Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

U. Iowa celebrates 60th anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights
By Rachel Goodell
The Daily Iowan, U. Iowa
December 05, 2008

In 1948, Warner Brothers showed the first color news reel, Harry Truman defeated Thomas Dewey, and the United Nations declared a list of universal human rights.

he University of Iowa Center for Human Rights, along with other local and regional organizations, is hosting a weekend-long conference to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and discuss its effect on society today.

Sharon Benzoni, the executive director of the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council, said the declaration, though 60 years old, still plays an important role in international affairs.

"It creates common values around which very different and complex societies can begin to come together and recognize their shared humanity," she said. "Its principles have been guideposts for both large international organizations - such as the United Nations - and for small groups and individuals struggling for change within their own societies."

To celebrate the declaration's 60th birthday, the conference is showing the film Soldiers in Conscience today at 8 p.m., presenting discussion panels, and hosting speakers including former Republican Congressman Jim Leach and Jamil Dakwar, the American Civil Liberties Union Human Rights Program director.

The event's hosts said they hope the conference will promote public discussion of international issues.

"People need to learn what their rights are," said Alice Dahle, the Iowa United Nations Association assistant director. "They need to hold their own governments accountable."

The U.N. General Assembly adopted the human-rights declaration on Dec. 10, 1948, in response to the deep wounds left behind after World War II. The document established principles for the treatment of all human beings: It called for the end of slavery, torture, and discrimination and sought to protect everyone's right to work, rest, and peacefully assemble.

The list of rights is published in more than 360 languages; it is the most translated document in the world. Greg Hamot, the director of the UI Center for Human Rights, said many countries used the declaration as a guideline when redrafting their constitutions after the fall of communism.

"The [declaration] really marks the first time in world history that there was a consensus across a number of countries about the fundamental needs that human beings have in order to live a life of dignity and to have the necessities of life met," said Amy Weismann, the deputy director of the UI Center for Human Rights.

Dahle said even though the United States has created good legislation protecting human rights, the nation is very far behind in several areas: The United States is one of eight nations that haven't ratified conventions outlawing discrimination against women and one of two nations that haven't ratified the rights of children. She said the other nation, Somalia, doesn't have a functioning government.

"It's really quite embarrassing," she said.

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