Human rights

Task 1. Vocabulary Revision. Insert the words ‘freedom of’ or ‘right to’ into the following word combinations.

1 ____________________ speech

2 ____________________ liberty

3 ____________________ information

4 ____________________ equality before the law

5 ____________________ a nationality

6 ____________________ religion

7 ____________________ education

Task 2. Read the text and fill in the table.

Human Rights

People and their rights and freedoms shall be supreme value, — says the Constitution of Ukraine. However actually rights and freedoms can be treated variously. In any state, even totalitarian, nobody will write in the Constitution that the rights and freedoms of the person should be offended. But that is the legible legislation that should guarantee keeping of the human rights. In Ukraine the basic human rights are named in the Constitution, and their fullest disclosure is in the laws.

The idea of the natural law, which belongs to the person from birth, appeared in 17 century. The development of the humanitarian law was found in such documents as English and American Bill of Rights, the French Manifest of the Rights and Freedoms of Man and Citizen, French Constitutions of 1791 and 1795 and many other documents. However the greatest influence on development of the human rights was rendered by the Overall Declaration of Human Rights accepted on the session of the United Nations in 1948. Besides Ukraine signed some more international treaties on the human rights, including Covenant on the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Convention on Protection of the Rights of the Child, European Convention on Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Agreements of OSCE, accepted in different time in Helsinki, Madrid, Paris, Copenhagen, Vienna.

It is possible to separate the following bunches of human rights: private, political, economic, social, cultural, ecological.

The private rights are:

· The right to life.

· The right to human dignity. It means that nobody should be subjected to torture, violence or other severe or humiliating treatment or punishment.

· The right to freedom and personal inviolability. A person may not be detained for more than 48 hours without a court order.

· The right to the inviolability of private life, personal and family privacy and protection of honour and good name, the right to privacy of correspondence, of telephone conversations and of postal, telegraph and other communications.

· The right to the inviolability of the home.

· The right to determine and declare nationality.

· The right to use native language and to a free choice of the language.

· The right to travel freely and to freely choice of the place of temporary or the permanent residence.

· The right to freely live in Ukraine and the right to freely return.

· The right to freedom of conscience and religion. The freedom of thought and speech.

Political rights and freedoms are:

· The freedom of mass media.

· The right to associate, including the right to establish trade unions.

· The right to assemble peacefully without weapon.

· The right to participate in managing state affairs both directly and through their representatives.

· The right to elect and be elected to state and local government bodies and to participate in the referendum.

· The right to equal access to state service.

· The right to participate in justice.

· The right to appeal to state and local bodies.

The main economic, social and cultural rights are the right to education — to use freely abilities, the right to housing — to own private property, the right to the proper standards of living, the right to entrepreneurial and other economic activities and the right to health.

Ukrainian Constitution guarantees the rights and freedoms by means of direct operation of the Constitution, adoption of the federal laws, judicial and administrative protection. Despite all democratic provisions in Ukrainian Constitution many of them haven’t acted yet. Therefore the following problems are urgent for Ukraine: the alternative military service; the Judicial problem; the right on worthy life, the problem of land possessing, selling and buying. In conclusion Ukraine goes on a way of becoming lawful state.

Task 3. Read the text. For each of the empty space (1–12) choose the correct answer (A, B, C or D).

Human Rights Day is one of the most important events on the United Nations calendar. It (1) _________ place on the 10th of December every year. It was on this day in 1948 that the U.N. created the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Only 48 (2) _________ initially agreed to the Declaration. Of course, the (3) _________ majority of countries accept it today. The High Commissioner for Human Rights described the importance of this day: ‘On Human Rights Day, it is my (4) _________ that we will all act on our collective responsibility to uphold the rights (5) _________ in the Universal Declaration. We can only honour the towering vision of that inspiring document when its principles are fully (6) _________ everywhere, for everyone.’

The focus of the day is at the U.N. headquarters in New York City. There are (7) _________ international conferences, meetings, cultural events and exhibitions all (8) _________ with human rights issues. There is a different theme each year on Human Rights Day. It is sad that we still need this day. It (9) _________ seems we need it more as the decades (10) _________. There are still too many countries that do not respect (11) _________ the most basic of rights, including the right to life. As globalization makes the world smaller, problems are getting bigger. There is still so much work to be done to guarantee the right to freedom (12) _________ thought, to practice one’s own religion, and the right to education.

1 A taking B taken C takes D took

2 A stated B states C stating D statues

3 A vast B mast C last D cast

4 A hoping B hoped C hopes D hope

5 A shrines B shrinks C enshrined D shining

6 A apply B applies C applied D application

7 A various B variety C vary D varieties

8 A sealing B dealing C healing D pealing

9 A actuality B actual C actualize D actually

10 A past B pass C parse D pasts

11 A even B never C ever D evens

12 A by B at C on D of

Task 5. Read the text. For questions (1–6) choose the correct answer (A, B, C or D).

Full a human dignity means not only freedom from torture, but also freedom from hunger. It means freedom to vote and the right to education. It means freedom of expression and the right to health. It means the right to enjoy all rights without discrimination. The UN Development Programme (UNDP) strives to ensure economic and social development that respects individual human rights.

In 1986, the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Right to Development, which states that: ‘The human person is the central subject of development and should be the participant and beneficiary of the right to development.’ However, despite international efforts, over one billion people today live in absolute poverty on less than $1 a day. Good governance, democracy and popular participation are increasingly viewed as key agents in the quest for economic and social development, as are equitable trade terms and debt relief.

Around the world, human rights are an integral part of situations in which humanitarian assistance is required. Victims might be refugees, displaced people or other civilians caught up in internal conflicts. Still, their plight is the same. Their human rights are likely to have been violated and they need protection and assistance.

‘Human rights violations are a major cause of refugee flows’, says Sadako Ogata, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Refugees also suffer a range of abuses once they leave their homes, from piracy and rape to arrest, detention, torture and discrimination in the country to which they have escaped. The international community is increasingly focusing on preventive action to address problems before they become humanitarian emergencies.

1 People are free from torture if they________.

A are never asked at lessons

B are never given a hug

C are never beaten and probed

D are never happy

2 When a person is beneficiary to the right it means________.

A that this person has got a benefit over others

B this person has got a right

C this person has got money

D this person has got nothing

3 Good governance, democracy and popular participation are________.

A the keys to the progress

B the keys to the personal happiness

C necessary instruments to make the life better

D important for good business only

4 Displaced people are________.

A the persons, who are looking for a new place to live

B persons, who stopped liking their own place

C persons, who need a better place to live

D persons, who were deprived of their homes

5 People leave their places of living because________.

A they have no rights there

B their rights are violated

C they are given not the rights they want

D they don’t know about their rights

6 After people flee from homes they________.

A become the victims of various abuses

B live happily ever after

C find the victims for their abuses

D try to find a good place to live