Human Rights

• Human Rights - a list of fundamental rights every person is entitled to regardless of their personal differences
• Positive Rights - an obligation of others to provide a person e.g. right to education
• Negative Rights - call for the prevention of activities by others that may infringe upon the human rights one possesses e.g. freedom of speech
• First Generation Rights - Focus on Civil and Political Rights, primarily negative rights e.g. ICCPR
• Second Generation Rights - focus on social economic and cultural rights, a combination of positive and economic rights e.g. ICESCR
• Third Generation Rights - rights relating to the individual and collective identities, primarily positive rights e.g. protection against discrimination
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) - A non-binding document adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948 which outlines all three generations of rights.
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) - An international treaty adopted by the United Nations General assembly in 1966 which focuses on first generation rights.
• International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) - An international treaty adopted by the United Nations General assembly in 1966 which focuses on second generation rights.
• Civil Society - public political space that is neither the market nor the state and operate nationally and transnationally
• International NGOs - operate on a multilateral level to increase international accountability
• ICC - permanent criminal court established in order to investigate, prosecute and try individuals accused of committing crimes against humanity, war crimes, crimes of aggression and genocide
• Crimes Against Humanity - acts of crime committed against civilians systematically during times of war or peace
• War Crimes - violations of the laws of war that holds an individual accountable for the actions of combatants
• Crime of Aggression - where a state actor plans, initiates and executes an act of using military force against another nation
• Genocide - systematic killings of people belonging to a specific ethnicity, religion or race
• Indigenous People - socio-cultural groups that share ties with their regions ancestral lands and natural resources where they reside, occupy or have been displaced from
• UNDRIP - laws to protect the dignity and well-being of people belonging to indigenous communities
• Progressive Realisation - UN places emphasis on the recognition and propagation of second and third generation rights in its member states , recognising that a lack of resources can hamper the progress thus only being able to attain these rights in the long run
• Natural Law (Theory) - states that all humans have the capacity to understand and adhere to basics moral and ethical obligations
• Universalism - political theory which calls for the implementation of laws and principles across cultures regardless of the differences
• Cultural Relativism - idea that one's beliefs practices and values should be understood from the perspective of their own culture or belief system, as opposed to implementing universal values
• Politicisation of Human Rights - the use of human rights law for national/international political agendas and motives
• Responsibility to Protect - Each individual State has the responsibility to protect its populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. This responsibility entails the prevention of such crimes, including their incitement, through appropriate and necessary means.
• Justice - the idea of fairness, with individuals receiving what they deserve
• Liberty - having freedom and/or autonomy to act according to their will
• Equality - all humans, regardless of differences, are of the same intrinsic value and should be treated equally.
• Codification - the conversion of ideas into laws
• Customary (international) law - verbal agreement that is binding to all states
• Humanitarian Intervention - military intervention conducted uni/bi/multilaterally in light of protecting national human rights
• Inalienable - cannot be taken away from people under any conditions
• Indivisible - all rights are of equal importance and cannot be placed in a hierarchal order
• Interdependent - protection of one right ensures the protection of others