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Human Rights & Fundamental Rights

17/07/2022

In Essay on the Origin of Inequality Among Men, Rousseau wrote that it is contrary to the law of nature that the privileged few should gorge themselves on superfluities, while the starving multitude is in want of the bare necessities of life.

Equally important was the concept of the universalized individual “The rights of Man” reflected in the political thinking of Immanuel Kant, John Locke, and Thomas Paine.

Karl Marx and much of socialist thinking questioned the “bourgeois” character of a limited interpretation of individual human rights and stressed community interests and egalitarian values

Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of our nationality, residence, sex, sexual orientation and gender identity, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language, or any other status. We are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination

The origins of human rights are ideally pinpointed to the year 539 BC. When Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon. He freed the slaves, declared that all people had the right to choose their religion, and established racial equality. These principles were recorded on a baked-clay cylinder known as the Cyrus Cylinder.

Code of Hammurabi, a Babylonian legal text composed in 1755–1750 BC. It is the longest, best-organized, and best-preserved legal text. It is a collection of 282 rules, which establishes standards for commercial interactions and set fines and punishments to meet the requirements of justice

Magna Carta in 1215 introduced the concept of the Rule of Law. Before Magna Carta, the rule of law was perceived as divine justice, solely distributed by the monarch or the king or, in this case, King John of England

The English Bill of Rights Signed into law in 1689 by William III and Mary II, gave Parliament power over the monarchy. It set the stage for a constitutional monarchy in England.

French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen 1789 was adopted by France National assembly which inspired the French revolution. It brought the abolishment of absolute monarchy and that all men are born and remain free and equal in rights

US Constitution and Bill of Rights 1791 are the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution. It guarantees civil rights and liberties to the individual such as freedom of speech, press, and religion

In 1919 International Labor Organization was formed to protect the rights and safety of the labor. The League of Nations formed after the first world war failed as the United States refused to join and it could not prevent the Japanese invasion of China

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union Address spoke of a world founded on four essential freedoms: freedom of speech, religion, and freedom from want and fear.

On December 10, 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted. Eleanor Roosevelt played a leading role in it

The two treaties (ICCPR) International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and its optional Protocol (ICESCR) International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights along with the Universal Declaration, are commonly referred to as the International Bill of Human Rights

30 Basic Human Rights

All human beings are free and equal.
No discrimination.
Right to life. Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of person.
No slavery. No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
No torture and inhuman treatment. No one shall be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.
Same right to use law.
Equal before the law.
Right to be treated fair by the court.
No unfair detainment. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention, or exile.
Right to trial. Everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal.
Innocent until proved guilty
Right to privacy.
Freedom to movement and residence. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state, to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.
Right to asylum. Everyone has the right to seek and enjoy other countries’ asylum from persecution.
Right to nationality. Everyone has the right to a nationality. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality
Rights to marry and have a family.
Right to own things. Everyone has the right to own property. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
Freedom of thought and religion.
Freedom of opinion and expression.
Right to assemble. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
Right to democracy. Everyone has the right to participate in his country’s government, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
Right to social security.
Right to work. Everyone has the right to work, free choice of employment, just and favorable conditions of work, and protection against unemployment.
Right to rest and holiday. Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
Right of social service. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children shall enjoy the same social protection.
Right to education. Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory.
Right of culture and art. Everyone has the right to participate in the community’s cultural life, enjoy the arts, and share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
Freedom worldwide. Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms outlined in this Declaration can be fully realized.
Subject to law. Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
Human rights can’t be taken away

It is the state’s responsibility to protect its citizen’s human rights and its citizen. We just had to look into these rights and ask ourselves where we stand and do we have them.