Human Rights quotes:

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To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity. -- Nelson Mandela
America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense human rights invented America. -- Jimmy Carter
Human rights are not only violated by terrorism, repression or assassination, but also by unfair economic structures that creates huge inequalities. -- Pope Francis
Human Rights for everyone is the necessary foundation upon which all of us may build a world where everybody may live in peace and serenity and plenty. -- Michael Douglas
The U.N. is worse than disaster. The U.N. creates conflicts. Look at the disgraceful U.N. Human Rights Council: It transmits norms which are harmful, anti-liberty and anti-Semitic, among other things. The world would be better off in its absence. -- Charles Krauthammer
Well, this is an unfortunate part of the UN institution. It's the - the theater of the absurd. It doesn't only cast Israel as the villain; it often casts real villains in leading roles: Gadhafi's Libya chaired the UN Commission on Human Rights; Saddam's Iraq headed the UN Committee on Disarmament. -- Benjamin Netanyahu
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights... stands as a landmark achievement in the history of human liberty. -- George W. Bush
Planned Parenthood and Human Rights Campaign are standing up and fighting the important fights that have to be fought. -- Bernie Sanders
I'd personally like to see the Human Rights Act go because I think we have had some problems with it. -- Theresa May
Israel does not respect the principles or purposes of the United Nations charter nor the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, -- Evo Morales
The Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights... have pressured retailers on campus and off to publicly disclose the factory names and addresses. -- Ralph Nader
The Tories' major announcement was to scrap the Human Rights Act, because, and I quote, â??people get very frustrated with human rights.' -- Tim Farron
I was somewhat confused when senator [Bernie] Sanders said, well, you know, Planned Parenthood and Human Rights Campaign, they`re part of the establishment. -- Hillary Clinton
...the current Human Rights Commission's working group is made up of the Netherlands, Hungary, Cuba, Saudi Arabia and Zimbabwe. No, I'm not making that up. -- Andrew Sullivan
However, if the religions in essence merely repeat statements from the United Nations Human Rights Declaration, such a Declaration becomes superfluous; an ethic is more than rights. -- Hans Kung
Additionally, any Human Rights Council reform that allows countries with despicable human rights records to remain as members, such as China and Saudi Arabia, is not real reform. -- Michael McCaul
No! on Human Rights and Freedom, on a subject that is as self-evident as that two and two make four, there is no need of any written authority. -- Ernestine Rose
Currently, the United States provides 22 percent of the U.N. annual budgets, over $900 million in fiscal year 2007, and some of that funding goes to the Human Rights Council. -- Michael McCaul
Human Rights Watch wants Rwandans to be able to speak freely about their ethnic hatreds, and to allow political parties connected with the defeated genocide army to campaign freely for power. -- Stephen Kinzer
That's Anil's path. She grows up in Sri Lanka, goes and gets educated abroad, and through fate or chance gets brought back by the Human Rights Commission to investigate war crimes. -- Michael Ondaatje
We all know the stories about the Human Rights Act... about the illegal immigrant who cannot be deported because, and I am not making this up, he had a pet cat. -- Theresa May
The Czech Republic is a dynamic United Nations Member State, active on the Human Rights Council, contributing to the peaceful settlement of disputes, and helping other countries to achieve a democratic transition. -- Ban Ki-moon
I don't have any doubts either about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Perhaps some more should be added to the list, but I don't have the slightest doubt about human rights. -- Antonio Tabucchi
So on this Human Rights Day, let us rededicate ourselves to the advancement of human rights and freedoms for all, and pledge always to live by the ideals we promote to the world. -- Barack Obama
Terrorists and their allies believe the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the American Bill of Rights and every charter of liberty ever written are lies to be burned and destroyed and forgotten. -- George W. Bush
If Planned Parenthood and Human Rights Campaign were part of the establishment, that would be time for all of us to just quit having to work so hard and defend it and fight for it. -- Hillary Clinton
Bishop Frederick Henry of Calgary is facing at least two official objections to his public statements along with expensive hearings before the Alberta Human Rights Commission for expressing his biblical views on same sex marriage. -- Stockwell Day
In the struggle for the rights of the poor in Central America and other places where globalization is bringing its negative effects, there is no organization more effective than the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights. -- Thomas Gumbleton
Any Human Rights Council reform that allows countries that sponsor terrorism to remain as members, such as Cuba, is not real reform. And in the past, countries such as Libya, Iran and Syria have participated on this council. -- Michael McCaul
We stand today at the threshold of a great event both in the life of the United Nations and in the life of mankind, that is the approval by the General Assembly of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. -- Eleanor Roosevelt
