Table of Contents

What Are The Human Rights?

Human rights is the fundamental right of the human being. Human rights are the birthright of the human being which apply as natural rights. Human rights apply in the world universally. It pivots into human values and dignity. Human rights comprise indispensable rights to survive dignified life, which are unanimous, natural, undivided, inalienable, and non-removal. These rights connect to the human being (person) and their liberty, equality, and dignity. Human rights are protected through the constitutions and national and international laws. Human rights are the controlling touchstone against despotism and anarchy. Seeing the historical background, pastors issued the Myagnacarta in 1215 on June 15 against undergoing despotism of King John Second in the United Kingdom. Which is supposed to be the first historical document of human rights in the world. In the course of time, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights had been issued in the pioneering role of the United Nations in 1948.

Rights are the person’s sovereign liberty. Rights are contemporary and relative matters. Person (natural) and citizen both receive the rights naturally. In the study of human rights, different terms such as fundamental freedom, fundamental rights, basic rights, constitutional rights, civil rights, natural rights, inherent rights, and inalienable rights are often used. Human rights encompass the basic universal natural rights always tolerant within a terrestrial territory. Human rights are itself a pervasive subject. The matter of human rights has been prolonged in the world after the second world war. Now, it has been applied universally. The state originated and existed in the world in the course of human civilization. When the state originated, the state started entrusting such rights for protection and ratification. The state also started to include those rights in its core law. Human rights are the rights where human beings are naturally free with equal prestigious and rights.

In the absence of human rights, human society might become anarchic. So, therefore, it should be esteemed in all aspects of human life. Most countries in the world have started to incorporate these rights in their constitutional and national laws. The nations want to reserve these rights through constitutional and national law as the fundamental rights of the citizens where the democratic exercise has started. They as well have ensured the rights of their citizens by promulgating their state constitution. The guarantee of human rights is an essential condition for the democratic ruling system. The Constitution renders guarantee human rights to the people and protects its values and principle.

Human rights are connected with human life. There is a provision to be utilized these rights by all nationalities, religions, gender, and heredity. All individuals need human rights. Because it consolidates human dignity, prestigious, liberty, and self-esteem. Generally, nobody can develop his personality without human rights. Human rights are the most important element for human beings, which are sometimes called fundamental rights, basic rights by birth, and inherent rights. According to equalityhumanrights.com ”Human rights are the basic rights and freedoms that belong to everyone, from birth until death. They apply regardless of where you are from, what you believe, or how you choose to live your life. They can never be taken away, although they can sometimes be restricted – for example, if a person breaks the law or in the interests of national security. These basic rights are based on shared values like dignity, fairness, equality, respect, and independence. These values are defined and protected by law.”

Concept and Development of Human Rights

The subject of human rights has been rooted since the ancient age. The concept of human rights is interrelated with natural law and its philosophical principle. The talks about human rights protection have been mentioned in ancient laws and scripts: Babylonian, Assyrian Laws, Hitti Laws, and religious scriptures. Some philosophers of Unani and Roman gave value to natural rights. Plato who would advocate in favor of moral discipline illustrated the standard of sovereign moral discipline. In his book ‘Politics’, Aristotle writes that justice, virtue, and rights keep changing according to different constitutions and circumstances. Cicero who was a state leader of Roman mentioned in his book ‘The Laws’ that human rights should be the greatest sovereign rights than the conservative and citizens’ rights. Thomus Aquinash advocated in favor of natural law that roots were connected with the divine law.

In the same way, the rights of freedom, rights of voting, the right of operating a business, and the right to obtain justice were provided to citizens in City-state in Unan. The law of Roman (Jus Civile) ensured similar rights to the Romani habitants. In England, Myagna Carta was issued on 1215 June 15 which started to ban the actions of autocracy and anarchy of the rulers. In the long run, the Petition of Rights and Bill of Rights were issued in 1628 and 1689 respectively. Moreover, it pursued the way of improvement. The Declaration of Independence (1776) in the United Nations America, the Virginia Bill of Rights (1776), French Declaration (1789) provided fundamental rights to the citizens. Similarly, Sweden (1809), Spen (1812), Norway (1814), Belgium (1813), Denmark (1849) Switzerland (1974) provisioned fundamental rights in their national laws.

