2.1 Nature of Human Rights

• Human Rights


  Basic entitlements that (many argue), should be exercised simply by virtue of being a human being
• Human Rights


  • Essentially for life of dignity
  • Inalienable
  • Should be universal
• UDOHR is recognized as beginning of formal discussion of human rights
• Some argue human rights are a culturally western concept
• Justice


  Closely associated with the idea of fairness<|>In context of rights, what individuals can legitimately expect of one another or of their government<|>Equality in institutions and procedures and in well-being outcomes are required for justice
• Liberty


  Refers to having freedom or autonomy<|>Negative liberty = Freedom from external coercion<|>Positive liberty = Having autonomy to carry out their own rational will<|>Some argue one form of liberty cannot exist without the other<|>Also complicated as liberty for some may mean lack of liberty for others
• Equality


  All people are seen as having the same intrinsic value<|>Closely linked to justice and fairness<|>Also linked to liberty (growing polarisation in society)<|>Different people have different ideas of how to be free and autonomous i.e. Guns
• Universality


  Belief that it's possible to find certain principles that are applicable to everyone, regardless of differences
• Positive and Negative Human Rights

  • Positive = Rights protected by authority, include goods and services that allow people to survive i.e. education, housing, medical
  • Negative = Rights that do not require intervention from an outside agency, i.e. right to live, absence of torture, self-determined or community-determined and therefore harder to police
• Positive and Negative Human Rights are very circumstantial
• UDHR


  Document outlining generally agreed upon human rights, made by representatives from all of the world in Paris on 10th Dec 1948 (just after WWII), "the inherent dignity of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom justice and peace in the world"
• UDHR


  • Established framework for universal human rights principles
  • Arguable enabled the development of more specific human rights treaties
• UDHR


  • Not legally binding
  • Does not have a party to carry it out -> just UN and that's only semi-functional
  • But has widespread acceptance that breaking it is frowned upon
  • It's customary international law
• Legitimacy


  Can have big impact on external legitimacy<|>Can be used as a benchmark
• The term "human rights" came into use in the 1940's as a result of the UDHR
• Intrinsic rights can be found in all religions, values of human rights are intrinsic to human society, though phrasing and legislation is relatively new
• Human rights are interconnected with Justice and Punishment
• Development of Human rights is almost always connected to events and/or social movements, such as the Holocaust, WWII, indigenous, gender, religious movements
• 3 Generations of Human Rights

  • First Generation = Liberty, civil and political rights, ground in freedom of opinions, politics, religion, and assembly, freedom from torture and slavery
  • Second Generation = Equality, economic and social rights, right to work, healthcare, housing, food, security-orientated rights
  • Third Generation = Fraternity, cultural rights, reasonable environment to live in, political rights and economic development, collective and individual
• Universal Rights


  Assume that certain rights are the same for all people and that even if they contradict local practices and beliefs they are applicable to that locality's people
• Cultural Relativism


  Cultural practices vs legality
• Human rights considered in the context of 'rights of man' advocated by political philosophers like Grotius, Hobbes and Locke
• Those 'rights of man' were used as a way of constraining government power through specific declarations like the US Declaration of Independence (1776) and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789)
• During the 19th and 20th century, human rights acquired a more international dimension through conventions and treaties like the Brussels Convention (1890), the Slavery Convention (1926), the Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907), and the Geneva Conventions (1926 and 1949)
• The comprehensive modern human rights agenda includes the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966)