[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 239 (Tuesday, December 13, 2011)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 77363-77364]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-32053]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 239 / Tuesday, December 13, 2011 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 77363]]

                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.

[[Page 77364]]

                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.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2011-32053
Filed 12-12-11; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3295-F2-P