World Human Rights Guide

by Charles Humana (Editor)

Today, human rights are receiving more attention worldwide than ever before. With the universal impact of television coverage, the moves to democracy by the former Eastern Bloc nations and the countries of southern Africa, a United Nations expanding its influence and effectiveness, and the
increasingly educated and more socially-conscious world population, there has been a significant surge in concern for human rights victims and condemnation of their oppressors. Now available in a new edition, this unique survey--the only one of its kind--provides the most comprehensive and
up-to-date information on the human rights records in over one hundred countries, making it an essential guide for anyone concerned with, or involved in, one of the major global issues of our times.
Drawing on sources as diverse as leading world human rights organizations, official bodies and unofficial monitors, and individuals who have suffered or witnessed abuses firsthand, the World Human Rights Guide assesses the performance of every major country according to guidelines set in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and various United Nations treaties. Compiled by Charles Humana, a human rights campaigner whose work has gained an international reputation, the survey is presented in the form of forty questions and answers covering both traditional human rights--such as
democratic elections, freedom of speech and learning, association, and travel--and the broader area of state power--including the censorship of media, telephone tappings, summary executions and torture, independence of courts, and freedom in private affairs. The results are reprinted in their
entirety, and assessed by the Humana Method to give a Human Rights Rating. It provides what the United Nations Development Programme has described as the most systematic and extensive coverage of the classification of human rights.
Basic facts about each nation are also provided--such as population size, political system, per capita income, and infant mortality rate--as well as a brief summary of factors that affect human rights. The guide also includes a Progress Report--the first of its kind--which compares the 1986
ratings with those for 1991 with heartening results; and an incisive introduction and full notes, explaining the meaning of the data collected, help place the report in a clear, even-handed perspective.
Nowhere else is so much vital information brought together in a single, accessible volume. In 1992, despite the progress of the last two or three years, over half the world's population live under regimes which deny the most basic human freedoms: the appearance of his authoritative study
not only informs readers, but offers the clearest indictment yet of the human rights crimes being perpetrated by oppressive governments. The World Human Rights Guide is absolutely indispensable for anyone who desires a new world order based on respect for people, rather than their
oppression.

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Charles Humana was an Englishman, born with the name Joseph Jacobs. He published several books as Charles Humana. He died in London in 1992.

His birth date is disputed.

1919, according to the FictionMags Index
1921 (specifically 19 August), according to the England and Wales Death Index
1924, according to his biography in one of his books (see below)
1927, according to an obituary written by Andrew Graham-Yooll in Index on Censorship, Vol 22, Issue 2, 1993.

Among his books:
The House and the Fort
A Lover for Lucia
Living in the Clouds
A Truce to Obedience

His biography on the back cover of Blood and Water (1961) reads:

The son of an English artist, Charles Humana was born in 1924 and his education took place in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Despite - or because of - adolescent evidence of literary talent, he was pressed to study the more predictable profession of architecture. Shortly before his final examination, having found ways to support himself, he gave it up for a life of painting, journalism, soldiering and travel.

In 1950 an Atlantic Award in Literature enabled him to devote time to his first novel, and this appeared the following year in England. Since then he has published poems, articles and a number of other novels, and failed to find outlets for a play, a study of the Etruscans, and an experimental piece of erotica. In the last ten years, between periods of literary activity, Charles Humana has attempted to run a small farm, a large passenger bus and a medium-sized art gallery. The failure of such ventures can be ascribed to his British faith in enthusiastic amateurism, a distaste of commercialism and a love of leisure.

During a lengthy stay in Israel he worked on two kibbutzim, toured the country on a donkey and helped with archaeological excavations.

He is at present writing a novel set in the United States.