[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 50 (Monday, December 14, 1998)]
[Pages 2457-2459]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7158--Human Rights Day, Bill of Rights Day, and Human 
Rights Week, 1998

December 10, 1998

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    Thanks to the foresight of our Founding Fathers and their commitment 
to human rights, we live in a Nation founded upon the principles of 
equality, justice, and freedom--principles guaranteed to us by our 
Constitution. With the memory of tyranny fresh in their minds, the 
members of the First Congress of the United States proposed 
constitutional amendments known as the Bill of Rights, making explicit 
and forever protecting our Nation's cherished freedoms of religion, 
speech, press, and assembly.
    But human rights have never been solely a domestic concern. 
Americans have always sought to share these rights with oppressed people 
around the world. In his annual message to the Congress, on Janaury 6, 
1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt articulated this desire: ``In 
the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a 
world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom 
of speech and expression--everywhere in the world. The second is freedom 
of every person to worship God in his own way--everywhere in the world. 
The third is freedom from want . . . .

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The fourth is freedom from fear . . . anywhere in the world . . . . The 
world order which we seek is the cooperation of free countries, working 
together in a friendly, civilized society.''
    Fifty years ago, on December 10, 1948, the world reached a major 
milestone toward FDR's vision when the United Nations adopted the 
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This Declaration--drafted by the 
U.N. Commission on Human Rights under the leadership of Eleanor 
Roosevelt--established an international standard that recognized the 
``inherent dignity'' and the ``equal and inalienable rights of all 
members of the human family . . . .'' It denounced past ``disregard and 
contempt for human rights [that] have resulted in barbarous acts which 
have outraged the conscience of mankind . . . .''
    Today, a majority of the world's people live in democracies and 
exercise their right to freely choose their own governments. 
International war crimes tribunals seek justice for victims and their 
families by working to ensure that war crimes, crimes against humanity, 
and genocide do not go unpunished. And we are heartened by the progress 
toward peace made in Northern Ireland, the Middle East, and elsewhere, 
which advances the cause of human rights. But there are still many areas 
where human rights abuses are committed with impunity--unchecked and 
unpunished.
    To reaffirm our Nation's unequivocal commitment to upholding human 
rights, today I am issuing an Executive order to create an interagency 
working group to help enforce the human rights treaties we have already 
ratified and to make recommendations on treaties we have yet to ratify. 
In addition, my Administration is working to establish a genocide early 
warning center and to fund nongovernmental organizations that respond 
rapidly in human rights emergencies. The Department of State is working 
to provide additional assistance for Afghan women and girls under the 
oppressive rule of the Taliban. We are also supporting the work of the 
International Labor Organization in its efforts to elimiante child 
labor. Finally, the Immigration and Naturalization Service is issuing 
guidelines on how to handle cases where children seek asylum in the 
United States.
    This year, as we come together to celebarate the Declaration's 50th 
anniversary, let us not forget the driving force behind its creation. We 
are grateful that Eleanor Roosevelt brought her prodigious energies and 
talents to this task. And it is fitting that we have established the 
Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights, honoring others for their 
important contributions to protecting human rights around the world.
    Eleanor Roosevelt once said that ``the future belongs to those who 
believe in the beauty of their dreams.'' Her accomplishments serve as an 
inspiration to us all, and each of us can play a part in preserving and 
promoting her enduring legacy. Let us each embrace the Declaration's 
promise by striving to uphold its principles and defending the rights it 
embodies.
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the 
Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim December 
10, 1998, as Human Rights Day; December 15, 1998, as Bill of Rights Day; 
and the week beginning December 10, 1998, as Human Rights Week. I call 
upon the people of the United States to celebrate these observances with 
appropriate activities, ceremonies, and programs that demonstrate our 
national commitment to the Bill of Rights, the Universal Declaration of 
Human Rights, and the promotion and protection of human rights for all 
people.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this tenth day of 
December, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-eight, and 
of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 
twenty-third.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., December 14, 
1998]

Note: This proclamation will be published in the Federal Register on 
December 15.

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