Sudan replaced the U.S. on the U.N. Human Rights Commission joining Syria, and Cuba. So now, the commission members have no interest in upholding the stated mission of the panel. It's just like the Senate Ethics Committee. -- Argus Hamilton
All that I can tell you is, that I used my humble powers to the uttermost, and raised my voice in behalf of Human Rights in general, and the elevation and Rights of Woman in particular, nearly all my life. -- Ernestine Rose
The International Declaration of Human Rights says the right to housing, health, education should be guaranteed to everyone. The moment these things are provided, we will have a different world order and nuclear weapons will become less of a threat. -- Bernard Lown
Ever since taking office, the Obama administration has sought to accommodate Islamist demands that freedom of expression be curbed, lest it offend Muslims and stoke violence. For example, in 2009, the administration co-sponsored a United Nations Human Rights Council resolution along those lines. -- Frank Gaffney
The single outstanding exception was the broad yet precise mandate communicated by the General Assembly in 1946 to prepare as soon as possible the Charter of Human Rights which the San Francisco Conference had not had the time or the courage to draw up. -- Rene Cassin
The UN Commission on Human Rights, whose membership in recent years has included countries - such as Libya and Sudan - which have deplorable human rights records, and the recent Oil-for-Food scandal, are just a few examples of why reform is so imperative. -- John Linder
In some ways, [the student anti-sweatshop movement] is like the anti-apartheid movement, except that in this case its striking at the core of the relations of exploitation. Much of this was initiated by Charlie Kernaghan of the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights... -- Noam Chomsky
Realising the healthy international relations can be created only among populations made up of individuals who themselves are healthy and enjoy a measure a independence, the United Nations elaborated a Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly on December 10, 1948. -- Albert Einstein
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights describes the family as the natural and fundamental unit of society. It follows that any choice and decision with regard to the size of the family must irrevocably rest with the family itself, and cannot be made by anyone else. -- Garrett Hardin
Freedom is a timeless value. The United Nations Charter calls for encouraging respect for fundamental freedoms. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights mentions freedom more than twenty times. All countries have committed to protecting individual freedoms on paper - but in practice, too many break their pledge. -- Ban Ki-moon
History is rife with examples of governments taking actions to 'protect' their citizens from harm by controlling access to information and inhibiting freedom of expression and other freedoms outlined in The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We must make sure, collectively, that the Internet avoids a similar fate. -- Vint Cerf
In this society the young people from the cities and from the countryside, professionals or not, often unemployed, have all means to join and reinforce our efforts to raise the brave torch of Human Rights that illuminates the way in which the future of us all is decided. -- Martin Almada
I invited some friends over for a barbeque and made grilled cheese sandwiches. When they complained that the sandwiches were charred and inedible, I said "That's pure carbon right there. That's what we are," and with that simple statement I recruited seven more members to the Human Rights Are Toast Organization." -- Benson Bruno
I invited some friends over for a barbeque and made grilled cheese sandwiches. When they complained that the sandwiches were charred and inedible, I said That's pure carbon right there. That's what we are, and with that simple statement I recruited seven more members to the Human Rights Are Toast Organization. -- Benson Bruno
I think the Prime Minister is the first to acknowledge that Malaysia's still got some work to do. Just like the United States, by the way, has some work to do on these issues. Human Rights Watch probably has a list of things they think we should be doing as a government. -- Barack Obama
The UN Declaration of Human Rights laid down what any person might reasonably expect, yet there are remarkably few people who enjoy these rights. With cameras in the hands of activists and meaningful distribution of those images, we will witness what really goes on in this world and hopefully want to change it. -- Peter Gabriel
I first met Kim Dae Jung when he was a Korean dissident whose life was threatened by the military regime ruling in Seoul. I was Ronald Reagan's Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights, and Kim was directed to me because the East Asia Bureau at the State Department had long shunned him. -- Elliott Abrams
Human beings are not property. On the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, let us reaffirm the inherent dignity of all men, women and children. And let us redouble our efforts so that the words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - 'no one shall be held in slavery or servitude' - ring true. -- Kofi Annan
The Upton Sinclair of today's global economy is Charles Kernaghan, the New York based muckraker most famous for his expose of sweatshops producing the Kathie Lee Gifford line of clothing for Wal-Mart.... The Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights... has been a leader in exposing sweatshops, mounting corporate campaigns, and fighting for the rights of vulnerable workers. -- Charles Derber
