UN Human Rights

Photo by Filip Singer

Seeking a Safe Harbour

Migrants make land from an overloaded rubber dinghy as they arrive on the coast near the Greek island of Lesbos. More than a quarter million people have made the dangerous journey across seas and deserts to Europe, fleeing conflict, torture and governmental collapse. Respect for human rights is a necessary condition for both preventing and resolving the refugee crisis.

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Fashion For All
A model walks the runway wearing a bold dress by couture designer Elena Shipilova at an international exhibition for persons with disabilities in Moscow, Russia. Over one billion people, about 15% of the world’s population, live with some form of disability. Many persons with disabilities are unable to enjoy their full range of human rights and suffer from different forms of discrimination.

Photo by Sergei Ilnitksy
Risking it All For Freedom
Print media photographers and members of civil society organizations protest the murder of Mexican photographer Ruben Espinosa in Mexico City, Mexico. In many countries, journalists and media photographers are subjected to intimidation, threats, violence, arbitrary detention, even targeted killings. “Every attack on a journalist – every assault, threat or act of spurious administrative or legal vexation – is an attack on us all," said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein.

Photo by Mario Guzman
Attack on Free Press
Thousands gather for a candle light vigil on place de la République in central Paris hours after the attack by two gunmen on the Charlie Hebdo headquarters in Paris, France. “Today’s attack is one of the gravest attacks on journalists and a free press in recent history," said David Kaye, UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression. At times like this, it is important to reiterate the role of a free and responsible press in democratic societies.

Photo by Ian Langsdon
Standing Up For Justice
A protestor stands on a stool by looted businesses during a protest for the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A., who died of spinal cord injuries while he was in police custody in April 2015. The right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association should be recognized and accessible to all.

Photo by Noah Scialom
A Toxic Life
Dead tilapia fish float in the Salton Sea near Salton Sea Beach, California, USA. Erosion and high toxicity levels from farm runoff have left the Salton Sea increasingly contaminated, causing the end to sea life and the desertion of the towns along the lakeside. All human beings depend on the environment. A safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment is integral to the full enjoyment of a wide range of human rights.

Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo
Free and Equal
Supporters of same sex marriage rights raise protest signs outside the United States Supreme Court on the day the court hears the case challenging the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in 2013 in Washington, D.C., USA. DOMA was declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court enabling same-sex couples who are legally married to receive benefits. “The past decade has seen far-reaching reform…and an extraordinary shift in social attitudes in many parts of the world," said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Photo by Michael Reynolds
No Time to Play
Afghan children are forced to work at a brick kiln, where bricks are baked, on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan. Instead of attending school and having time for play, more than 168 million children worldwide wake up every day and go to work. More than half of them are putting their lives at risk working in dangerous jobs. Every child has the right to an education and to be free from exploitation which will advance the full development of their personality and sense of dignity.

Photo by Jawad Jalali
Billions Without Water
A Liberian woman carries bags with water in the West Point Township in Monrovia, Liberia. Having access to safe drinking water and sanitation is central to living a life in dignity and upholding human rights. Yet billions of people still do not enjoy these fundamental rights. The right to water and sanitation require that these are available, accessible, safe, acceptable and affordable for all without discrimination.

Photo by Ahmed Jallanzo
Fear in the Eyes
A Syrian refugee boy stands with a blanket near tents in the Suruc district near Sanliurfa, southeast of Turkey. The fear in his eyes illustrates the catastrophic impact of the war on Syrian children. Every human being deserves to live a life free from fear. Since the Syrian crisis began in 2011, Turkey is estimated to host more than one million Syrians. Mass displacements are not voluntary. Violations of human rights are one of the major causes of mass exoduses.

Photo by Ulas Yunus Tosun
No Place to Call Home
A Palestinian family who fled their home seeks shelter in a United Nations school in Khan Younis, central Gaza Strip. As a result of forced evictions, people are often left homeless and destitute, without means of earning a livelihood and, in practice, with no effective access to legal or other remedies. The right to adequate housing means having a secure tenure without having to worry about being evicted or having your home taken away.

Photo by Oliver Weiken
The Epic Journey
A Macedonian policeman carries a child across the border between the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Greece, near the town of Gevgelija in September 2015. The Gevgelija-Presevo route is just a part of the journey that the refugees are forced to make along the Balkan corridor, which takes them from Turkey, across Greece, Macedonia and Serbia to Hungary. Refugees have rights which should be respected prior to, during, and after the process of seeking asylum.

Photo by Valdrin Xhemaj
Hands Acros the Ages
A young girl holds the hand of an elderly resident at the Anand Dham Care Home in Bhopal, India. By the end of the decade, 1 billion people worldwide will be over 60 years old and two-thirds of that population live in low to middle income countries. Older persons face challenges in the protection or enjoyment of their human rights. They also experience many forms of discrimination. All older persons have the right to live the last years of their lives with dignity.

Photo by Sanjeev Gupta
I Choose to Live
A man living with HIV sits inside a hospice in Yangoon, Myanmar. The stigma, economic status, caste, even location, can all affect access to health care. The right to basic health care is recognized in several international treaties. People living with HIV and AIDS have the right to access health care and to be free from discrimination and stigma.

Photo by Lynn Bo Bo
Do Robots Dream of Electric Sheep?
Softbank CEO and Chairman Masayoshi Son interacts with Pepper, a humanoid robot during an unveiling in Tokyo, Japan. Pepper is able to interact with others through emotions and body language just like androids in Philip K. Dick’s science fiction novel, Do androids dream of electric sheep? Respect for the freedom to undertake scientific research and protection of the rights of innovators has been a motor for technological change.

