Human Rights
The basic tenet of Human Rights is the understanding that all humans share universal aspirations and have inherent rights to security, dignity, freedom of expression, equality and economic, social and cultural protection regardless of geographic boundaries, nationality, gender, ethnic origin, language, religion or any other status. Human rights also include group rights such as self-determination and economic development. These rights are interrelated, interdependent and indivisible and are often expressed and guaranteed through national and international laws and agreements.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 was the first attempt to establish the universality of Human Rights. It was a response to the immense loss of life and destruction caused by Second World War and the failure of the international community to respond to it swiftly. The action of Western Europe and North America to deny entry to German Jews fleeing persecution and sending them back also highlighted the need for a universal code of conduct. The Declaration, which later served as the basis for the International Bill of Human Rights of 1966, encompassed the fundamental rights of individual regardless of nationality. The growth in globalization and the increase in free flow of people and information have brought the universality of human right to the forefront.
The balance between Human Rights and Sovereignty
The balance between the universality of Human Rights and the
“Ideas about human rights have evolved over many centuries. But they achieved strong international support following the Holocaust and World War II. To protect future generations from a repeat of these horrors, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948 and invited states to sign and ratify it”
Human rights can be summarized as the activities and freedoms that all human beings are entitled to enjoy and only by virtue of their humanity. These conditions are generally guaranteed in the constitution of the land. They are widely felt in the area as they are divided and not limited to political, social economic and cultural rights. Some of the main principles of human rights include the fact that they are inherent, inalienable and indivisible as well. In this relation, human rights can never be taken away from an individual whereby the enjoyment of one right should not infringe the enjoyment of other. They must all be respected and maintained.
The idea that there are rights that are applicable to all of humanity originated during the eighteenth century in the Enlightenment and the American and French Revolutions. The atrocities committed during World War II, as well as the Four Freedoms, forcefully raised the issue of human rights in the postwar world. The victorious Allies put numerous German officials on trial before special courts at Nuremberg for crimes against humanity. This was the first time that individuals were held directly accountable to the international community for violation of human rights. The trials ended up sentencing many Nazi officials to prison terms and the execution of ten leaders. In 1948, the UN General Assembly approved the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It identified a broad range of rights to be enjoyed by people everywhere, including freedom of speech, religious toleration, and protection against arbitrary government, as well as social and economic entitlements like the right to an adequate standard of living and access to housing, education, and medical care. The document had no enforcement mechanism. However, it set the core principle that a nation’s treatment of its own citizens should be subject to outside evaluation. This slowly became part of the language in which freedom was discussed. After the Cold War ended, the idea of human rights played an increasingly prominent role in world affairs, but during the 1950s, Cold War imperatives shaped the
The United Nation’s Declaration of Human Rights was commissioned in December 1948 by the UN General Assembly in an attempt to create a standard which is common to all people regardless of “race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion or any other status”. It is the United Nations responsibility to ensure that the participating countries follow these articles set forth by the assembly and to ensure that these rights are not being desecrated. The term "Human Rights" is best described by the United Nations as "Human rights are the rights to be born free, the right to life, the right to equality, the right to freedom, the right to assembly and the right to own property which is inherent to all human beings”. However, this statute by the
But only in a couple of years later, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Rights was born from one of the United Nations’ conventions (Universal Declaration of Rights). The Universal Declaration of Rights settled the ground base for human rights across the globe, and it was only possible after international collaboration in one of the institutions that best represents and promotes the globalization process. Therefore, the link between human rights and the globalization process, in my opinion, is not only a matter of influence from the later into the former, but a desirable and inevitable consequence of the
All human beings are born with rights no matter a person’s race, religion, or gender. There are 30 of rights found in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Under the UDHR there are 30 rights given to humans that were created to stop war from happening among people. These rights should have the power to prevent war from happening by giving every human life importance. Everyone has the same human rights shows all lives matter and are important and should be respected. Three human rights as based on the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights are the right to life, freedom from slavery, and freedom from torture.
