Article 1 – Freedom and equality

What does this right mean?

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration is actually the foundation of all the rights which follow from it. Human beings have human rights because they are human beings and these human rights protect their dignity. From this follows freedom for everyone and equality for everyone, regardless of who we are, who we love, or what we think or believe. Article 1 also emphasises that having rights does not mean ‘everyone for themselves’, but that human rights continue to build on brotherhood of all people amongst each other. We would call that solidarity now.

Equality is the soul of liberty; there is, in fact, no liberty without it.

What is the history of this right?

So in Article 1, human dignity takes centre stage. Human dignity was also mentioned before in the Charter of the United Nations of 1945.

Discussion

On almost each word in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), there was some discussion. During the negotiations, Eleanor Roosevelt proposed to include in the first article that all men are equal. Eleanor Roosevelt was the widow of the former American President Franklin D. Roosevelt and one of the most important drafters of the UDHR. Hansa Mehta, from India, has also made a big contribution in drafting the UDHR. She said not just all men are born free and equal, but all human beings.

Men, women, children

This small change made a big difference; men, women and children are equal. One of the most important considerations in drafting the UDHR was that human beings are owed the rights, because they are human beings. So it does not matter what someone's sex, culture, religion or nationality is, because human rights apply to everyone.

Discrimination and oppression

Back when the Universal Declaration was adopted in 1948, human beings did not have equal rights close to anywhere in the world. Under the fascistic and nazistic dictatorships before and during the Second World War, big groups of people were discriminated against, oppressed, persecuted and even murdered: Jews, people of colour, Roma and Sinti, homosexuals, mentally disabled and many others.

Necessity for change

In democracies, equality was still far away too. For instance, there was still race-based segregation in the United States and in very many countries, men and women were treated unequally. In the Netherlands, too. In many other places, racism was a part of an oppressive system, such as in South Africa. Many Western countries still had colonies in 1948, which meant a big part of the world population had no equal rights and was not free. So the emphasis on freedom and equality in Article 1 was a reaction to war and oppression, AND a bitter necessity to put a change in motion towards more freedom and equality. That necessity still exists these days. 

Where and how was this right documented?

The French lawyer René Cassin was one of the drafters of the Universal Declaration. He saw the right to freedom and equality in Article 1 as a fundamental building block for the other rights: (1) individual rights, (2) civil rights and political rights, (3) public, religious and political freedoms, and (4) social, economic and cultural rights. Therefore, these rights and freedoms are in the other articles of the Universal Declaration.

Freedom and equality in treaties

The right to freedom and equality is documented in many treaties. For instance at a global scale in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. And within Europe in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and also in the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR).

Constitution

For the Netherlands, the core of equality is documented in Article 1 of the Constitution:
All persons in the Netherlands shall be treated equally in equal circumstances. Discrimination on the grounds of religion, belief, political opinion, race or sex or on any other grounds whatsoever shall not be permitted.

Specific groups

The right to equality has also been documented for specific groups. This happened first in the Anti-racism Treaty and in the Women's Treaty of the United Nations. Currently, there are also guidelines from the European Union and Dutch laws based on that idea of equality. These guidelines and laws ban discrimination of ethnic minorities, of people with disabilities or illnesses and for instance all forms of discrimination in the workplace [links refer to texts in Dutch].

How up to date is this human right?

Unequal wage

Under the law, men and women are equal in the Netherlands. Although this is often not the case in practice, such as at work or home. In many cases, working women still receive lower wages than their male colleagues for exactly the same work. On top of that, men work more often in paid full-time positions and women take on more unpaid care tasks at home. Women are also more often victims of domestic violence. Within Europe, Scandinavian countries have the most equality. If you compare 2023 to 1948, much has already changed for the better in the Netherlands.

Sex listing in passport

Can non-binary persons change their sex in official documents? Discussions on this have been ongoing for years. Do they have the same right as men and women to, for instance, have an X put in their passports instead of an M or F? This is currently still tricky. Dutch law (currently) has no regulations to change the sex listed in a passport. You can submit a request to the judge to have your sex changed in official documents. You then have to go to court with a lawyer to submit such a request. The government does want to make this easier.