All the nations felt that the loss of people and property and cruel and dehumanizing behavior was higher in Second World War than First World War. That’s why they realized that it is impossible to establish peace universally without human rights protection in the world. Similarly, they understood that human rights protection is not possible without peace universally. Consequently, the objectives of universal peace and universal human rights protection are set under the United Nations established after Second World War. To fulfill these objectives, the organs of the United Nations strived the different endeavors including the ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights’, and different international pacts and treaties on human rights protection have been constituted till now.

The United Nations established after the First World War (1914-1918) couldn’t make the proper provisions for human rights protection. Observing the feeling of human life and its values, the Institute of international law issued some declarations on human rights, which illustrated the duties and responsibility of the states toward human rights. Similarly, the world community came to a common consensus on the indispensable of human rights, which was learned from the experience of the Second World War. At that time, stream demolitions and cruel crimes against humans happened in the war. Consequently, it was realized that it is necessary to keep human dignity through individual liberty for international peace and prosperity. In regards to it, the president of the U.S.A. Frenklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed a statement in 1941 on January 6, comprising four types of liberty i.e. I) freedom of speech II) freedom of religion III) freedom from fear, and IV) freedom from scarcity. According to him, freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere, our support goes to those who struggle to gain their rights of keeping them. Similarly, the prime minister of the United Kingdom Winston Churchill issued the Atlantic Manifesto on 1941 August 14 in which the demand for peace and the human of all nations should be ridden from fear and scarcity for their livelihoods were mentioned.

In the course of accepting the natural rights of humans, different scientists rendered their contributions at different times and ages to constitute modern human rights. From the historical perspective of human rights, the thing of the abolition of slavery and the slave trade was very important. A slavery system and slave trade were declared as an illegal business by the Viena conference in 1815 and the system had been already declared an illegal business in the United Kingdom in 1806. The Treaty of Peris (1814) raised the pace to control the slavery system and trade in France and Britain.

The international law association drafted a conceptual paper on international human rights protection in 1932. Likewise, the conference of Damborton Oksh was conducted in 1944 with the objectives of enhancing human rights and the dignity of fundamental freedom. International Convention on the Abolition of Slavery and the slave trade (1926) declared to completely abolish all forms of slavery and the slave trade. After establishing the United Nations, the universal declaration of human rights was issued in 1948 to end the slavery and slave trade as well. The liberty of the individual was ensured after continuous efforts of the international provisions. Now, the development of concepts and laws on human rights protection has been going forward after establishing the United Nations. Especially the provisions of human rights protection are mentioned in the charter of the United Nations.

Meaning and Definition of Human Rights

The human being is a clever and sensible social species that’s why they have got fundamental and inalienable rights by birth. In international law, the position of the individual (person) had been changed after the Second World War (1939-1945). It is a most important consequence of the development of international law. Aftermath, an individual was made a matter of international law. An individual was provided the rights and duties of the country. Although, there is no dilemma that nation was kept in a pivotal point in international law. After the Second World War, it was offensive to improve the status of an individual to keep peace and security in the world. Consequently, the nation became more responsible to enhance the liberty and rights of individuals.

The state eventually started providing enormous rights and duties to the individual (citizen). Of them, the first right is human rights, which became very important in modern international law. According to Open Haiem ”international law is no longer- if it ever was concerned solely wilk states. Many of its rules are directly concerned with regulating the positions and activities of individuals and many more indirectly affect them.” The individual had some natural, inalienable, fundamental inherent absolute, and sacred rights by birth. These rights were independent of society and the state (Adil-Ul-Yasin, Archana Upadhaya (2005).

Human rights are directly concerned with human existence. Human rights are the rights, a person has simply because he or she is a human being (Dr. Durga Das Basu). ”The rights of humans” are the rights that one has because one is human. Human rights are not just abstract values such as liberty, equality, and security. They are rights and particular social practices to realize those values. Human thus should not be confused with the value of aspiration underlying it or with the enjoyment of the rights’’ (Jack Donnelly, 2005). According to the Preamble of the UN Charter ”Universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedom for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion”. Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity of equal and inalienable rights is all members of human beings is the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world (Preamble of UDHR).

