Human Rights

Every person is entitled to certain fundamental rights, simply by the fact of being human. Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings irrespective of our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language, or any other status. These rights are legal protection against any people or institution who might want to harm or hurt you. These rights are the condition of peaceful social life. All the people have some basic ideas of human rights. For example we know that we should be paid for the work we do. We should have a place to stay or should have the right to live peacefully. These are our basic rights and form a part of human rights however there are many other rights we should be aware of. Most of the people are not well known about the rights related to abuses, discrimination, intolerance, injustice, oppression and slavery etc. Born out of the atrocities and enormous loss of life during World War II, the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed in 1948 to provide a common understanding of what everyone’s rights are. It forms the basis for a world built on freedom, justice and peace.

History Human Rights

Human right is an age old concept and it has been evolving constantly throughout human civilization. Tablet of Hammurabi is considered to be one of the first examples of codification of laws. Tablet of Hammurabi was created by King Hammurabi about 4000 years ago. Another important event related to human rights in primitive history is found Babylon in 539 B.C when the armies of Cyrus the Great, the first king of ancient Persia, conquered the city of Babylon and later he freed the slaves, and declared that all people had the right to choose their own religion, and established racial equality. This ancient declaration by Cyrus is known as the world’s first charter of human rights. It is translated into all six official languages of the United Nations and its provisions parallel the first four Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It didn't take much time for the idea of human rights to spread across the border of India, Greece and Rome.

Human rights evolved greatly in ancient Greece and brought out new dimensions in the form of natural rights or natural law. According to the Greek tradition of Socrates and Plato, natural law is law that reflects the natural order of the universe, essentially the will of the gods who control nature. A classic example of this occurs in Greek literature, when Creon reproaches Antigone for defying his command to not bury her dead brother, and she replies that she acted under the laws of the gods. This idea of natural rights continued in ancient Rome, where the Roman jurist Ulpian believed that natural rights belonged to every person, whether they were a Roman citizen or not. However we must not confuse human rights today with then natural rights.

The next phase of the development of human rights is characterized with the evolution of Positive Law. Thomas Hobbes was associated with the concept of Positive Law and he believed that under positive law can be given, taken away, and modified by a society to suit its needs.  He considered the concept of natural law as inappropriate and inadequate. Another legal positivist Jeremy Bentham also considered the essence of Positive Law. Some of the historical initiative of conceptualizing human rights can be listed as below.

•   Magna Carta (1215),
•   the Petition of Right (1628),
•   the US Constitution (1787)
•   the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789),
•   the US Bill of Rights (1791)

Human rights have not been respected and recognize always in history. The Great War I and II is the greatest example of that. Human rights conditions were worst especially during the world wars. During the period from 1939 to 1945 nearly six million Jews were exterminated marking the greatest tragedy in the history of human rights and that is when the countries of the world recognized the need for an independent institution which would work to prevent such an atrocity from occurring again.  They established the United Nations (U.N.). United Nations was established to promote international peace and harmony and to protect human rights and freedom with many other basic human welfare objectives. A special committee was setup by the United Nations and given the responsibility to create a set of universally acceptable set of rights for global human community and that is how the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) came in to the picture. 

Today, Universal Declaration of Human Rights is considered as the most important development in the history of human rights.  Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a set of clear rules and guidelines that determines and provides a foundation for life, freedom, access to basic necessities, pursuit of happiness, and nationality. It clearly describes the importance of human rights and dignity and how it should be protected. The U.N. Commission on Human Rights produced two additional treaties intended to act as legally binding documents to enforce the UDHR: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Together, these three documents are referred to as the International Bill of Human Rights.

Philosophy Human Rights

Human Rights help people live a free and dignified life. The philosophy of human rights examines the inherent concept of human rights and tries to give a critical explanation to it.  In simple words the philosophy of human rights addresses questions about the existence, content, nature, universality, justification, and legal status of human rights.  Several theoretical approaches have been advanced to explain how and why human rights have become a part of social expectations. 

  We have mentioned in the discussion of the history of human rights that according to the western philosophers’ human rights is the product of a natural law, stemming from different philosophical or religious grounds. 

  Some others believe that human rights are directly related to moral behavior of a man and it codifies the same. They believe these moral behaviors are the result of the biological and social evolution. 

  In the work of Max Weber it is found that human rights are sociological pattern of rule setting. According to this ideology human rights is a part of social contract where individuals in a society accept rules from legitimate authority in exchange for security and economic advantage.

