But 50 years later, for some people in some countries, standing up for any one of these freedoms can be dangerous - even deadly. Trade unionists fighting for a pay rise of a few pence a day face imprisonment. Peasant farmers trying to hold on to their plots of land face death threats and arrest. Women speaking out against corrupt authorities face torture. Environmentalists campaigning to save forests are harassed.
Lawyers representing the poor against the powerful are targets for arrest and assassination.
Throughout the year, Amnesty will feature cases of individuals who have been harassed, jailed, tortured or killed for their work in defence of human rights. In Nigeria, Dr Beko Ransome-Kuti was jailed for 15 years because he worked on behalf of prisoners convicted in secret treason trials in 1995. His health is reported to be very poor. In Indonesia, Dita Indah Sari was sentenced to five years' imprisonment after she joined a demonstration calling for a rise in the national minimum wage. She was charged under the draconian Anti-Subversion Law and faced a possible death sentence for demanding a wage rise.