A/73/227 debate, quoting the Qur’an. 12 Today, we have lurched sharply backwards, with 13 countries in the world applying the death penalty against so -called apostates. 8. The former Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief has stressed that “Universality is inherent in human rights... The very title of the Universal — and not international — Declaration of Human Rights reinforced that trend, the obje ctive being to unite all individuals over and above their racial, ethnic, religious and gender differences and combine unity and diversity in the name of the equal dignity in regard to differences of identity” (E/CN.4/2002/73/Add.2, para. 27). Moreover, he explained that “universality arises out of a concept which is at the very root of human rights: the consubstantial and inherent dignity of the person” (ibid., para. 29). 9. At the time of its adoption, notwithstanding abstentions, not a single country voted against the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 10. The Special Rapporteur is delighted to note that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is perhaps one of the greatest human achieve ments of the twentieth century, is the single most translated document, being currently available in over 500 languages. 11. The Declaration remains imperfect, as is to be expected in any document drafted by human beings, featuring now-archaic language about, inter alia, “brotherhood” and “his family,” 13 omitting specific mention of issues now considered critical human rights questions, and to some degree sidestepping the lived reality of colonialism that was ongoing at the time of its drafting. Nevertheless, it represents a remarkable feat of transcultural negotiation and compromise that might be impossible to achieve in today’s polarized world. It has become not only the touchstone of the human rights movement and an important international legal standard, but also one of the most important pieces of intangible cultural heritage created during the twentieth century and, thus, part of the cultural heritage of all humankind. It merits and requires vigilant protection from acts of intentional destruction or the effacement of its complex global history. __________________ 12 13 26/26 See A/PV.182, p. 890. See also Glen Johnson and Januz Symonides, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: a history of its creation and implementation, 1948 –1998 (Paris, UNESCO, 1998), p. 38, available at http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0011/0011 44/114488E.pdf. Catharine A. MacKinnon, Are Women Human? And Other International Dialogues (Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2006), pp. 41–43. MacKinnon asks, “if we were all enjoined to ‘act towards one another in a spirit of sisterhood,’ would men know it meant them, too?”, p. 42. 18-12312