III A CONSTITUTION FOR THE RIGHTS OF ALL

III

A CONSTITUTION FOR THE RIgHTS OF ALL

What characterizes the engagement of the Philippines and France over the last seventy years in the United Nations is a shared complicity –an abiding faith in the ability of humanity to rise above the ashes of conflict and renew itself in a quest for greater social justice and prosperity for all.

An exceptional and relatively unknown example of this cooperation is the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Philippines’ General Carlos P. Romulo was a member of the first United Nations Commission on Human Rights with French Professor René Cassin that was formed in 1947. Together with other inspiring leaders of the time, such as First Lady of the United States Eleanor Roosevelt of the United States that chaired the Commission, Charles Malik of Lebanon, and P.C. Chang from China, they drafted what is perhaps the most influential document of the twentieth century, the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.

General Romulo, known as “Mr. United Nations,”was a leading advocate for independence of developing countries from colonialism and the right to self-determination. He would later become President of the Fourth UN General Assembly and also be the Philippines’ longest serving Secretary (Minister) of Foreign Affairs. René Cassin was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1968 in recognition of his far-reaching work on human rights.

Figure 170. Working Group on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Figure 171. First meeting of the Commission on Human Rights of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, left to right: Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, United States, chairman; Prof. John P. Humphrey, Canada, Director of the Division of Human Rights of the UN Department of Social Affairs and Secretary of the Commission; Dr. Charles Malik, Lebanon, Rapporteur; Charles Dukes, United Kingdom; Valentin F. Topliakov, USSR, and General Carlos P. Romulo, Philippine Republic. 27 January 1947 (Photo / UN News Centre)

Figure 172. General Carlos P. Romulo chatting with Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt at the 2nd session of the UN General Assembly, 15 November 1947 (Photo / UN News Centre)

General Romulo and Professor Cassin were members of the Working Group of the UN Commission on Human Rights which finalized the text of the Universal Declaration before it was eventually transmitted to the UN General Assembly for adoption.

Of particular interest is that after the Philippines and France submitted individual proposals for Article 1 of the Declaration, the two delegates worked on a joint text which formed the basis of the actual text adopted by UN Member States:

“All men are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed by nature with reason and conscience, and should act towards one another like brothers.”4

The Universal Declaration was adopted by the Third United Nations General Assembly held on 10 December 1948, which met that year at the Palais Chaillot in Paris. Thereafter, 10 December has become celebrated as “Human Rights Day.”

Figure 173. The proposals of the Philippine and French delegates at the Working Group of UN Commission on Human Rights in 1947