Claw

• Human


  As a noun, refers to a bipedal primate mammal (Homo sapiens); as an adjective, refers to having the qualities, faults, and feelings that people have, as opposed to gods, animals, or machines
• Right

  As a noun, a reasonable claim (claim-right) to freedom in the exercise of certain activities; qualities (such as adherence to duty or obedience to lawful authority) that together constitutes the ideal of moral propriety or merit moral approval; something to which one has a just claim such as the power or privilege to which one is justly entitled or the interest that one has in a piece of property; something that one may properly claim as due
• The Oxford English Dictionary defines a right as "a justifiable claim, on legal or moral grounds, to have or obtain something, or act in a certain way."
• Right (as an adjective)

  Being in accordance with what is just, proper, or correct
• This chapter mainly provides an introduction or overview about human rights. It also includes basic principles, philosophies, and theories on human rights as well as the international laws and declarations or protocols as foundations of human rights in the domestic or national level.
• Expected Learning Outcomes


  • Determined or identified legal facts all about international human rights
  • Familiarized the development of human rights based from several personalities
  • Comprehended the ideologies and characteristics of human rights applicable to both international and domestic laws
  • Compared the concepts of various international standards in relation to human rights
  • Analyzed the various principles and doctrines that guide international legal framework on human rights
  • Evaluated or critiqued the pros and cons of the international legal framework on human rights such as declarations, treaties, or protocols
• Human


  A bipedal primate mammal (Homo sapiens); a person
• Right


  A reasonable claim (claim-right) to freedom in the exercise of certain activities; qualities that constitute the ideal of moral propriety or merit moral approval; something to which one has a just claim
• Human Rights


  • They are universal and held by all persons
  • They are natural and intrinsic rights to which all human beings are entitled to enjoy
  • They are essential and fundamental standards of the legitimacy of a social and political order
• Human Dignity


  The recognition that human beings possess a special value intrinsic to their humanity and as such are worthy of respect simply because they are human beings
• Human Rights Education


  Educating a person, group of people, as well as [concerned] organization's about the local or international standards, principles, and concepts of human rights
• Discourses on Human Rights have become a veritable wave on a Global plane today
• Violation of human rights have resulted in disastrous consequences to humanity
• Human rights when protected by rule of law ensure peace and order in society and establish justice, liberty and equality
• Human rights are natural and intrinsic rights to which all human beings are entitled to enjoy in the absence of which one cannot live as a human being
• No one has any right to take human rights away; on the contrary it is the duty of all to respect and protect the rights of each other
• Existence of Human Rights

  • Evidenced in Babylonian Civilization's Hammurabi Code
  • Evidenced in ancient Israeli Sanhedrin's judicial rulings
  • Evidenced in Islamic legislation on rights of women
  • Evidenced in Vedic scripts and Dharma in the Vedic period
• Manusmriti of Manu


  One of the most important and authoritative legal texts followed in Hinduism, which served as a foundational work on Hindu law and jurisprudence in ancient India
• Manusmriti presents a code of conduct for human society and includes issues relating to human rights such as offences and punishment
• Greek and Roman philosophers developed intellectual formulations to the modern notion of human rights, including concepts of natural justice, equality, and non-arbitrariness
• In the Middle Ages, the concept of human rights received a setback from St. Thomas Aquinas and Machiavelli
• Social Contract View on Human Rights

  • Developed by Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean Jacques Rousseau
  • Linked the theory of social contract with the theory of natural law
  • Derived the idea of social contract to explain the relationship between individual and society
• Locke's principles were adopted by the founding fathers of the United States in the Declaration of Independence (1776)
• The Twelve Articles of European History (1525) are considered to be the first record of Human Rights in European history
• The Magna Carta (1215) provided a break in the evolution of modern concept of human rights
• The echoes of Locke are unmistakable in the language of the Declaration of Independence
• The Magna Carta guaranteed political liberties to the English under pressure from the rebellious Barons
• The American war of Independence and the French Revolution have played a vital role in the development of human rights concept and to establish certain legal rights
• The Virginian Declaration of Rights (1776) encoded into law a number of fundamental Civil Rights and freedom
• The French Declaration of Rights of man includes a number of rights
• Rights included in the French Declaration of Rights of man

  • All men are born and remain equal in their rights
  • All men are equal before law
  • All men should have freedom from arrest
  • All men are innocent until they are proved guilty
• The notion of human rights was in vogue in the 18th century through the writings of Thomas Paine and William Lloyd Garrison
• The Institute of International Law adopted a declaration of international rights of man recognizing the right to life, liberty and property irrespective of nationality, race, region or sex
• The oppressive and exploitative practices followed by the totalitarian regimes under Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler also favored the deliberations of Universalization of Human rights
• The Bolshevik revolution (1917) of Russia reiterated the belief that economic and social rights were as important as civil and political rights
• Labor Unions brought about laws granting workers right to strike, establishing minimum working conditions and forbidding child labor
• The UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) on December 10, 1948
• Article I of UDHR provides: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood"
• The Bill of Human Rights consists of

  • The Universal Declaration Human Rights (1948)
  • International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (1966)
  • International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966)
  • The Optional Protocol (1966)
• The genesis of human right principles lies in the very dignity of the human beings