What are human rights? Justice, equality, and freedom are the three words that may pop up in our minds. In fact, the United Nation General Assembly published a document called the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 with the concordance of around fifty countries. Considered as the most authoritative source, the thirty Articles in the document provides a general understanding of human rights, assuming that everyone is born with dignity, equality, and freedom. Although the document seems genuine and correct in all the affairs, one may suggest that the document is problematic through close reading. Some articles are not applicable to many circumstances. Indeed, …show more content…
which are not inherently equal for everyone. The first sentence of the Preamble suggests that everyone has inherent dignity and equal rights. The word “inherent” and “inalienable” implies that everyone is born with these rights, which cannot be separated through any means. In the other word, everyone has the same equality, justice, and freedom all the time. Nevertheless, this statement is not always true because people are born in different families and in distinctively diverse cultures. It is not possible for everyone to acquire the same equality and freedom in different societies. For example, Article 18 suggests everyone has the right to freedom of thoughts, conscience, and religion; everyone has the right to freely change his or her religion and beliefs. Nevertheless, this article violates Islamic laws. The Muslims believe that anyone who changes to other religion should be put to death according to Qu’ran. More accurately, culture is something that is deeply inherent to every one of us since it is not equal for all of us. Therefore, the first sentence of the document contradicts to itself because culture is inherent but not equal for all …show more content…
Article 11 states that Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty. Although China was one of the countries which voted in favor of the declaration, its judicial system is not the same as listed in the declaration. In China, criminals are assumed guilty rather than innocent at first. They are required to provide evidences to prove their innocence during the court. Therefore, depending on the culture and the government, the guidelines of Human Rights are