The cost in human lives and suffering is so high that we all have to work to end violence and oppression once and for all. We have to proclaim that every human being is equal, in dignity, in freedom -and, as the first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, we have to live in a spirit of brotherhood. -- Federico Mayor Zaragoza
In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (December 1948) in most solemn form, the dignity of a person is acknowledged to all human beings; and as a consequence there is proclaimed, as a fundamental right, the right of free movement in search for truth and in the attainment of moral good and of justice, and also the right to a dignified life. -- Pope John XXIII
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights - This great and inspiring instrument was born of an increased sense of responsibility by the international community for the promotion and protection of man's basic rights and freedoms. The world has come to a clear realization of the fact that freedom, justice and world peace can only be assured through the international promotion and protection of these rights and freedoms. -- U Thant
Without peace, there is little hope for human rights -- Martin Ennals
Saddam Hussein wrote the book on human rights violations. -- Curt Weldon
Women's empowerment is intertwined with respect for human rights. -- Mahnaz Afkhami
Give to every human being every right that you claim for yourself. -- Robert Green Ingersoll
The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened. -- John F. Kennedy
Human rights is a universal standard. It is a component of every religion and every civilization. -- Shirin Ebadi
Safeguarding the rights of others is the most noble and beautiful end of a human being. -- Khalil Gibran
Some values must be universal, like human rights and the equal worth of every human being. -- Bjorn Ulvaeus
If we destroy human rights and rule of law in the response to terrorism, they have won. -- Joichi Ito
The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government. -- Thomas Jefferson
You cannot make yourself feel something you do not feel, but you can make yourself do right in spite of your feelings. -- Pearl S. Buck
Education is a human right with immense power to transform. On its foundation rest the cornerstones of freedom, democracy and sustainable human development. -- Kofi Annan
When an individual is protesting society's refusal to acknowledge his dignity as a human being, his very act of protest confers dignity on him. -- Bayard Rustin
I believe all Americans who believe in freedom, tolerance and human rights have a responsibility to oppose bigotry and prejudice based on sexual orientation. -- Coretta Scott King
If a country doesn't recognize minority rights and human rights, including women's rights, you will not have the kind of stability and prosperity that is possible. -- Hillary Clinton
A community is democratic only when the humblest and weakest person can enjoy the highest civil, economic, and social rights that the biggest and most powerful possess. -- A. Philip Randolph
I am not interested in picking up crumbs of compassion thrown from the table of someone who considers himself my master. I want the full menu of rights. -- Desmond Tutu
The demand for equal rights in every vocation of life is just and fair; but, after all, the most vital right is the right to love and be loved. -- Emma Goldman
In a few decades, the relationship between the environment, resources and conflict may seem almost as obvious as the connection we see today between human rights, democracy and peace. -- Wangari Maathai
Commit yourself to the noble struggle for human rights. You will make a greater person of yourself, a greater nation of your country and a finer world to live in. -- Martin Luther King, Jr.
The human rights community has focused very narrowly on political and civil rights for many decades, and with reason, but now we have to ask how can we broaden the view. -- Paul Farmer
It has long been recognized that an essential element in protecting human rights was a widespread knowledge among the population of what their rights are and how they can be defended. -- Boutros Boutros-Ghali
My dreams for the future are simple: work, a happy, healthy family, a lovely long motorcycle ride, and continuing the struggle to awaken people to the need for serious human rights reform. -- Mike Farrell
For this generation, ours, life is nuclear survival, liberty is human rights, the pursuit of happiness is a planet whose resources are devoted to the physical and spiritual nourishment of its inhabitants. -- Jimmy Carter
The Framers of the Bill of Rights did not purport to 'create' rights. Rather, they designed the Bill of Rights to prohibit our Government from infringing rights and liberties presumed to be preexisting. -- William J. Brennan
It was never the people who complained of the universality of human rights, nor did the people consider human rights as a Western or Northern imposition. It was often their leaders who did so. -- Vaclav Havel
Human rights commissions, as they are evolving, are an attack on our fundamental freedoms and the basic existence of a democratic society... It is in fact totalitarianism. I find this is very scary stuff. -- Stephen Harper
Free expression is the base of human rights, the root of human nature and the mother of truth. To kill free speech is to insult human rights, to stifle human nature and to suppress truth. -- Liu Xiaobo
