Debut book proposes International Bill of Rights that could pave the way to a new social contract—ensuring rights for all

SAN FRANCISCO, April 12 /PRNewswire/ -- In 1948, shortly after the establishment of the United Nations, all member states were asked to sign a Universal Declaration of Human Rights, celebrating president Franklin Roosevelt's four freedoms—freedom of speech; freedom of religion; freedom from want; and freedom from fear. The document's intention was to declare that all people are entitled to these basic rights.  Although universally adopted, the Declaration of Human Rights was not codified into law, and sixty years later it is largely ignored: a sometimes referenced but never enforced gesture that has been powerless against war, genocide and widespread poverty.

J. Kirk Boyd, Executive Director of the 2048 Project at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, wants to change all that. Boyd is working on a new document elucidating Roosevelt's four freedoms and adding a fifth: freedom for the environment. This document—an International Bill of Rights—is the impetus behind 2048: Humanity's Agreement to Live Together (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, $15.95).  2048, which is named for what will be the 100-year anniversary of the original United Nations document, combines research, historical anecdotes and Boyd's personal experience in conveying the importance of this new legal document.

Motivated by famous optimists from Eleanor Roosevelt to Gandhi and bolstered by evidence that proves humanity's ability to live together—such as the creation of the African Court of Human Rights, the adoption of the European Convention on Human Rights, the approval of the Arab Charter and other recent regional documents—Boyd uses 2048 not as a soapbox for revolution, but as a platform for social change.  The 2048 Project and the book that it inspired take an intensive look at humanity—free of the limitations of oppressive governments and draconian law—in the interest of someday achieving rights on an international level.  "Every person is human; therefore, every person has human rights," Boyd writes to refute the assumptions that some people are entitled to freedoms and others are not.

Driven by an ambitious Web 2.0 campaign that asks for global input on the draft of this document, 2048 has what David Krieger of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation calls "a grand participatory vision," blurring the line between reader and writer.  Members of the global community are asked to sign on to the 2048 Web site (http://www.2048.berkeley.edu), or even to correspond via ground mail, and submit ideas that can help shape the International Bill of Rights as it becomes a binding agreement for all people and all governments in the courts of all countries.  This "ambitious new social contract," states UNICEF's Jill Van den Brule, "could serve as a tipping point for enforcing human rights worldwide."

J. Kirk Boyd will be celebrating the launch of 2048, and the efforts of the 2048 Project, during a week's worth of activities in and around San Francisco from April 12 through 17.  "With less than 40 years to meet our goal," he says of the various launch events, "we want to engage people in the 2048 Project now.  The Bay area is my home, and home to 2048, so it's only fitting that we should start with our neighbors and radiate our efforts outward." The full schedule of events is below.

About J. Kirk Boyd

A Northern California native whose opposition to war—and dedication to universal human rights—began as a youth growing up during the Vietnam era, J. Kirk Boyd is a lawyer, advocate, professor and director of U.C. Berkeley's 2048 Project.  A veteran litigator in front of the highest courts in the land, including the United States Supreme Court, Boyd currently teaches International Human Rights.  He lives in Mill Valley, California.

SOURCE J. Kirk Boyd

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http://www.2048.berkeley.edu