Human Rights Day and Human Rights Week, 2011

Proclamation 8765 of December 8, 2011

Human Rights Day and Human Rights Week, 2011

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

With the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights on December 10, 1948, the United Nations General
Assembly affirmed the eternal truths that all people
have the right to liberty, equality, and justice under
the law. On Human Rights Day and during Human Rights
Week, we celebrate our fundamental freedoms and renew
our commitment to upholding and advancing human
dignity.

The human race reflects a myriad of vibrant cultures
and unique identities, yet we are united by the innate
liberties that are our common birthright. The rights to
assemble peacefully, to speak and worship as we please,
and to determine our own destinies know no borders. All
people should live free from the threat of
extrajudicial killing, torture, oppression, and
discrimination, regardless of gender, race, religion,
nationality, sexual orientation, or physical or mental
disability.

Dictators seek to constrain these liberties through
repressive laws and blunt force, but hope cannot be
imprisoned and aspirations cannot be killed. We are
reminded of this when demonstrators brave bullets and
batons to sound the call for reform, when young women
dare to go to school despite prohibitions, and when
same-sex couples refuse to be told whom to love. The
past year saw extraordinary change in the Middle East
and North Africa as square by square, town by town,
country by country, people rose up to demand their
human rights. Around the world, we witnessed
significant progress in consolidating democracy and
expanding freedoms, often facilitated by critical
assistance from the international community.

In the 63 years since the global community came
together in support of human dignity and adopted the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, our futures have
grown increasingly interconnected. We have a stake not
only in the stability of nations, but also in the
welfare of individuals. On this anniversary, we
recognize human rights as universal, and we stand with
all those who reach for the dream of a free, just, and
equal world.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the
United States, do hereby proclaim December 10, 2011, as
Human Rights Day and the week beginning December 10,
2011, as Human Rights Week. I call upon the people of
the United States to mark these observances with
appropriate ceremonies and activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
eighth day of December, in the year of our Lord two
thousand eleven, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth.