World Human Rights Guide

by Charles Humana (Editor)

Despite the recent significant surge in concern for the cause of human rights, over half the world's population live under regimes which deny the most basic human freedoms. Drawing on the records of official bodies, unofficial monitors, and individuals who have suffered or witnessed abuses, this survey provides comprehensive information on the human rights records of over 120 countries. Assessing the performance of each state according to guidelines set in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the book covers both traditional human rights, such as democratic elections, freedom of speech, learning, association and travel, and a number of broader issues, including censorship, phone tapping, summary execution and torture, and the independence of the courts. This guide is intended for anyone interested in human rights comparisons world-wide.

416 pages, Hardcover

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.