[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 240 (Tuesday, December 15, 1998)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 68989-68990]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-33347]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 240 / Tuesday, December 15, 1998 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 68989]]
Proclamation 7158 of December 10, 1998
Human Rights Day, Bill of Rights Day, and Human
Rights Week, 1998
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Thanks to the foresight of our Founding Fathers and
their commitment to human rights, we live in a Nation
founded upon the principles of equality, justice, and
freedom--principles guaranteed to us by our
Constitution. With the memory of tyranny fresh in their
minds, the members of the First Congress of the United
States proposed constitutional amendments known as the
Bill of Rights, making explicit and forever protecting
our Nation's cherished freedoms of religion, speech,
press, and assembly.
But human rights have never been solely a domestic
concern. Americans have always sought to share these
rights with oppressed people around the world. In his
annual message to the Congress, on January 6, 1941,
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt articulated this
desire: ``In the future days, which we seek to make
secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four
essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of
speech and expression--everywhere in the world. The
second is freedom of every person to worship God in his
own way--everywhere in the world. The third is freedom
from want . . . . The fourth is freedom from fear . . .
anywhere in the world . . . . The world order which we
seek is the cooperation of free countries, working
together in a friendly, civilized society.''
Fifty years ago, on December 10, 1948, the world
reached a major milestone toward FDR's vision when the
United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. This Declaration--drafted by the U.N.
Commission on Human Rights under the leadership of
Eleanor Roosevelt--established an international
standard that recognized the ``inherent dignity'' and
the ``equal and inalienable rights of all members of
the human family . . . .'' It denounced past
``disregard and contempt for human rights [that] have
resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the
conscience of mankind . . . .''
Today, a majority of the world's people live in
democracies and exercise their right to freely choose
their own governments. International war crimes
tribunals seek justice for victims and their families
by working to ensure that war crimes, crimes against
humanity, and genocide do not go unpunished. And we are
heartened by the progress toward peace made in Northern
Ireland, the Middle East, and elsewhere, which advances
the cause of human rights. But there are still many
areas where human rights abuses are committed with
impunity--unchecked and unpunished.
To reaffirm our Nation's unequivocal commitment to
upholding human rights, today I am issuing an Executive
order to create an interagency working group to help
enforce the human rights treaties we have already
ratified and to make recommendations on treaties we
have yet to ratify. In addition, my Administration is
working to establish a genocide early warning center
and to fund nongovernmental organizations that respond
rapidly in human rights emergencies. The Department of
State is working to provide additional assistance for
Afghan women and girls under the oppressive rule of the
Taliban. We are also supporting the work of the
International Labor Organization in its efforts to
eliminate child labor. Finally, the Immigration and
[[Page 68990]]
Naturalization Service is issuing guidelines on how to
handle cases where children seek asylum in the United
States.
This year, as we come together to celebrate the
Declaration's 50th anniversary, let us not forget the
driving force behind its creation. We are grateful that
Eleanor Roosevelt brought her prodigious energies and
talents to this task. And it is fitting that we have
established the Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human
Rights, honoring others for their important
contributions to protecting human rights around the
world.
Eleanor Roosevelt once said that ``the future belongs
to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.''
Her accomplishments serve as an inspiration to us all,
and each of us can play a part in preserving and
promoting her enduring legacy. Let us each embrace the
Declaration's promise by striving to uphold its
principles and defending the rights it embodies.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United
States, do hereby proclaim December 10, 1998, as Human
Rights Day; December 15, 1998, as Bill of Rights Day;
and the week beginning December 10, 1998, as Human
Rights Week. I call upon the people of the United
States to celebrate these observances with appropriate
activities, ceremonies, and programs that demonstrate
our national commitment to the Bill of Rights, the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the
promotion and protection of human rights for all
people.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
tenth day of December, in the year of our Lord nineteen
hundred and ninety-eight, and of the Independence of
the United States of America the two hundred and
twenty-third.
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 98-33347
Filed 12-14-98; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P
