December 8, 2017

December 10, 1987

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Thirty years ago, on December 10, 1987, President Ronald Reagan signed a proclamation declaring Human Rights Day.

He did so during an official ceremony in the Oval Office, where human rights representatives from 10 countries were thanked for their work. Mr. Reagan expressed to them all that Americans admire and honor them for their heroic efforts on behalf of mankind.

On hand were: Armando Valladares, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, High Commission on Human Rights; Rebecca Range, deputy assistant to the president and director of public liaison; Ambassador Richard Schifter, assistant secretary of state for human rights. Also present were: Rebecca Asrate, Ethiopian; Anatoly Koryagin, Russian; Danylo Shumuk, Ukrainian; Vyatautas Skuodis, Lithuanian; George Calciu, Romanian; Minh Khuc, Vietnamese; Marta Baltodano, Nicaraguan; Chaw Ku, Loatian; Aldo Zuccolillo, Paraguayan; and Maximo Pacheco, Chilean.

The proclamation was made as an affirmation of the U.S. commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948. (Eight member states – the Soviet Union, Belarusian SSR, Ukrainian SSR, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Yugoslavia – abstained at the time of voting.)

Mr. Reagan stated, in part:

“The founders of our country believed the rights of the individual are God-given, not originating from or granted by the state. Their timeless vision of individual liberties for all people is why we pause each December to express thanks for our heritage and to renew our commitment to the vital cause of human rights around the globe. We also celebrate the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which set human rights standards for all nations.

“Tragically, governments in many lands deny this vision. Some make elaborate claims that citizens under their rule enjoy human rights and even offer illusory guarantees of those rights — but then reveal their absence through lack of due process, free elections, or freedom of religion, expression, and assembly. Their constitutions often declare openly that citizens’ rights are subordinate to the interests of the state. Even if words look good on paper, the absence of structural safeguards against abuse of power means that freedoms may be taken away as easily as they are allowed. In countries where monopoly power rests with a single group or political entity, the scope for human liberty is narrow indeed.

“These states pose the greatest threat to liberty, not only because under them people are denied the exercise of the most fundamental freedoms, but because they pose external as well as internal dangers. Unlimited power, exercised in the name of universalist ideologies, often tries to extend its control beyond borders, denying other peoples their human rights and self-determination.

“Standing against these dangers are those people the world over who, undaunted by tremendous odds and great personal risk, continue to press for individual rights and freedoms. Their courageous struggle for human dignity is a triumph in itself, but the United States pledges continuing support to their efforts on behalf of human rights, fundamental freedoms, and democracy.”

Source: “Reagan signs Human Rights Day proclamation,” The Ukrainian Weekly, January 3, 1988.

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