Running head: [BREACHES OF ARTICLE 3] 1

Breaches of Article 3: Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Mac Lancaster

Grossmont Community College

[BREACHES OF ARTICLE 3] 2

Breaches of Article 3: Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states that, “Everyone

has the right to life, liberty, and security of person” (Levy, Sidel, & Foege, 2013, p. 13). Danchin

(n.d.) explains that Article 3 is a brief statement on the meanings of liberty and personal security

rather than rights pertaining to political, social, or civil rights (Danchin, n.d.). As a result of the

heinous and inhumane treatment of individuals in concentration camps, Article 3 was developed

(Danchin, n.d.). In this essay, I discuss how I believe Article 3 has been breached in three

instances. First in Germany during the Holocaust, second, in America during the rise of

McCarthyism, and third, in present-day Syria.

The Holocaust was so horrendous and violated so many people’s lives, liberty, and

personal security that it led to the creation of the UDHR, and thereby article 3 (Communications

Officer, 2011). The Final Solution was a plan Hitler set in place to mass exterminate the Jewish

population by gassing them in death camps (History.com Staff, 2018). Authorities also went after

groups whom they believed inferior, such as disabled people, Gypsies, and Slavic people (United

States Holocaust Memorial Museum, n.d.). After examining Adolf Hitler’s Final Solution, the

Holocaust can be clearly defined as a breach of Article 3.

Not long after WWII, in the 1950s, Joseph P. McCarthy was the Senator of Wisconsin

(Achter, 2017). McCarthyism refers to the period of time where McCarthy spread the idea that

Communists were ubiquitous, resulting in mass hysteria (U.S.History.org, 2018). In 1950, in his

Wheeling speech, McCarthy terrified America that Communists had infiltrated every walk of life

(U.S.History.org, 2018). McCarthy kept lists of people believed to be communists, deeming

people who did anything he did not like as a communist. As the pressure mounted to produce

communist spies, McCarthy started singling out people to charge. The liberty of citizens like
[BREACHES OF ARTICLE 3] 3

Professor Owen Lattimore was abused when he was falsely charged with being a top Soviet Spy

and with perjury (History.com Staff, 2009). Lattimore was an academic specializing in Chinese

history, who refused to condemn the leader of China at the time. Lattimore’s charges were

ultimately dismissed for lack of evidence, but the damage to his reputation and career had

already taken its toll (History.com Staff, 2009). McCarthy’s witch hunts violated the liberties of

people and put the personal security of them at risk.

In an ongoing violation of life, liberty, and personal security, Syria is currently engaged in

a civil war between the people and their president (Rodgers, 2016). In response to the uprising of

people against President Assad and his authoritarian ways, Assad attacked the citizens of Syria

violently and ultimately with chemical weapons (Rodgers, 2016). The use of chemical weapons

is not only a violation of the 1925 Geneva Protocol, it is an atrocity that violated the personal

security of all of the Syrian citizens (United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, n.d.). Assad

has killed over 400,000 people, while millions have fled the country (CNN Library, 2018).

People should feel secure in the country in which they live, free from physical assault from their

president.

Although the UDHR was developed as a response to the Holocaust, there have been

subsequent violations. McCarthy violated people’s liberty and put their lives in danger risking

their personal security. Assad continues to kill his own people in a civil war that has devastated

Syrians and their right to life, liberty, and personal security. It would be an honor to live in a time

when the UDHR is fully implemented and Article 3 effectively accomplished.

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References

BBC News. (2018). Syria: The story of the conflict. [online] Available at:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26116868 [Accessed 27 Apr. 2018].

Danchin, P. (n.d). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Retreived from

http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/mmt/udhr/article_3.html.

Encyclopedia Britannica. (2018). McCarthyism | History & Facts. [online] Available at:

https://www.britannica.com/topic/McCarthyism [Accessed 27 Apr. 2018].

HISTORY.com. (2018). The Holocaust - World War II - HISTORY.com. [online]

Available at: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/the-holocaust [Accessed 27 Apr.

2018].

Historymatters.gmu.edu. (2018). "Enemies from Within": Senator Joseph R. McCarthy's

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27 Apr. 2018].

Levy, B.S., Sidel, V.W., & Foege, W.H. (2013). Social injustice and public health (2nd

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Liberty Human Rights. (2018). The Holocaust and human rights. [online] Available at:

https://www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/news/blog/holocaust-and-human-rights [Accessed 27

Apr. 2018].

Library, C. (2018). Syrian Civil War Fast Facts. [online] CNN. Available at:

https://www.cnn.com/2013/08/27/world/meast/syria-civil-war-fast-facts/index.html [Accessed 27

Apr. 2018].

Mtholyoke.edu. (2018). Victims of McCarthyism. [online] Available at:

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n.a., (2018). [online] Available at:

http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/mmt/udhr/article_3.html. [Accessed 27 Apr. 2018].

Spy, M. (2018). McCarthy charges that Owen Lattimore is a Soviet spy - Mar 26, 1950 -

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history/mccarthy-charges-that-owen-lattimore-is-a-soviet-spy [Accessed 27 Apr. 2018].

Ushistory.org. (2018). McCarthyism [ushistory.org]. [online] Available at:

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