December 10, 2010 – New York – AJC is celebrating today International Human Rights Day, marking the adoption 62 years ago of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“Our commitment to promoting and protecting human rights has been a core principle of AJC since our founding in 1906,” said AJC Executive Director David Harris. “AJC was proud to play a key role in securing support for the inclusion of human rights protections in the UN Charter when the world body was established in 1945, and we continue to work to ensure that human rights protections are upheld.”

Reflecting on the AJC role in 1945, Columbia University Professor James T. Shotwell praised AJC’s “brilliant leadership.” Then AJC President Judge Proskauer, speaking in San Francisco, was instrumental in persuading the world body’s founders to commit to human rights protections.

“Judge Proskauer’s argument on that occasion is destined to become one of the chapters of American history,” said Shotwell. “It was a magnificent victory for freedom and human rights.”

Harris pointed out that the coincidence of today’s Nobel Peace Prize award to Chinese human rights activist Liu Xiaobo was recognition that full implementation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights continues to hit political obstacles that must be overcome.

AJC’s advocacy efforts over the years to advance human rights contributed to the 1948 Genocide Convention, and to, first, conceptualization and, later, the creation of the key post of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in 1993.

And, demonstrating AJC’s commitment to human rights, the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights (JBI) was created in 1971. Based at AJC’s New York headquarters, JBI has been a steadfast supporter of universal human rights monitoring and protection. It is widely recognized for its leadership in the field.

Currently, AJC is advocating for Senate ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

JBI Director Felice Gaer, an internationally recognized human rights expert, also serves on the bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, appointed by President Obama, and the UN Committee Against Torture, where she is vice president of the Geneva-based international body.

In addition, several AJC lay leaders were asked by various U.S. administrations to lead American delegations to the then UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva. UN Watch, AJC’s Geneva-based affiliate, continues to speak out on human rights issues before the commission’s successor, the UN Human Rights Council.

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