The doctrine of human rights were created to protect every single human regardless of race, gender, sex, nationality, sexual orientation and other differences. It is based on human dignity and the belief that no one has the right to take this away from another human being. The doctrine states that every ‘man’ has inalienable rights of equality, but is this true? Are human rights universal? Whether human rights are universal has been debated for decades. There have been individuals and even countries that oppose the idea that human rights are for everybody. This argument shall be investigated in this essay, by: exploring definitions and history on human rights, debating on whether it is universal while providing examples and background
Universal theories state that, regardless of race, origin, religious beliefs or culture, every human being is entitled to basic rights. These rights are inherent to the fundamental nature of that person, and are meant to be implemented transnationally, without bias. The universal theory of legalism states that the “only way to create social harmony is through legal rule”, and that there cannot be an expectation on individuals to regulate themselves (Juric). The regulation of individuals is achieved through government. However, the government agents are also subject to the law. This notion is known as the Rule of Law and states that no individual is above the law. Legalism proposes “that the law is not arbitrary, they are rooted in reason and agreed upon by all of us” (Juric). Legalism makes the assertion that the only creditable government is democratic in nature. Through a majority vote democratic governments give the individuals of the society the ability to choose the legislative party that is responsible for creating the laws that the citizens abide by. In this way, legalism states that citizens have influence over the laws and policies of their country. In order for Legalism to be considered a valid universal human rights theory, it must be accepted by all nations. This paper discusses the notion that the universalist theory legalism is inoperative because of its Cultural limitations, and difficulty implementing Human rights Standards. There is a strong Western
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, (UNDR) was adopted by the United Nations in 1948 with the intention off providing a moral standard for judging an individual state’s treatment of it’s citizens.
In 1948 the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) set forth a declaration of universal human rights. The goal was to set a common standard of rights based on “recognition of the inherent dignity and equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family.” It was meant to become the perfect social contract but unfortunately was not upheld even by the signatory nations themselves. Many critics now looking back have cited the overreaching ideals as the downfall of the declaration but yet many have responded saying it is simply in the nature of humanity to disregard the social contract when it no longer suits them. With these arguments in mind, what are basic human rights, if any exist, where are these rights drawn from, and are any rights truly inalienable.
Human rights are the basic rights that apply to all individuals universally. They play a primary role in protecting and empowering individuals in a just manner free from discrimination. According to the Australian Human rights commission, “Human rights recognise the inherent value of each person, regardless of background, where we live, what we look like, what we think or what we believe”, (Team, 2016). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a document that was established on December 10 1948 which outlines all 30 articles that have been recognised as fundamental human rights.
Human rights are universal rights that we are entitled to. It is a freedom that is guaranteed based on the principle of respect for an individual. As mentioned in the preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, human rights are a “recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all member of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world” (Kent, page 80). When asked what our rights are, we tend to get different answers and meanings. Some people recite the rights that they know; but let’s face it, not everyone knows all of the rights that they truly have. The rights we have consist of many things such as the right of having an adequate food supply. The right to
The United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights stands as the current gold standard for every individual’s rights. Focusing on culture, one may see that cultural rights are not clearly defined and are oftentimes in conflict with other types of rights. In this paper, I will first discuss the United Nations’ use of ‘cultural’ in its universal human rights in relation to the concept of cultural relativism. Then, using South African and American practices, such as virginity testing and discriminatory criminal justice system respectively, I will describe and analyze practices violate the UN’s universal human rights in addition to the practices’ use for the community or society as a whole. Lastly, I will compare the American Anthropological Association’s rights to culture to the UN’s universal human rights by analyzing the limitations of each.
Each country has their own set of human rights, but there is also Universal Human Rights. Universal Human Rights come from the Universal Declaration of Human rights created by the United Nations. These rights protect all humans. Race, gender, class, ethnicity, etc. does not depend on your power to use these rights. It is a countries duty to protect these rights of their citizens.
Having human rights is the belief that everyone should justifiably be treated with dignity and respected as a free individual. In international politics, the question is asked if human rights are either universal or relative; I believe that human rights should be universal. Human rights are universal because we all deserve the same equality and therefore treated equally all around the world. There are some countries and regimes in the world that do not care for others and for their rights as a person. When this happens people should unite to stop them. Human rights need to be universal because they affect everyone. For example, Nazi Germany was doing some very unpleasing and terrible things to Europe in the 1930s and 40s during World War II. Because Germany was acting in such a way the United States stepped in and help resolve the issue. I will discuss some of the central themes of human rights discussed in class by demonstrating how the Nazi Party rose to power and mistreated individuals. The cruel actions that happened under the Third Reich were infringements on human rights and it changed how we handle them now.