Download Human Rights

Human Rights
Overview

Human beings have universal rights
regardless of legal jurisdiction or
other factors such as ethnicity,
nationality, and sex
United Nations Declaration of
Human Rights

Human rights are based on inherent
human dignity, and retain their
universal and inalienable character
Debate
Defined in international law and in
domestic laws of many states
 For many people it goes beyond law
and forms a fundamental moral basis
for regulating modern political orderthey become democratic ideals

Legislation
Security rights: protect people
against crimes such as murder,
massacre, torture, rape
 Liberty rights: religion, assembly
 Political rights: participate in
politics, protesting

Due process rights: protects against
abuses of legal system such as
imprisonment without trial, secret
trials, excessive punishment
 Equality rights: equal citizenship,
nondiscrimination

Welfare rights: education,
protections against severe poverty
and starvation
 Group rights: protection for groups
against ethnic genocide, countries
have ownership of national territories
and resources

History
Post World War II
 United Nations General Assembly
was appalled by the barbaric acts
during the war
 Not legally binding
 Urged member nations to promote
rights

History
These rights are a part of the
“foundation of freedom, justice and
peace in the world.”
 Many states wanted to go beyond this
declaration of rights and create legal
rulings which would put greater
pressure on states to follow the rights

International Bill of Rights
International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights
 International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights
 Universal Declaration of Human
Rights

Preamble

“recognition of the inherent dignity
and of the equal and inalienable
rights of all members of the human
family is the foundation of freedom,
justice and peace in the world.”
Additions
Convention on Prevention of the
Crime of Genocide (1951)
 Convention against Torture (1984)
 Convention against Elimination of
All Forms of Racial Discrimination
(1969)

Additions
Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination Against
Women (1981)
 Convention on the Rights of the
Child (1989)
 Rome Statute of the International
Criminal Court (2002)

Non-negotiable
Right to life
 Right to be free from slavery
 Right to be free from torture
 Right to be free from retroactive
application of penal laws

National Emergency
UN says that human rights can be
limited or even pushed aside during
times of national emergency
 “the emergency must be actual, affect
the whole population and the threat
must be to the very existence of the
nation. The declaration of
emergency must also be a last resort
and a temporary measure.”

Human Rights Committee
Agency for the International
Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights
 Promote compliance with its norms
 Whether a practice is a human rights
violation, reports are not legally
binding
 18 members of committee

Debate
Cultural imperialism- rooted in
politically liberal outlook, generally
accepted in Western Europe and
North America, but not as a standard
elsewhere
 Basis of religion- Judeo-Christian
influence

Debate

Some say cultural imperialism idea
not factual. Say human rights itself
has origins in many world cultures
and religions, including Christian,
Jewish and Islamic traditions
Debate

Can you take this idea too far? If all
viewpoints are equally valid then one
cannot condemn any behavior,
however outrageous or horrific
Presumed basis in morality
 If moral beliefs are fundamentally
expressions of individuals’
personally held preferences, then the
morality upon which human rights
are founded is rejected

Who has the duty to uphold human
rights?
 Need to protect the citizens from
abuse by the state, but isn’t state
sovereignty important as well?
 Human rights are legal or moral duty

Violations
Certain race or group denied
recognition as a “person”
 Men and women are not treated as
equal
 Different racial or religious groups
are not treated as equal
 Life, liberty or security of person are
threatened

Violations
Person is sold or used as a slave
 Cruel, inhumane, degrading
punishment is used on a person
(torture or execution)
 Punishments are dealt arbitrarily,
without proper and fair trial
 Interference into personal, or private
lives by agents of the state

Violations
Citizens are forbidden to leave or
return to their country
 Freedom of speech or religion are
denied
 The right to join a trade union is
denied
 Education is denied

Monitoring
Amnesty International
 Human Rights Watch
 Freedom House
 International Freedom of Expression
Exchange
 Anti-Slavery International

Monitoring
Only a few countries do not commit
significant human rights violations,
according to Amnesty International
 2004 human rights report:
Netherlands, Norway, Denmark,
Iceland, Costa Rica

Monitoring

Some feel that human rights abuses
are more common in dictatorships or
theocracies than in democracies
because of freedom of speech and
freedom of the press tend to uncover
abuse and expose it
Monitoring
Does occur in democracies
 Amnesty International has called the
running of Guantanamo Bay
detainment camp by the United
States “a human rights scandal” in a
series of reports
