights to be reviewed and rewritten. ATTENTION WORLD!! It was not easy for representatives of all nations and peoples to agree on a universal statement spelling out the basic rights of all human beings everywhere...and then to have this text adopted by the United Nations and embraced by virtually every nation and regional association in the years since. The existence of this agreement, this articulation, doesn't end our problems, but it does give us a very strong foundation on which to build as we attempt to live together in the global village of the 21st Century. We have a wonderful tool for world peace and with which to move towards ever greater mutual understanding. ATTENTION! The news from Malaysia (the Prime Minister's statement immediately was supported by representatives of China, Indonesia, and the Philippines) means that we may lose this miraculous a greement, this extraordinary first step towards a world that is more livable for all peoples. Certainly, if we the people of the world don't know we have this great possession, it can very easily be taken away from us. So start now.

Read the Universal Declaration. Read the Brief History.

Become aware, as an important member of the Committee of the Whole, of this primary tool in our toolbox as we create and grow into a global community that respects the rights and needs of all individuals. Participate. Your awareness will inspire others, and can make all the difference. Human rights are not relative. They are universal. And they can only be lost through ignorance.

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	On Oct. 29, 1997, Jiang Zemin, president of China, told a press
conference in Washington D.C.: "concepts on human rights are relative and to be determined by the specific national situation of different countries." Like the Prime Minister of Malaysia three months earlier, he complained on his visit that western nations are trying to impose their particular concept of human rights on Asian countries.

	Who defined "human rights" in the 20th Century?
An international committee co-chaired by an Asian, a Chinese diplomat.

	Read the Universal Declaration. Read the Brief History.
Become aware, as an important member of the Committee of the Whole, of this primary tool in our toolbox as we create and grow into a global community that respects the rights and needs of all individuals. Participate. Your awareness will inspire others, and can make all the difference. Human rights are not relative. They are universal. And they can only be lost through ignorance.