History

Founding of the John Humphrey Centre

When the Canadian Human Rights Education Foundation closed its Western Canadian office in 1999, the Western Directors Gurcharan Singh Bhatia, Jack O’Neill and Gerald L. Gall established the Human Rights Education Foundation in Edmonton.  The purpose of this Foundation was simple: to educate and inform the public on human rights; hold conferences, meetings and exhibitions for discussion and dialogue; and, to encourage, undertake or sponsor research and other activities for human rights. In June 2000, under the guidance and inspiration of the Centre’s patrons, the Board of Directors of the Human Rights Education Foundation evolved into the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights.

John Peters Humphrey: Canada’s unsung hero

Named for John Peters Humphrey, the principle drafter of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the John Humphrey Centre (JHC) was created based on the belief that the struggle for human rights is never conclusively won, requiring continuous need to reinforce these rights. The goal of the JHC is to see the universal implementation of human rights through teaching and education of all people, focusing specifically on children and youth. Using the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a framework, the Centre seeks for universal recognition, understanding, promotion and protection of human rights, essential to maintaining and advancing peace, ultimately for the purpose of creating an everlasting culture of peace and human rights.

John Peters Humphrey and the UDHR

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is quite possibly the most cited legal document ever drafted by a Canadian and has contributed to growing human rights paradigm since the end of the Second World War.

In 1946, John Humphrey, a Professor of Law at McGill University, was asked to work with the newly founded Human Rights Division of the United Nations Secretariat. In January of 1947, the United Nations’ Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) formed the UN Commission on Human Rights. This Commission included:

* Mrs Eleanor Roosevelt (United States of America)
* Rene Cassin (France)
* Dr Peng-Chun Chang (Republic of China)
* Charles Malik (Lebanon)

They were charged with the task of creating an International Bill of Rights following the aftermath of World War II. By enshrining human rights within the newly created United Nations, the hope that humanity would learn from and move forward from the “acts of barbarism” that resulted in the Second World War and the atrocities that took place.

Rene Cassin, the French delegate who created the second draft which subsequently became the 30 Article document we now call the UDHR, is often incorrectly cited as the principal drafter of the UDHR. However,  John Humphrey was the one created a 400-page blueprint that became the foundation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as the first draft to provide guidance to the 18-member international committee.

Professor Humphrey remained with the UN for 20 years and continued to emphasize and advance the cause of human rights around the world. He oversaw the implementation of 67 international conventions and constitutions of dozens of countries. Professor Humphrey also worked in areas involving freedom of the press, status of women and racial discrimination. In 1963, he put forth the idea for a United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; while the idea was received quite positively, only after more than 30 years did UN Secretary General Dr Boutros Boutros-Ghali create that office.

Professor Humphrey was awarded the UN’s Human Rights Award in 1988, celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Declaration.

The UDHR’s Impact

The Declaration was a remarkable achievement, created in a relatively short time (1947-1948) but also in an user-friendly language understandable to all peoples. Mrs Roosevelt famously declared that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was “the international Magna Carta for all mankind”. The UDHR serves as the source for many national human rights documents and is now part of the customary law of nations.

The UDHR was passed on the night of December 10, 1948, which is now celebrated as International Human Rights Day. The Declaration has become the standard to rally around affirming the inherent dignity and worth of every person and a collective expression of the global commitment to freedom.

In 2008, the world celebrated the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In the words of Professor John Peters Humphrey:

Some measure of the impact which the Declaration has had on the expectations of individual men and women can be found in the many thousands of communications received by the United Nations every year from people everywhere alleging that their rights have been violated and invoking the Declaration in their appeals for help

The goal and hope was to embody and reflect the highest aspiration of humanity towards FREEDOM, JUSTICE and PEACE as stated in the preamble of the UDHR itself:

Whereas the recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and unalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world…