AMERICAN
DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS
AND DUTIES OF MAN
(Adopted by the Ninth International Conference of American States,
Bogotá, Colombia,
1948)
WHEREAS:
The American peoples have acknowledged the dignity of the
individual, and their national constitutions recognize that juridical and
political institutions, which regulate life in human society, have as
their principal aim the protection of the essential rights of man and the
creation of circumstances that will permit him to achieve spiritual and
material progress and attain happiness;
The American States have on repeated occasions recognized that
the essential rights of man are not derived from the fact that he is a
national of a certain state, but are based upon attributes of his human
personality;
The international protection of the rights of man should be
the principal guide of an evolving American law;
The affirmation of essential human rights by the American
States together with the guarantees given by the internal regimes of the
states establish the initial system of protection considered by the
American States as being suited to the present social and juridical
conditions, not without a recognition on their part that they should
increasingly strengthen that system in the international field as
conditions become more favorable,
The Ninth International Conference of American States
AGREES:
To adopt the following
AMERICAN DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS
AND DUTIES OF MAN
Preamble
All men are born free and equal, in dignity and in rights,
and, being endowed by nature with reason and conscience, they should
conduct themselves as brothers one to another.
The fulfillment of duty by each individual is a prerequisite
to the rights of all. Rights and duties are interrelated in every social
and political activity of man. While rights exalt individual liberty,
duties express the dignity of that liberty.
Duties of a juridical nature presuppose others of a moral
nature which support them in principle and constitute their basis.
Inasmuch as spiritual development is the supreme end of human
existence and the highest expression thereof, it is the duty of man to
serve that end with all his strength and resources.
Since culture is the highest social and historical expression
of that spiritual development, it is the duty of man to preserve, practice
and foster culture by every means within his power.
And, since moral conduct constitutes the noblest flowering of
culture, it is the duty of every man always to hold it in high respect.
CHAPTER ONE
Rights
Article
I. Every human being has the right to life, liberty and the security
of his person. |
Right to life,
liberty and personal security. |
Article
II. All persons are equal before the law and have the rights and
duties established in this Declaration, without distinction as to
race, sex, language, creed or any other factor. |
Right to equality
before law. |
Article
III. Every person has the right freely to profess a religious faith,
and to manifest and practice it both in public and in private. |
Right to
religious freedom and worship. |
Article
IV. Every person has the right to freedom of investigation, of
opinion, and of the expression and dissemination of ideas, by any
medium whatsoever. |
Right to freedom
of investigation, opinion, expression and dissemination. |
Article
V. Every person has the right to the protection of the law against
abusive attacks upon his honor, his reputation, and his private and
family life. |
Right to
protection of honor, personal reputation, and private and family life. |
Article
VI. Every person has the right to establish a family, the basic
element of society, and to receive protection therefore. |
Right to a family
and to protection thereof. |
Article
VII. All women, during pregnancy and the nursing period, and all
children have the right to special protection, care and aid. |
Right to
protection for mothers and children. |
Article
VIII. Every person has the right to fix his residence within the
territory of the state of which he is a national, to move about freely
within such territory, and not to leave it except by his own will. |
Right to
residence and movement. |
Article
IX. Every person has the right to the inviolability of his home. |
Right to
inviolability of the home. |
Article
X. Every person has the right to the inviolability and transmission
of his correspondence. |
Right to the
inviolability and transmission of correspondence. |
Article
XI. Every person has the right to the preservation of his health
through sanitary and social measures relating to food, clothing,
housing and medical care, to the extent permitted by public and
community resources. |
Right to the
preservation of health and to well-being. |
Article
XII. Every person has the right to an education, which should be
based on the principles of liberty, morality and human solidarity.
Likewise
every person has the right to an education that will prepare him to
attain a decent life, to raise his standard of living, and to be a
useful member of society.
The right
to an education includes the right to equality of opportunity in every
case, in accordance with natural talents, merit and the desire to
utilize the resources that the state or the community is in a position
to provide.
Every
person has the right to receive, free, at least a primary education. |
Right to
education. |
Article
XIII. Every person has the right to take part in the cultural life of
the community, to enjoy the arts, and to participate in the benefits
that result from intellectual progress, especially scientific
discoveries.
