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Asian Drafters

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Asia and the Drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

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Abstract

Asian drafters included members of the Drafting Committee from China, Lebanon and India, who made major contributions to framing universal values. Drafters from other Asian countries also shaped the UDHR. They include delegates from Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey. One may include Egypt, which had close affinities with Asia. Their collective contributions over the two years of the drafting process show strong Asian imprints on the UDHR.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See Alasdair Macintyre, A Study in Moral Theory (Notre Dame Press, 2007).

  2. 2.

    Gita Seghal, “Who Wrote the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?” open Democracy, 10 December 2014.

  3. 3.

    Coustas Douzinas, Human Rights and Empire. The Political Philosophy of Cosmopolitanism Routledge-Cavendish, London, 2007.

  4. 4.

    See generally, John Sears, Eleanor Roosevelt and the universal declaration Of human rights, Hyde Park: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute (FERI), https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/111xVhf6GvcjmhuAVJ7VIfYRhfygcxSAs.

  5. 5.

    Susan Waltz (2002), Reclaiming and rebuilding the history of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” Third World Quarterly, Vol. 23, No. 3, p. 438 (pp. 437–448).

  6. 6.

    Ibid.

  7. 7.

    Ibid, p. 439. See also Paul Gordon Lauren’s The Evolution of International Human Rights ….

  8. 8.

    Seghal (2014), open Democracy.

  9. 9.

    See John P. Humphrey “International Protection of Human Rights. The Annals, Vol. 255 (January 1948), pp. 15–21; John Humphrey. “Memoirs of John P. Humphrey: The First Director of the United Nations Division of Human Rights,” Human Rights Quarterly, 5:4 (November 1983), pp. 387–439; and John Humphrey Human Rights. A Great Adventure. Transnational Publishers, 1984.

  10. 10.

    Seghal, (2014).

  11. 11.

    Ann Foster, “Hansa Mehta, of UN Sub-Commission, Speaks for Women of India,” Christian Science Monitor, 18 July 1946, p. 22.

  12. 12.

    See weaicolumbia, P.C. Chang. October 8 [2014] Event “Around 1948: Human Rights and Global Transformation. Video, Photos, and Audio. (no paging in text).

  13. 13.

    A/PV. 182, reproduced in Schabas, op. cit. p. 3058. (PV means proces verbale).

  14. 14.

    Ibid.

  15. 15.

    E/CN.4/AC.1/SR.12, reproduced in Schabas, op. cit., p. 848.

  16. 16.

    Malik ’s career featured the following highlights: Signer of the United Nations Charter for Lebanon (24 October 1945); Ambassador of Lebanon to the United Nations (1945–1955); Ambassador of Lebanon to the United States (1945–1955); Member, Rapporteur, and Chairman (1951–1953), Commission on Human Rights (1946–1953); Member and Officer, Drafting Committee of the Universal Declaration (1946–1948); Member and President (1947–1948), United Nations Economic and Social Council (1946–1949); Chairman, Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly (1948).

  17. 17.

    Thomas Jacobson, Ambassador Charles Malik and The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, Focus on the Family. Focus on the Family – August 28, 2008. International Government Affairs Department. Quotations taken from Dr. Charles H. Malik ’s speeches and writings, edited by his son, Professor Habib C. Malik , Ph.D. The title of the book is: The Challenge Of Human Rights: Charles Malik and The Universal Declaration.

  18. 18.

    Glendon, Mary Ann, “Foundations of Human Rights: The Unfinished Business,” American Journal of Jurisprudence., Vol. 44: No. 1, 1999, p. 1 Available at: http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ajj/vol44/iss1/1.

  19. 19.

    Habib C. Malik , The Challenge Of Human Rights: Charles Malik And The Universal Declaration, p. 1, cited in Jacobsen, Ibid.

  20. 20.

    Habib C. Malik , The Challenge Of Human Rights: Charles Malik And The Universal Declaration, p26, cited in Jacobsen,

  21. 21.

    E/CN.4/AC.1/ASR 3, reproduced in Schabas, op. cit. p. 734.

  22. 22.

    E/CN.4/AC.1/SR.8, reproduced in Schabas, op. cit., p. 807.

  23. 23.

    E/CN.4/AC.1/SR.12, reproduced in Schabas, op. cit. p. 847.

  24. 24.

    E/CN.4/AC.1/SR.13, reproduced in Schabas, op. cit., p. 863.

  25. 25.

    E/CN.4?AC.1/SR. 14, reproduced in Schabas, op. cit. p. 871.

  26. 26.

    E/CN.4/AC.1/SR.21, reproduced in Schabas op cit., pp. 1489–1490.

  27. 27.

    Habib C. Malik , The Challenge Of Human Rights: Charles Malik And The Universal Declaration, p. 110–11, cited in Jacobsen.

  28. 28.

    Jacobsen, op.cit.

  29. 29.

    A/PV.180, reproduced in Schabas, op. cit., pp. 3027–3029.

  30. 30.

    Habib C. Malik , The Challenge of Human Rights: Charles Malik and The Universal Declaration, p. 113–116, cited in Jacobsen.

  31. 31.

    E/CN.4/SR.1, 27 January 1947. (Schabas, 159).

  32. 32.

    Second meeting of the Commission on Human Rights, 27 January, 1947; E/CN.4/SR.2, 27 January, 1947, p. 1. (Schabas pp. 161–162).

  33. 33.

    E/CN.4/SR. 14, reproduced in Schabas, p. 391.

  34. 34.

    A/PV. 182, reproduced in Schabas, op. cit. P. 3056.

  35. 35.

    Ibid.

  36. 36.

    A/C.3/SR.139, reproduced in Schabas, op. cit., p. 2603.

  37. 37.

    E/CN.4/SR.41, reproduced in Schabas, op. cit., p. 1305.

  38. 38.

    A/PV.180, reproduced in Schabas, op. cit. P. 3034.

  39. 39.

    Ibid.

  40. 40.

    E/CN.0.4/SR 14, 4 February, 1947, (Schabas, 200)

  41. 41.

    A/PV.183, reproduced in Schabas, op. cit., pp. 3080–3081.

  42. 42.

    Muhammad Zafrulla Khan, Islam and Human Rights. London, The London Mosque, 1967, p. 10.

  43. 43.

    Ibid., p. 11.

  44. 44.

    Ibid., p. 12.

  45. 45.

    Ibid., p. 15.

  46. 46.

    A/PV. 182, reproduced in Schabas, op. cit. pp. 3054–3055.

  47. 47.

    A/C.3/SR.146, reproduced in Schabas, op. cit., p. 2673.

  48. 48.

    A/C.3/SR. 147, reproduced in Schabas, op. cit., p. 2685.

  49. 49.

    A/C.3/247).

  50. 50.

    A/C.3/SR. 127 (Schabas, pp. 2491–2492).

  51. 51.

    A/PV.183, reproduced in Schabas, op. cit. P. 3073.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Webster University, Bangkok, Thailand

    Robin Ramcharan

  2. Asia Centre, Bangkok, Thailand

    Robin Ramcharan

  3. Emeritus President, UPR Info, Alyth, Perthshire, UK

    Bertrand Ramcharan

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  1. Robin Ramcharan
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Ramcharan, R., Ramcharan, B. (2019). Asian Drafters. In: Asia and the Drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2104-7_3

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