Photo by Franck Robichon
The Ties that Burn
Afghan women who were allegedly burned by their male relatives receive medical treatment at a local hospital in Herat, Afghanistan. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights prohibits torture and ill-treatment and protects the liberty and security of everyone, whether men and women.

Photo by Jalil Rezazyee
Empowering a New Generation
Students gather in a classroom in a primary school located in Xihaigu, China, a poverty stricken area. Education is a fundamental human right and essential for the exercise of all other human rights. Primary education must be free and compulsory for everyone, everywhere in the world. Education empowers and benefits development. Yet millions of children and adults around the world, especially those who are living in poverty, do not have access to an education.

Photo by David Shen
Demolition of Homes and Rights?
A Roma family runs as a bulldozer demolishes a shed in the suburb of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. According to the municipality, 90 percent of the homes in the area are illegal. The right to adequate housing means a home should be a safe and stable place for an individual or a family.

Photo by Vassil Donev
A Welcome Difference
Two transgender members of the Cruiseaids, an NGO for HIV/AIDS and LGBT issues, wait to welcome the Crown Prince of Norway to the Cruiseaids’ head office in Kathmandu, Nepal. Members of the LGBT community face a number of human rights challenges including the right to be free from discrimination, freedom of expression, and freedom of assembly.

Photo by Narendra Shrestha
Big Brother is Watching
Snipers take up position on top of a building, in Paris, France, with graffiti of an eye and a mention of the book 1984, which features a world whose citizens are surveyed by Big Brother. Privacy concerns have increased due to technology advances and more Government concerns about security have prompted some to believe the dystopian world shown in the book has come to pass.

Photo by Etienne Laurent
Dignity for Victims
Relatives of people missing during the Guatemalan internal armed conflict (1969-96) demonstrate during a march to commemorate the National Day of Dignity for Victims of the Internal Armed Conflict, outside congress in Guatemala City. Safety of persons and freedom from enforced disappearance have been hard fought rights in many countries.

Photo by Saul Martinez
The School's Name is Malala
Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai is applauded by Syrian refugees as she visits the Malala Yousafzai All–Girls School in Barr Elias, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. The school’s construction was funded by the Malala Fund and it can provide education for up to 200 girls aged 14 to 18 in the area. The story of Malala highlights the right to education, particularly of girls, but also the right to live free from fear.

Photo by Wael Hamzeh
The Conscience of a Crowd
Aung San Suu Kyi looks on as she talks to refugees as she visits the Mae La refugee camp, in 2012, on the Thai-Burma border in her first trip abroad since her release from house arrest. Suu Kyi was held under house arrest by the military government for nearly 30 years for her call for free and open elections. No one should be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. Everyone should have the right to freedom of movement and the right to participate in the government of his or her country.

Photo by Narong Sangnak
A Symbol of Division?
A 9-year-old boy marches past a police officer during a Confederate flag rally in Stone Mountain, Georgia, USA. The Confederate flag is divisive in the United States, with some calling it a symbol of historic pride, while others calling it a symbol of hate. While freedom of expression is fundamental, it can also become incitement to hatred when it provokes hatred of a racial group.

Photo by Branden Camp
Limitless Goals
Two members of the Single Leg Amputee sports club in Freetown, Sierra Leone play football. Persons with disabilities face discrimination and barriers that can restrict them from equal participation in everyday life. But their rights and freedoms are guaranteed explicitly in human rights treaties.

Photo by Nic Bothma
Picking Up the Pieces
After a short circuit caused a devastating fire, slum dwellers look tirelessly for their possessions in Mirpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The human right to adequate housing is more than just four walls and a roof. It is the right of everyone to gain and sustain a safe and secure a home and community in which to live in peace and dignity.

Photo by Abir Abdullah
Jump Rope in the Village
Children skip rope in the Mokhotlong district, Lesotho. Approximately 25 percent of Lesotho’s adult population is living with HIV and the country suffers from high rates of infant and maternal mortality. To combat these problems, the government and NGOs have developed a programme to deliver health services to remote areas via horseback. All human beings have the right to basic health care.

Photo by Jon Hrusa
Green is the Colour of Grief
Bosnian Muslim women mourn over a casket during the funeral of 775 newly-identified Bosnian Muslim women at the Potocari Memorial Centre in Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2010. The Srebrenica massacre in July 1995, which resulted in the killing of 8,000 men and boys, is regarded as the worst atrocity committed in Europe since World War II. The right to life is circumscribed in Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Photo by Fehim Demir
All Faith Has a Place
Britain’s faith leaders representing Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths, walk in London during a march for peace at the Central Synagogue, United Kingdom in 2015. The religious leaders were on a one day pilgrimage as a demonstration of interfaith fellowship. Freedom of worship is one of the four freedoms underlying the two Covenants.

Photo by Facundo Arrizabalaga
The Shadow of Death
Syrian boys hold hands as they walk amid the rubble of buildings destroyed following an air strike on the rebel-held territory on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria. Thousands of children have been killed in air strikes, crossfire and fighting, while many have been left traumatized after witnessing the death of family members. Violations of human rights are among the major causes of mass exoduses. Everyone should live a life free from fear.

Photo by Mohammed Badra

CAN YOU PICTURE FREEDOM?

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