Human rights are simple terms, which is directly contained individuals and their political, economic, and cultural rights. It is connected to the human dignity. It is indispensable to establish a healthy society with dignity and justice. Each individual has the right of obtaining and protecting these rights. According to the conference conducted in Vienna in 1993, human rights were defined i.e. ”all human rights derives from the dignity and work inherent in the human person and that the human person is the central subject of human rights and fundamental freedom.” According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ”Human rights are norms that aspire to protect all people everywhere from severe political, legal, and social abuses. Examples of human rights are the right to freedom of religion, the right to a fair trial when charged with a crime, the right not to be tortured, and the right to education.’’

Similarly, ” human rights are rights we have simply because we exist as human beings – they are not granted by any state. These universal rights are inherent to us all, regardless of nationality, sex, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language, or any other status. They range from the most fundamental – the right to life – to those that make life worth living, such as the rights to food, education, work, health, and liberty (www.ohchr.org).”

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948, was the first legal document to set out the fundamental human rights to be universally protected. The UDHR, which turned 70 in 2018, continues to be the foundation of all international human rights law. Its 30 points articles provide the principles and building blocks of current and future human rights conventions, treaties, and other legal instruments. In the absence of human rights, social organizations could not have existed everlasting. Human rights are not a subject of buying, earning, and obtaining. It is a Universal and inalienable right that is allowed to utilize by all based on equality. It is a non-violence mechanism to control autocracy and anarchy. Human rights are the life of the individual. The constitution and customary laws provide the individual’s liberty, quality, and dignity; its inherent rights are interlinked with the international treaties and accords signed by the countryside.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The United Nations issued the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10th December 1948. 10. It made a common understanding of human rights for the all-world community. Since then, the world community celebrates ‘Human Rights Day’ on 10 December every year. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), is the first legal document to set out the fundamental human rights to be universally protected. The UDHR, which turned 75 in 2023, continues to be the foundation of all international human rights laws. Its thirty (30) articles provide the principles and building blocks of current and future human rights conventions, treaties, and other legal instruments. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has given the following individual and political rights.

Right to life, liberty, and security ( Article 3)
Right to liberty from slavery and the slave trade ( Article 4)
Right to freedom from torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. ( Article 5)
Right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law. (Article 6)
Right to equality before the law and equal protection of the law. (Article7)
Right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals. (Article 8)
Right to arbitrary arrest, detention, or exile. (Article 9)
Right to get fair justice from an independent and impartial tribunal. (Article 10)
Right to get well and behave as an innocent until penal offense. (Article 11)
Right to protection from crimes and penal offense except by law ( Article 11)
Right to freedom from arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home, or correspondence, nor attacks upon his honor and reputation. (Article 12)
Right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state and the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country. (Article 13)
Right to seek and enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution genuinely arising from non-political crimes or acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations. (Article 14)
Right to a nationality and right to change his nationality. (Article 15)
Right to marry and devours without any discrimination and the right to protection from society and state. (Article 16)
Right to own property without being arbitrarily deprived of his property. (Article 17)
Right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. (Article 18)
Right to freedom of opinion and expression. (Article 19)
Right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association without compelling. (Article 20)
Right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives, and right to equal access to public service in his country. (Article 21)
Right to social security for his dignity and free development of his personality. (Article 22)
Right to work and choice of employment without discrimination. (Article 23)
Right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays. (Article 24)
Right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family. ( Article 25)
Right to education with choice provisions. (Article 26)
Right to participate in the cultural life of the community and protection of moral and material interests. ( Article 27)

Conclusion

Human rights are the fundamental rights and freedoms that belong to everyone, from birth until death. There is a provision to be utilized these rights by all nationalities, religions, gender, and heredity. Human rights consolidate human dignity, prestigious, liberty, and self-esteem. Human rights are the most important element for human beings, which are sometimes called fundamental rights, basic rights by birth, and inherent rights. Human rights are inherent to all of us, regardless of nationality, sex, ethnic origin, color, religion, language, or any other status. The most fundamental right to life to those that make life worth living, such as the rights to food, health, education, work, and liberty. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights set out the fundamental human rights to be universally protected. Its 30 articles provide the principles and building blocks of current and future human rights conventions, treaties, and other legal instruments. It is a Universal and Inalienable right that is allowed to utilize by all based on equality. The constitution, national law, and customary laws provide the individual’s liberty, quality, and dignity; its inherent rights are interlinked with the international treaty and accords signed by the country.

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