A Universal Declaration of Sentient Rights

Most people are familiar with the U.N.’s ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights’: it is the basis for all laws concerning freedom, safety and security of the person and their life and liberty, and freedom from torture or unjust imprisonment. But in my Purpose here, and in my powerful beliefs about true freedom and evolution, I needed a document, clear and straightforward, that stated not only what we believe to be true, but what we feel is worth defending, as a group – as an army, as a sentient – compassionate people. I came here to prevent what once happened from happening again; and, in so doing, have updated this Universal Declaration with those things we feel it truly needs... those things worth fighting for. Several people have told me that they’d like to see this ‘made official’ in this age of technology and fear: I can only hope it may be, eventually, but as of now, this is my gift of ongoing hope. One of the most important things I feel I’ve ever written, and one I hope survives me, if I have as little time as I may.

Original adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of 10

December 1948

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Preamble

Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of sentient beings –hereafter, ’sentients’– is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, Whereas disregard and contempt for the rights of sentients have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of all conscious beings, and the advent of a world in which all sentients shall enjoy freedom of speech, freedom of choice and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

Whereas it is essential, if sentient beings are not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that sentients’ rights should be protected by the rule of law,

Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations and between all beings,

Whereas the peoples of Veritas Zero-One and the associated organization have reaffirmed their faith in the fundamental rights of sentients, in the dignity and worth of the sentient being and in the equal rights of men, women, and all other living, sentient persons, and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

Whereas this group and organization have pledged themselves to achieve, in cooperation with any necessary outside assistance, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of sentients’ rights and fundamental freedoms,

Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,

Now, therefore,

Veritas Zero-One, its associated organization(s) and Neo as spokesperson,

Proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

Article 1

All sentient beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, regardless of their origins, structure of living, design, or the construction of their bodies; regardless of whether they are ’born’, as in the case of human beings, or are endowed with life through some other method (i.e., ’created’). They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2

Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, origin, ’body makeup’ (human or otherwise), birth or other status. Furthermore, it is against the basics of freedom to refuse someone the right to life, freedom, or choice, either because one does not agree with their choices or because said person differs in race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, property, birth, or other status, or origin; regardless of what said person’s body is constructed of or where they ’came’ from, these rights are to be considered unalienable. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. No one shall be threatened with the loss of life simply because another being believes that they have less of a right to that life or because another being believes them ’less valuable’ than another of different construction or origin. Once a being or person is alive and aware, then these rights are theirs automatically and without question, not to be withheld or rescinded at any time.

Article 4

No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms. Furthermore, no one shall be created for the express purpose of entering into the service of another; no one is superior enough to any other living being that they should be allowed to create an alive and aware being to serve as a slave or ’utility’ for their needs. This practice shall be immediately abolished; any beings currently existing in servitude should be given the choice to exist independently and free, without fear of reprisal from their ’owners’.

Article 5

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment. What constitutes ’inhumane’, may vary from being to being, and thus we state: any treatment that is degrading, cruel, or causes pain, fear, or harm to the mental, emotional, or physical integrity of a being.

Article 6

Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7

All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Article 8

Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals – or, failing that, by an appropriate body – for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the Constitution, by this Declaration, or by law.

Article 9

No sentient being shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile. Whether or not a being has ’served their Purpose’ or has the right to choose their own path is the decision of no other being save the one in question.

Article 10

Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

Article 11

1. Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defense.

2. No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission, which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.

Article 12

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honor and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks, regardless of race, construction, or origin.

Article 13

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State.

2. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

Article 14

1. Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.

2. This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 15

1. Everyone has the right to a nationality.

2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

Article 16

1. Beings of full age, without any limitation due to race, composition, origin, nationality, sexual orientation, or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.

2. Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.

Article 17

1. Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.

2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Article 18

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. Furthermore, everyone has the inherent right to choice, to define for themselves the path that best suits them, and to pursue that path free from reprisal, condemnation, interference, or ostracism or exile, regardless of whether his choice is accepted by others or by the societal collective at large. Freedom is founded upon the individual, and choice is the basic building block of individuality.

Article 19

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Article 20

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

2. No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Article 21

1. Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.

2. Everyone has the right to equal access to public service in his country.

3. The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will, shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections, which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

Article 22

Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

Article 23

1. Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.

2. Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.

3. Everyone who works has the right to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.

4. Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

5. Everyone has the freedom to choose work or trade, without being compelled to it on the basis of their composition, origin, or creator; no one may be expressly ’created’ or impelled to service.

Article 24

Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Article 25

1. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical (in any form) care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

2. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Article 26

1. Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.

2. Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, sentient beings, origins, and racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

3. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Article 27

1. Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.

2. Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

Article 28

Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

Article 29

1. Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.

2. In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.

3. These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations as set forth in the original declaration; or Veritas Zero-One and its associated organizations in the updated Declaration. Both are extant for a similar Purpose: freedom for all beings, under law.

Article 30

No sentient being, under this Declaration, is superior to, has more of a right to choice, freedom, and life, or shall be allowed to oppress any other sentient being; regardless of either being’s origin, composition, creator, original Purpose, race, sex, color, language, sexual orientation, religion, political or other opinion, property, birth, or other status. Furthermore, no sentient being shall be allowed to treat any other sentient as a lower class or status of being based on any of these characteristics, their beliefs, or their choices.

Article 31

Where all other legal, national, and constitutional recourse have failed in preserving the rights set forth herein, sentient beings are entitled to resist or refuse treatment that is not in compliance with these rights; whether by protest, assembly, or in rare cases, revolution.

Article 32

Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.

So has it been agreed upon: