Скачать или смотреть Human Rights Day 2020 – language identity is a human right

On 10 December is World Human Rights Day.
In 1948 on this day, the United Nations General Assembly had adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common human rights standard for all everyone, everywhere.
This video provides the history, content and ongoing significance of the document.

A particularly interesting aspect to us as linguists is the fact that language identity is a human right as defined in Article 22 UDHR, which states that all individuals are entitled to “the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for [his/her] dignity and the free development of [his/her] personality.”

Thus, the freedom to express ourselves through language is a fundamental human right. After all, language is core to our identity as humans; it is the carrier of history, traditions, customs and folklore from one generation to another. Without language, no culture could sustain its existence.

Language as a right can be defined in terms of personal, human, and legal or constitutional rights. Language as a personal right encompasses the freedom of an individual to speak in and to preserve his or her heritage language.
Linguistic rights are considered even an integral part of human rights and protect the individual and collective right to choose one's language or languages for communication both within the private and the public spheres.

As per Article 19 UDHR, individuals have the right to freedom of expression, including the right to choose any language as the medium of expression. This means that the use of a specific language, usually the so-called 'mother tongue', is covered and protected as a human right as well.

[video credit with thanks: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)]


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