HUMAN RIGHTS

Know your human rights! This advice may seem odd in a western country, but unfortunately, it turns out to be necessary all too often. Knowledge of your human rights is particularly essential when it comes to choices for your health, especially if you feel pressured by “experts.”

By C.F. van der Horst
9 November 2019

You make health choices based on information. Most people resort to the government, a doctor, a nutritionist, a website, or a textbook for this purpose, but of course, the question always remains: how reliable are these sources? You would expect the official information to be reliable. However, this is not always the case. Take, for example, the “recognized” advice on nutrition, cholesterol, vaccinations, and cancer. If these were correct we would have less and less cardiovascular disease, cancer, and disease in general. Let’s take the state of public health in the Netherlands as an example. By it, you will know right away how knowledgeable the health “experts” are.

According to VZinfo.nl, a website created by the Center for Health and Society of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) in the Netherlands, as many as 8.8 million people had one or more chronic conditions on January 1, 2016. This amounted to 52% of the Dutch population. Just two years later, the numbers had dramatically worsened, with 9.9 million people, or 58% of the Dutch population. Another two years later, the same website reported: “On January 1, 2020, over 10.2 million people in the Netherlands (59% of the Dutch population) had one or more chronic conditions. A ‘chronic condition’ is defined here as a condition in which there is generally no prospect of full recovery.”

That’s right: the number of chronically ill people in the Netherlands alone increased between 2016 and 2018 by 1.1 million!!

It is very disturbing that no one is drawing lessons from this disease explosion because the situation has worsened again with another 300,000 chronically ill people. The increase is not as explosive anymore, but it is still much larger than the population increase. The latter develops much more slowly. No other conclusion can be drawn than that the knowledge and, unfortunately, responsibility of doctors and the government are woefully inadequate.

This means that we cannot blindly rely on our family doctor or specialist for our health, and certainly not on the government hiding behind doctors’ advice, even if public health is deteriorating. And perhaps it also means fighting for our health. There are several treaties and codes that can help with this. Examples include the Declaration of Geneva, the Declaration of Helsinki, the Nuremberg Code and perhaps most importantly, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Its full text follows below.

The degrading events of World War II were a direct reason to define human rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948, to define your basic human rights. Eleanor Roosevelt, advocate for human rights, first presented the Declaration. She considered her input in the drafting and official acceptance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to be her greatest achievement. The former first lady called this agreement the Magna Carta* for all people around the world.

*The Magna Carta is the charter on liberties and justice signed by England’s King John “Lackland” on June 15, 1215. English feudalists enforced it because they felt the king was abusing his power.

Where do human rights come from? A short and simple video on the history of human rights can be found here.

The full text of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights follows below. It begins with a preamble, an introductory provision in the text of a law or treaty. The preamble outlines the purpose, underlying idea and circumstances that led to this declaration on human rights. Of particular concern to your health are Articles 3, 12, 18, 19, 29, and 30. A simple version of Human Rights can be found on the Youth for Human Rights website.

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,

Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,

Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations, Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in cooperation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,

Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,

Now, therefore, The General Assembly, Proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

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.

Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and the 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 6

Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7

All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Article 8

Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

Article 9

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 10

Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

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.
2. No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.

Article 12

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

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.
2. This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 15

1. Everyone has the right to a nationality.
2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

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.
3. The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

Article 17

1. Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

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 20

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
2. No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

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 to 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 22

Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

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.
4. Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Article 24

Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Article 25

1. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
2. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same 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. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
2. Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
3. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Article 27

1. Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
2. Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

Article 28

Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

Article 29

1. Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
2. In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
3. These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 30

Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.

^* Preamble: an unnumbered, introductory provision in the text of a treaty or declaration that outlines the purpose, rationale or circumstances that led to the treaty or declaration.

Why is it that human rights are not a fact in western countries? What role do conflicts of interest and self-enrichment play in this? How can you best deal with it?

Would you like an introduction first? Request the first chapter for free here now!

 

Copyright © 2019, 2022 C.F. van der Horst, Per Veritatem Vis. All rights reserved.
Foto: FDR Presidential Library Museum – CC BY 2.0.