UN official calls for enhanced arms control to advance human rights News
UN official calls for enhanced arms control to advance human rights

[JURIST] Sergei Ordzhonikidze, director-general of the UN Office at Geneva [official websites], on Monday urged UN member states to advance the cause for human rights by increasing arms control efforts, saying that the improvement of human rights in developing regions will enhance long-term peace, stability, and contribute to sustainable development. Ordzhonikidze comments came during the inaugural Beijing Forum on Human Rights; he said that increased arms control will free up additional resources, which should instead be allocated for the advancement of human rights.

The Beijing Forum on Human Rights is commemorating the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) [text] in 1948. The UDHR declared that every person has the right to life, and disavows slavery, torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Xinhua has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

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On December 22, 1894, Jewish French army officer Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of treason in a court-martial trial that prompted worldwide allegations of anti-Semitism. Dreyfus was later cleared. Learn more about the case of Alfred Dreyfus and read an English translation of the famous public letter J'Accuse...! by novelist and Dreyfus partisan Emile Zola.

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