the “foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.”75 It recognizes that to be able to guarantee human dignity, economic and social, as well as civil and political, rights need to be observed. It contains a long list of rights to which all people are entitled, among them: • • • • • • • • the right to life, liberty and security of person; the right to freedom from torture and degrading treatment; the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution; the right to own property; freedom of thought, conscience and religion; the right to freedom of opinion and expression; the right to an adequate standard of living; the right to education. Although the UDHR is not a legally binding document, it has inspired more than 20 major human rights instruments, which together constitute an international standard of human rights. The principles in the UDHR have also been incorporated into the constitutions and laws of many states in the form of fundamental rights or basic laws. Many of its provisions are also considered to be reflective of customary international law, and therefore binding on states that have not signed some of the instruments subsequently adopted. The human rights covenants The two principal instruments deriving from the UDHR are the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Both were adopted in 1966 and entered into force in 1976. Unlike the UDHR, both of these treaties are legally binding on states that have ratified them. Together with the Universal Declaration, they constitute the International Bill of Human Rights. The ICCPR details the basic civil and political rights of individuals, and duties attached to the state. Among the rights of the individual are: • • • • • • • • • • the right to life; the right to liberty and freedom of movement; the right to equality before the law; the right to presumption of innocence until proven guilty; the right to be recognized as a person before the law; the right to privacy and protection of that privacy by law; the right to legal recourse when rights are violated; freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief; freedom of opinion and expression; freedom of assembly and association. The ICCPR forbids, inter alia, torture and inhuman or degrading treatment, slavery, arbitrary arrest and detention, propaganda advocating either war or hatred based on race, religion, national origin or language. 75 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of 10 December 1948, by 56 members of the United Nations “as a common standard of achievement for all people and nations”. Forty-eight states voted in favour, none against, and eight abstained (including Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the USSR and Yugoslavia). 44 Countering Terrorism, Protecting Human Rights