10 December 2014

Source: HRO.org (info)

• Moscow city & Moscow region  Human rights defenders   Human rights education   Humanitarian law

Human Rights Day has been celebrated, as proposed by the UN General Assembly (Resolution No 423 (V)), every year on 10 December since 1950. On this day in 1948 the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The General Assembly Resolution suggests all states should present an annual report on how they celebrated Human Rights Day.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a document recommended for all UN state-members, adopted at the 3rd session of the UN General Assembly by Resolution 217 A (III) (“International Covenant on Human Rights”) on 10 December 1948. The Declaration is the first global definition of the rights which all people have. The document consists of 30 chapters and is a part of the International Bill on Human Rights, along with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and two Optional Protocols.

In the USSR, from 1977 right defenders held a so-called “Rally of Silence” on Human Rights Day in Pushkin Square in Moscow.

In modern Russia the day is celebrated by various official and non-official events. For example, in 2001 the Andrei Sakharov Prize for Journalism as a Deed was established. The Prize is awarded to Russian journalists and the presentation is made each year on Human Rights Day, 10 December. Since 2009, on the eve of Human Rights Day (9 December), the Moscow Helsinki Group presents a series of awards for human rights work.

On 10 December 2009 representatives of the democratic movement again held a Rally of Silence on Pushkin Square. They decided to revive the tradition of Soviet dissidents, believing that human rights are once again being grossly violated throughout the country.

In the picture: Maria Sereda, Amnesty International, Moscow (the sign says: Don’t give up! Defend your freedom!)

Translated by Olga Cable