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• Human rights


  Basic rights and freedom including civil and political rights, rights to life and liberty, freedom of expression, equality before the law, economic, cultural and religious rights
• "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": '(Article 1 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights)'
• Natural law

  Sense of right and wrong comes from the nature or God
• "jus cogens" ("compelling law")

  Rights based on international norms, international law, countries are bound by international rules and provisions
• Cultural relativism


  No sense of right & wrong – moral values are relative & viewed differently
• Traditions & religious belief

  Islam, Confucianism, Christianity, etc
• Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)


  • Led by High Commissioner, accepts the idea of universal human rights, does not have enforcement powers, monitors compliance with human rights practices

  
• UN Human Rights Council

  • Empowered to examine, monitor, and publicly report on human rights situations
• United Nations Declaration of Human Rights

  Adopted in December 10, 1948, states the rights which belong equally to every person

  
• Malaysia only signed two UN human rights treaties in 1995
• The human rights treaties specify what states can and cannot do to people — they are legally binding
• UN human rights treaties

  • 8 treaties, but Malaysia only signed two in 1995
• More rights, democracy & freedom


  Lead to "wealth in global politics"
• Highest percentage of free countries (96%) is in western Europe, lowest is in North Africa & Middle East (6%)
• Human Rights Abuse


  • Detention under ISA, banning of opposition-sponsored newspapers, restrictions on public rallies, alleged police brutality
• Rights accorded to asylum seekers - UNHCR denied the access to check on the status of refugees
• Types of migrants


  • Asylum seekers, refugees, stateless, legal migrants, illegal migrants
• Gender inequality


  • Women are found to fare much better on both measures (GEM and GDI) in the west, inequality is more rampant in the African continent and in societies dominated by men where women's role is confined to the home and family
• 35 per cent of women are beaten by their husband (UNICEF 2000)
• In Canada, the costs of violence against the family amount to 1.6 billion annually
• According to Amnesty International, 5000 "honour killings" happen in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Jordan
• Female genital mutilation
• More than 2,400 drug users & drug dealers killed since taking over presidency in the Philippines
• Amnesty International

  • Founded by a British lawyer, Peter Benenson, initially aimed at raising awareness about "the rights of political prisoners", involved in the drafting of the UN's 1975 Declaration against Torture, a Nobel prize winner in peace, has 1.5 million members in more than 150 countries, principal weapons: publicity, education & political pressure