---
title: human rights
date: 2005-11-16 15:59
category: terminology
tags:
slug: human-rights
summary: :
status: draft
---
Human rights are moral principles or norms,1 that describe certain standards of human behavior, and are regularly protected as legal rights in municipal and international law.2 They are commonly understood as inalienable3 fundamental rights "to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being,"4 and which are "inherent in all human beings"[5] regardless of their nation, location, language, religion, ethnic origin or any other status.[3] They are applicable everywhere and at every time in the sense of being universal,[1] and they are egalitarian in the sense of being the same for everyone.[3] They require empathy and the rule of law[6] and impose an obligation on persons to respect the human rights of others.[1][3] They should not be taken away except as a result of due process based on specific circumstances;[3] for example, human rights may include freedom from unlawful imprisonment, torture, and execution.[7]
The doctrine of human rights has been highly influential within international law, global and regional institutions.[3] Actions by states and non-governmental organizations form a basis of public policy worldwide. The idea of human rights[8] suggests that "if the public discourse of peacetime global society can be said to have a common moral language, it is that of human rights." The strong claims made by the doctrine of human rights continue to provoke considerable skepticism and debates about the content, nature and justifications of human rights to this day. The precise meaning of the term right is controversial and is the subject of continued philosophical debate;[9] while there is consensus that human rights encompasses a wide variety of rights[5] such as the right to a fair trial, protection against enslavement, prohibition of genocide, free speech,[10] or a right to education, there is disagreement about which of these particular rights should be included within the general framework of human rights;[1] some thinkers suggest that human rights should be a minimum requirement to avoid the worst-case abuses, while others see it as a higher standard.[1]
Many of the basic ideas that animated the human rights movement developed in the aftermath of the Second World War and the atrocities of The Holocaust,[6] culminating in the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Paris by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. Ancient peoples did not have the same modern-day conception of universal human rights.[11] The true forerunner of human rights discourse was the concept of natural rights which appeared as part of the medieval natural law tradition that became prominent during the European Enlightenment with such philosophers as John Locke, Francis Hutcheson, and Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui, and which featured prominently in the political discourse of the American Revolution and the French Revolution.[6] From this foundation, the modern human rights arguments emerged over the latter half of the twentieth century,[12] possibly as a reaction to slavery, torture, genocide, and war crimes,[6] as a realization of inherent human vulnerability and as being a precondition for the possibility of a just society.[5]
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Refers to programs designed to promote and protect fundamental human rights; whether social, economic, and cultural or political and civil rights. In addition, it includes gender equality and children’s rights.CommDev. 2012. "[http://commdev.org/glossary-terms Glossary of Terms]." CommDev Website. Washington D.C.: International Finance Corporation. Available online at: http://commdev.org/glossary-terms [Accessed: 22 October 2013].
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International Human Rights Law http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/InternationalLaw.aspx
Sphere at the Palais des Nations in GenevaThe international human rights movement was strengthened when the United Nations General Assembly adopted of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) on 10 December 1948. Drafted as ‘a common standard of achievement for all peoples and nations', the Declaration for the first time in human history spell out basic civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights that all human beings should enjoy. It has over time been widely accepted as the fundamental norms of human rights that everyone should respect and protect. The UDHR, together with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its two Optional Protocols, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, form the so - called International Bill of Human Rights.
A series of international human rights treaties and other instruments adopted since 1945 have conferred legal form on inherent human rights and developed the body of international human rights. Other instruments have been adopted at the regional level reflecting the particular human rights concerns of the region and providing for specific mechanisms of protection. Most States have also adopted constitutions and other laws which formally protect basic human rights. While international treaties and customary law form the backbone of international human rights law other instruments, such as declarations, guidelines and principles adopted at the international level contribute to its understanding, implementation and development. Respect for human rights requires the establishment of the rule of law at the national and international levels.
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 fulfil 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 fulfil means that States must take positive action to facilitate the enjoyment of basic human rights.
Through ratification of international human rights treaties, Governments undertake to put into place domestic measures and legislation compatible with their treaty obligations and duties. Where domestic legal proceedings fail to address human rights abuses, mechanisms and procedures for individual complaints or communications are available at the regional and international levels to help ensure that international human rights standards are indeed respected, implemented, and enforced at the local level.
.CommDev. 2012. "[http://commdev.org/glossary-terms Glossary of Terms]." CommDev Website. Washington D.C.: International Finance Corporation. Available online at: http://commdev.org/glossary-terms [Accessed: 22 October 2013].
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