He
likewise has the right to the protection of his moral and material
interests as regards his inventions or any literary, scientific or
artistic works of which he is the author. |
Right to the
benefits of culture. |
Article
XIV. Every person has the right to work, under proper conditions, and
to follow his vocation freely, insofar as existing conditions of
employment permit. |
Right to work and
to fair
remuneration. |
Every
person who works has the right to receive such remuneration as will,
in proportion to his capacity and skill, assure him a standard of
living suitable for himself and for his family. |
|
Article
XV. Every person has the right to leisure time, to wholesome
recreation, and to the opportunity for advantageous use of his free
time to his spiritual, cultural and physical benefit. |
Right to leisure
time and to the use thereof. |
Article
XVI. Every person has the right to social security which will protect
him from the consequences of unemployment, old age, and any
disabilities arising from causes beyond his control that make it
physically or mentally impossible for him to earn a living. |
Right to social
security. |
Article
XVII. Every person has the right to be recognized everywhere as a
person having rights and obligations, and to enjoy the basic civil
rights. |
Right to
recognition of juridical personality and civil rights. |
Article
XVIII. Every person may resort to the courts to ensure respect for
his legal rights. There should likewise be available to him a simple,
brief procedure whereby the courts will protect him from acts of
authority that, to his prejudice, violate any fundamental
constitutional rights. |
Right to a fair
trial. |
Article
XIX. Every person has the right to the nationality to which he is
entitled by law and to change it, if he so wishes, for the nationality
of any other country that is willing to grant it to him. |
Right to
nationality. |
Article
XX. Every person having legal capacity is entitled to participate in
the government of his country, directly or through his
representatives, and to take part in popular elections, which shall be
by secret ballot, and shall be honest, periodic and free. |
Right to vote and
to participate in government. |
Article
XXI. Every person has the right to assemble peaceably with others in
a formal public meeting or an informal gathering, in connection with
matters of common interest of any nature. |
Right of
assembly. |
Article
XXII. Every person has the right to associate with others to promote,
exercise and protect his legitimate interests of a political,
economic, religious, social, cultural, professional, labor union or
other nature. |
Right of
association. |
Article
XXIII. Every person has a right to own such private property as meets
the essential needs of decent living and helps to maintain the dignity
of the individual and of the home. |
Right to
property. |
Article
XXIV. Every person has the right to submit respectful petitions to
any competent authority, for reasons of either general or private
interest, and the right to obtain a prompt decision thereon. |
Right of
petition. |
Article
XXV. No person may be deprived of his liberty except in the cases and
according to the procedures established by pre-existing law.
No person
may be deprived of liberty for nonfulfillment of obligations of a
purely civil character.
Every
individual who has been deprived of his liberty has the right to have
the legality of his detention ascertained without delay by a court,
and the right to be tried without undue delay or, otherwise, to be
released. He also has the right to humane treatment during the time
he is in custody. |
Right of
protection from arbitrary arrest. |
Article
XXVI. Every accused person is presumed to be innocent until proved
guilty.
Every
person accused of an offense has the right to be given an impartial
and public hearing, and to be tried by courts previously established
in accordance with pre-existing laws, and not to receive cruel,
infamous or unusual punishment. |
Right to due
process of law. |
Article
XXVII. Every person has the right, in case of pursuit not resulting
from ordinary crimes, to seek and receive asylum in foreign territory,
in accordance with the laws of each country and with international
agreements. |
Right of asylum. |
Article
XXVIII. The rights of man are limited by the rights of others, by the
security of all, and by the just demands of the general welfare and
the advancement of democracy. |
Scope of the
rights of man. |
CHAPTER TWO
Duties
Article
XXIX. It is the duty of the individual so to conduct himself in
relation to others that each and every one may fully form and develop
his personality. |
Duties to
society. |
Article
XXX. It is the duty of every person to aid, support, educate and
protect his minor children, and it is the duty of children to honor
their parents always and to aid, support and protect them when they
need it. |
Duties toward
children and parents. |
Article
XXXI. It is the duty of every person to acquire at least an
elementary education. |
Duty to receive
instruction. |
Article
XXXII. It is the duty of every person to vote in the popular
elections of the country of which he is a national, when he is legally
capable of doing so. |
Duty to vote. |
Article
XXXIII. It is the duty of every person to obey the law and other
legitimate commands of the authorities of his country and those of the
country in which he may be. |
Duty to obey the
law. |
Article
XXXIV. It is the duty of every able-bodied person to render whatever
civil and military service his country may require for its defense and
preservation, and, in case of public disaster, to render such services
as may be in his power.
It is
likewise his duty to hold any public office to which he may be elected
by popular vote in the state of which he is a national. |
Duty to serve the
community and the nation. |
Article
XXXV. It is the duty of every person to cooperate with the state and
the community with respect to social security and welfare, in
accordance with his ability and with existing circumstances. |
Duties with
respect to social security and welfare. |
Article
XXXVI. It is the duty of every person to pay the taxes established by
law for the support of public services. |
Duty to pay
taxes. |
Article
XXXVII. It is the duty of every person to work, as far as his
capacity and possibilities permit, in order to obtain the means of
livelihood or to benefit his community. |
Duty to work. |
Article
XXXVIII. It is the duty of every person to refrain from taking part
in political activities that, according to law, are reserved
exclusively to the citizens of the state in which he is an alien. |
Duty to refrain
from political activities in a foreign country. |
BASIC DOCUMENTS PERTAINING TO HUMAN RIGHTS
IN THE INTER-AMERICAN SYSTEM
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