  The two theories that dominate contemporary human rights discussion are the interest theory and the will theory. Interest theory argues that the principal function of human rights is to protect and promote certain essential human interests, while will theory attempts to establish the validity of human rights based on the unique human capacity for freedom.

Characteristics of Human Rights

Human rights are fundamental and are inherent to each individual. It covers the relationship between people and the nature, people and people, and people and society. The extension of the concept of human rights includes the basic rights of survival and development. As a social concept, it means national and sovereign rights of a country in certain sense. The nature of human rights has the following basic characteristics.

Universal 

Human rights are universal and this was first emphasized in a systematic manner in Universal Declaration on Human Rights in 1948. The Vienna World Conference on Human Rights in 1933 significantly mentioned that it is the duty of the state to protect and promote all human rights and fundamental freedoms, regardless of their political, economic and cultural systems. Human rights goes along with the progress of human society and has always been a universal concern of human beings in various historical periods.

Inalienable 

Human rights cannot be and should not be taken away. These rights are inalienable and should be enjoyed by a person throughout his life. However, there are certain exceptions to it.  For example, the right to liberty of a criminal may be restricted.

 Interdependent and indivisible 

Human rights are interdependent and closely connected to each other however these rights are indivisible or Human Rights are not capable of being divided. The improvement of one right facilitates advancement of the others. Likewise, the deprivation of one right adversely affects the others.  

Equal and non-discriminatory

Non-discrimination is a key principle in international human rights law. This principle is considered to be a central principle in all major human rigts treaties. Equality and Non-discrimination is complimentary to each other and it applies to everyone in relation to human rights. There should not be any discrimination on the grounds of caste, creed, sex, race, color etc. while enjoying human rights.  Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stated that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”

Both Rights and Obligations 

Human rights are not simply rights, they are obligations as well.  It is the responsibility of a state to respect human rights and must refrain from interfering with or curtailing the enjoyment of human rights. This is required in order to protect individuals and groups against human rights abuses. These obligations include states responsibility to take required steps to make sure that basic human rights are being enjoyed by the all.

Classification of Human Rights

Human rights are set of international norms and it help to protect all people from political, legal, and social abuses. Every right serves a unique purpose in a man’s life. Some rights provide political safeguards and some other rights provide economic safeguards. Based on the nature of the rights these can be classified into following three categories: 

  Civil and political rights (also called first generation rights). These are "liberty-orientated" and include the rights to life, liberty and security of the individual; freedom from torture and slavery; political participation; freedom of opinion, expression, thought, conscience and religion; freedom of association and assembly. 

  Economic and social rights (also called second generation rights). These are "security-orientated" rights, for example the rights to work; education; a reasonable standard of living; food; shelter and health care.

  Environmental, cultural and developmental rights (also called third generation rights). These include the rights to live in an environment that is clean and protected from destruction, and rights to cultural, political and economic development.

Throughout much of history, it is observed that people acquired rights and responsibilities through their membership in a group – a family, indigenous nation, religion, class, community, or state. Therefore, human rights should be adopted and applied by all people and nations always in a responsible way and it should be made sure that no one’s right is abused or infringed. It order to do justice with the human rights it is always advisable to acquire the knowledge of the basic principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

Importance of Human Rights Education

Violation of human rights is a burning issue in present day scenario. It is extremely important for all level of society to understand the meaning and importance of human rights in order bring global peace. Human rights are not just rules or set of laws, these rules are way of living a dignified and free life. In recent decades there has been a tremendous growth in how we think about and apply human rights ideas. This has had many positive results - knowledge about human rights can empower individuals and offer solutions for specific problems.   Human rights education is the teaching and learning of human rights principles and values as contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).  Human rights education informs people of their rights, provides information about the international human rights system, and gives people the skills and attitudes that lead to the protection and support of human rights.  According to HREA the teaching of human rights in schools instills human rights values and knowledge in young people. Human rights education:

  Teaches about the history and current structures of the international human rights system, treaties and declarations;

  Creates awareness and fosters concern about human rights violations and the effects those violations have on people’s lives, from denial of free speech, to homelessness, to the oppression of women;

  Promotes understanding and practice of human rights values including respect for human dignity, non-violent conflict resolution, tolerance and multiculturalism;

  Encourages action in response to human rights violations internationally and in local communities.

