Today is a celebration of hope for the Iraqi people. The Iraqi people can now take control of their government and their future by creating a society that protects the rights endowed to us by our creator - life liberty and freedom.

One man's blasphemy doesn't override other people's free-speech rights their freedom to publish freedom of thought.

Israel was born under the British mandate. We learned from the British what democracy means and how it behaves in a time of danger war and terror. We thank Britain for introducing freedom and respect of human rights both in normal and demanding circumstances.

The Bill of Rights was intended to secure freedom of speech - the freedom of speech of members of parliament to speak freely rather than be at threat of... the threat of an over powerful monarch at the time.

If you are for freedom and equal rights which we hear a lot of talk about these days then you have to include the LGBTQ community in that. And if you're not willing to put your time where your mouth is then I don't know quite what you mean by commitment in your life.

There are few things in politics more annoying than the Right's utter conviction that it owns the patent on the word 'freedom' that when its leaders stand up for the rights of banks to be unregulated or capital gains to be untaxed that it is actually and obviously standing up for human liberty the noblest cause of them all.

The First Amendment freedom of religion is as important today as when the Bill of Rights was first written.

So the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is out there preserving and fighting for and sometimes winning and sometimes losing the fight for First Amendment rights in comics and more generally for freedom of speech.

In the literal sense there has been no relevant evolution since the trek from Africa. But there has been substantial progress towards higher standards of rights justice and freedom - along with all too many illustrations of how remote is the goal of a decent society.

True freedom requires the rule of law and justice and a judicial system in which the rights of some are not secured by the denial of rights to others.

I think this society suffers so much from too much freedom too many rights that allow people to be irresponsible.

If the events of September 11 2001 have proven anything it's that the terrorists can attack us but they can't take away what makes us American - our freedom our liberty our civil rights. No only Attorney General John Ashcroft can do that.

Those religions that are oppressive to women are also against democracy human rights and freedom of expression.

Governments that block the aspirations of their people that steal or are corrupt that oppress and torture or that deny freedom of expression and human rights should bear in mind that they will find it increasingly hard to escape the judgement of their own people or where warranted the reach of international law.

I believe all Americans who believe in freedom tolerance and human rights have a responsibility to oppose bigotry and prejudice based on sexual orientation.

We the People recognize that we have responsibilities as well as rights that our destinies are bound together that a freedom which only asks what's in it for me a freedom without a commitment to others a freedom without love or charity or duty or patriotism is unworthy of our founding ideals and those who died in their defense.

I am involved in a freedom ride protesting the loss of the minority rights belonging to the few remaining earthbound stars. All we demanded was our right to twinkle.

When I said a few weeks ago that our people would eat cooking oil and olives if necessary I didn't mean that there really would be only oil and olives. What I meant was that our people have the necessary patience to endure the current difficult situation. Palestinians would rather do without certain food items than their national rights.

It was very clear to me in 1965 in Mississippi that as a lawyer I could get people into schools desegregate the schools but if they were kicked off the plantations - and if they didn't have food didn't have jobs didn't have health care didn't have the means to exercise those civil rights we were not going to have success.

If you don't want women to do whatever they need to do then you must provide them with food you must provide them with shelter and their basic human rights.

We have not sought this conflict we have sought too long to avoid it our forbearance has been construed into weakness our magnanimity into fear until the vindication of our manhood as well as the defence of our rights is required at our hands.

As long as enough people can be frightened then all people can be ruled. That is how it works in a democratic system and mass fear becomes the ticket to destroy rights across the board.

'Freedom from fear' could be said to sum up the whole philosophy of human rights.

Maya Angelou the famous African American poet historian and civil rights activist who is hailed be many as one of the great voices of contemporary literature believes a struggle only makes a person stronger.