When they favor the access of other people to education and health care, the countries of the North not only demonstrate generosity or solidarity, but also implement the principles of respecting and promoting human rights. -- Omar Bongo
The United Nations has a critical role to play in promoting stability, security, democracy, human rights, and economic development. The UN is as relevant today as at any time in its history, but it needs reform. -- Chuck Hagel
I'm not an activist; I don't look for controversy. I'm not a political person, but I'm a person with compassion. I care passionately about equal rights. I care about human rights. I care about animal rights. -- Ellen DeGeneres
It will not do to say that international law is the enemy of the Jewish people, since the Jewish people surely did not as a whole oppose the Nuremburg trials, or the development of human rights law. -- Judith Butler
It is easily and often overlooked that when Thomas Jefferson asserted that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness were inalienable human rights, he did so on the ground that they had been endowed by God, our Creator. -- Tom Stoppard
Truth resides in every human heart, and one has to search for it there, and to be guided by truth as one sees it. But no one has a right to coerce others to act according to his own view of truth. -- Mahatma Gandhi
Democracy is based on the majority principle. This is especially true in a country such as ours where the vast majority have been systematically denied their rights. At the same time, democracy also requires that the rights of political and other minorities be safeguarded. -- Nelson Mandela
Governments can no longer control 100 percent of the story. Time and geographical boundaries disappear. In places like China and all over the Middle East, social-media outlets are being used to expose and hold accountable public officials that don't want to be held accountable for corruption and human rights abuses. -- Amy Jo Martin
Social media changed Chinese mindset. More and more Chinese intend to embrace freedom of speech and human rights as their birthright, not some imported American privilege. But also, it gave the Chinese a national public sphere for people to, it's like a training of their citizenship, preparing for future democracy. -- Michael Anti
We've been in the nation-building business since World War I, and especially since WWII. The goal is not a Jeffersonian Democracy in Afghanistan, but a representative government that respects human rights, protects its own people, and is a friend of the West. These are very realistic - and necessary - goals. -- Oliver North
I am disturbed by how states abuse laws on Internet access. I am concerned that surveillance programmes are becoming too aggressive. I understand that national security and criminal activity may justify some exceptional and narrowly-tailored use of surveillance. But that is all the more reason to safeguard human rights and fundamental freedoms. -- Ban Ki-moon
The biggest road block to action on genocide and other human rights crimes is ignorance. Most people just don't know that such things are happening, and often, if they have a vague idea they are happening, there is a feeling that there is nothing that can be done to stop these crimes. -- John Prendergast
For all the tough talk about China during the presidential debates, Romney and Obama evaded any mention of China's suspect human rights record, corruption, and rule of law. By not tackling these controversial topics, the candidates are protecting a strategic partnership with China at the expense of essential human values and beliefs. -- Ai Weiwei
Governments that block the aspirations of their people, that steal or are corrupt, that oppress and torture or that deny freedom of expression and human rights should bear in mind that they will find it increasingly hard to escape the judgement of their own people, or where warranted, the reach of international law. -- William Hague
Gay rights are human rights. -- Hillary Clinton
Atheism has no room for human rights. -- Richard Halverson
I recognize no rights but human rights. -- Angelina Grimke
You can't have occupation and human rights. -- Christopher Hitchens
Tolerance and human rights require each other. -- Simon Wiesenthal
Iran has a dismal record on human rights. -- Howard Berman
Iran has a dismal record on human rights." -- Howard Berman
Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. -- Theodore Roosevelt
Human rights is the fruit of various civilizations. -- Shirin Ebadi
China will certainly pay more attention to human rights. -- Liu Jingmin
No country is 100 percent free of human rights abuses. -- Raul Castro
[Fidel Castro] has a very good [human rights] record. -- Oliver Stone
Gay rights are human rights, there is no separation. -- Macklemore
You can't help but feel all the human-rights issues. -- Sally Field
The changing climate is a threat to human rights. -- Mary Robinson
No cause can justify the abuse of human rights. -- Irene Khan
I will always work for human rights for all people. -- Rosa Parks
I'm both an artist / filmmaker and a human rights defender. -- Pamela Yates
The subject of human rights in China confounds absolute pronouncements. -- Evan Osnos
In any human-rights campaign, everybody must do what they can. -- Ian Mckellen
Gay rights and human rights are...one and the same. -- Hillary Clinton
A child, like all other human beings, has inalienable rights. -- Lucretia Mott
Today's human rights violations are the causes of tomorrow's conflicts. -- Mary Robinson
Human rights is the only ideology that deserves to survive -- Simon Wiesenthal
I'm a Christian woman, but I believe in human rights, -- Portia Simpson-Miller
To no human charter am I indebted for my rights. -- Gerrit Smith

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