Human rights education also teaches important academic and life skills and deepens students’ understanding of course material.  Knowledge and skills to be gained from human rights education include:

  Critical thinking, analyzing credibility and authenticity of cause-effect relationships, formulating analysis and asking questions; 

  Viewing an issue from multiple perspectives and identifying bias in your own and other’s opinions; and

  Research and data collection, use of statistics, reporting and monitoring techniques, and measuring human rights violations.

The realization of the human rights values of tolerance, equality and respect can can helps us create the kind of society we want to live in. 

What are human rights “Standards”?

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is considered to be the most important document in the field of Human rights. It is a set of basic rights and freedom of all men agreed to by the nations of the world on 10 December 1948. The UDHR, together with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), its two Optional Protocols, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), form what is known as International Bill of Human Rights. It forms the basis of many legally binding national and international laws. Since the inception of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, human rights standards have been developed and incorporated into many international laws and treaties. Two of the most significant of these are the: 

 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights  

 International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights.

  Civil and political rights: These rights attempt to protect the individual from the misuse of political power and recognize a person's right to participate in their country's political process. They include freedom from slavery, torture and arbitrary arrest; freedom of thought, opinion and religion; the right to a fair trial and equality before the law. 

  Economic, social and cultural rights: These set of rights require a government to ensure that its people share in the economic wealth of the country, can participate in its social and cultural life, have access to adequate health care, education, social support and a clean environment and develop to their full potential. 

  International law has also developed to protect people from racial discrimination and recognize the rights of specific groups of people, such as women, children and people with a disability.

International human rights law lays down obligations which States are bound to respect. By becoming parties to international treaties, States assume obligations and duties under international law to respect, to protect and to fulfill human rights.

  The obligation to respect means that States must refrain from interfering with or curtailing the enjoyment of human rights.

  The obligation to protect requires States to protect individuals and groups against human rights abuses.

  The obligation to fulfill means that States must take positive action to facilitate the enjoyment of basic human rights.

Human Rights in the 21st Century

The history of human rights is the history of both positive and negative. The occurrence of great wars ruined the very essence of the fundamental right of a man to live. However, in the last 50 years the word has seen a number of great initiatives and developments in the field of human rights. The establishment of United Nations and initiation of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights together have change the history of human rights in a very positive direction. However it would be wrong to assume that we and our right secure in 21st century especially with the presence of the following factors. 

•  The mass destruction weapons are the most critical threat to the human rights. The danger from availability of mass-destruction weapons in many powerful hands of the multipolar world, such as nuclear and biological weapons , still exists

• Drug trafficking and abuse is still rampant. It is a major threat to human rights and the severity of drug trafficking related issues are serious danger to mankind.

• Ecological and environmental degradation is serious concern for all of us. The ecological environment is deteriorating. The direct result of the deteriorating environment is decrease of economy and human existence threatened. 
•  Achievements in microsurgery, biological engineering, outer space exploitation and the information industry make human rights issues more complicated.
• Poverty is still a serious threat in the 21st century.

• The existing world economic order is also becoming an obstacle in promotion of human rights.

• In international affairs, power politics and anti-human rights activities under the cover of maintaining human rights still hinders the protection of human rights.

Career in Human Rights

Work in human rights can be challenging and intense. The human rights career has a number of diverse options to choose from. It is a competitive field. The serious human rights violation cases in last two decades have raise the importance of the field to a great extent subsequently increasing the number of career options.  

•   Human Rights Activist
•   Human Rights Defender
•   Human Rights Analyst
•   Human Rights Professional
•   Human Rights Researcher
•   Human Rights Programmer
•   Human Rights Advocate
•   Human Rights Worker
•   Human Rights Teacher
•   Human Rights Consultant
•   Human Rights Campaigner
•   Human Rights Manager
•   Public Relation Officer

It must be mentioned here that whatever role a student is interested in or whatever is the qualification, getting into Human Rights work is highly competitive and challenging. A human rights job requires a high motivation and a high dedication for a cause. It is always advisable to have relevant experience in an area of human rights as per the interest. Normally this experienced is gained on a voluntary basis, through internships or other involvement with a human rights organization.

Among the top organizations involving in human rights issues are Amnesty International, CRY, Oxfam, Human Rights Watch, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiatives, Asian Centre for Human Rights, South Asian Human Rights Documentation Centre, PUCL, PUDR. Besides, there are a number of UN agencies working on the human rights issues.