HUMAN RIGHTS

• Human rights


  Universal legal guarantees protecting individuals and groups against actions which interfere with fundamental freedoms and human dignity
• Manuel Dy (Philosophy professor, Ateneo de Manila University): 'Human dignity is dependent on human rights'
• Kofi Annan (former Secretary-General of the United Nation): 'Human rights are your rights. Seize them. Defend them. Promote them. Understand them and insist on them. Nourish and enrich them. They are the best in us. Give them life.'
• Durga Das Basu (lawyer and constitutional expert in India): 'Human rights is something that can be used to protect oneself from the abuses of the state and its institutions. These rights are inherent to a person, they are born with us, and not granted by the state.'
• Human rights (according to Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

  Rights that serve as citizens' protection against political, legal, and social abuses
• Principles of human rights according to the United Nations

  • Universal
  • Inalienable
  • Indivisible, interrelated, and interdependent
  • Limited
  • Equal and non-discriminatory
  • Significant and necessary
  • Impermanent
• Human rights according to their recipients

  • Personal or individual rights
  • Collective or group rights
• Personal or individual rights


  • Possessed by individuals in order for them to live a life of dignity
  • Includes civil rights, social rights, political rights, cultural rights, economic rights
• Collective or group rights


  • Aims to support and maintain a community where members can promote social, economic, and cultural progress through the wise use of resources
  • Possessed by vulnerable groups (e.g. women, children, and indigenous people)
• Code of Hammurabi (King Hammurabi of the Babylonian kingdom, 2000 BCE) included laws that protected individuals, emphasized justice, and maintained a fair and orderly society
• In Egypt, a Pharaoh ordered that all citizens, whether they were from Upper or Lower Egypt, had the right to complain and be heard and respected
• The King of Persia, Charter of Cyrus (539 BCE) contained provisions recognizing that everyone in his jurisdiction had the right to security, travel, practice their religion, and the right to freedom from slavery
• "Ren" (Confucius, 500 BCE)


  The deep and sincere feeling for the welfare of others
• Confucius' golden rule: "Do not do unto others what you do not want others do unto you"
• Philosophy of Ubuntu (African origin)


  A person is a person through other people. If we disrespect, abuse, or neglect other people's rights, we ourselves are not considered persons. The philosophy of Ubuntu also recognizes respect for life.
• Plato (427 BCE—348 BCE) emphasized ethics and treating others well
• The Roman Jurist, Ulpian believed that foreigners should be treated as if they were their fellow countrymen
• Aristotle (384 BCE—322 BCE) believed that justice, virtues, and rights may change based on the prevailing circumstances
• Marcus Tullius Cicero (52 BCE) stated in "The Laws" that even though communities may already have laws, there should still be universal human rights
• Sophocles, Greek writer (495 BCE—406 BCE) was one of the first advocates of freely expressing opinions against the state
• King John of England granted the barons the Magna Carta in 1215, which enshrined the concepts of government accountability and protection of individual rights
• Huig de Groot (1583-1645), a Dutch jurist and diplomat, established the basis of modern international law in his writings "On the Law of War and Peace"
• John Locke (1689), Philosopher, believed that the rights of individuals are inherent and thus not granted by the state or any of its laws
• The Bill of Rights was approved by the US Congress in 1789
• The French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789) was established after the abolition of the French monarchy and highlighted the right of the French people to freedom, to own property, to security, and to protection from different forms of abuse
• World War II (1940s) resulted in the death of 50 million to over 80 million people, many of whom suffered different forms of torture and abuse, including the Holocaust
• The United Nations Charter provides provisions for the protection of human rights after World War II
• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was a response to the rampant human rights abuses that happened during World War II
• The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines recognizes the rights of all Filipinos and makes sure that power lies in the hands of the Filipinos who should decide how to use it to achieve their aspirations as a people
• The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines stipulates the creation of the Commission on Human Rights which will serve as an independent body that will evaluate, protect, and promote the rights of the Filipino people
• According to "The State of Human Rights Education in the Philippines: Issues, Concerns, and Directions", Filipinos have a lack of adequate knowledge and awareness on human rights
• Filipinos believe in human rights and want to respect, promote, and protect them, but are not willing to find time to assert their rights themselves even if these are violated
• There are many organizations in the Philippines that promote human rights, and the government also has many programs that recognize the rights of every Filipino
• Filipinos see human rights based on the "top-down view" where the source of human rights is the State, which grants them to its citizens and has the duty to protect them
• Filipinos are aware of their rights but are not ready to fight for them unless they themselves are directly affected
• There are many organizations in the Philippines that promote human rights
• The government also has many programs that recognize the rights of every Filipino
• Human Rights Day is also being celebrated in schools and other institutions
• The real challenge in promoting human rights is shaping citizens who understand their rights, exercise them for the greater good, and participate in human rights movements whether they are directly affected or not
• Filipinos see human rights based on the "top-down view"