WHAT ARE HUMAN RIGHTS?

Every person is entitled to certain fundamental rights, simply by the fact of being
human. These are called “human rights” rather than a privilege (which can be taken
away at someone’s whim).

They are “rights” because they are things you are allowed to be, to do or to have.
These rights are there for your protection against people who might want to harm or
hurt you. They are also there to help us get along with each other and live in peace.

Many people know something about their rights. Generally they know they have the
right to food and a safe place to stay. They know they have a right to be paid for the
work they do. But there are many other rights.

When human rights are not well known by people, abuses such as discrimination,
intolerance, injustice, oppression and slavery can arise.

Born out of the atrocities and enormous loss of life during World War II, the United
Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed in 1948 to provide a
common understanding of what everyone’s rights are. It forms the basis for a world
built on freedom, justice and peace.

Human rights are freedoms established by custom or international

agreement that impose standards of conduct on all nations. Human rights
are distinct from civil liberties, which are freedoms established by the law
of a particular state and applied by that state in its own jurisdiction.
Human rights are commonly understood as "inalienable
fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply
because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as
universal (applicable everywhere) and egalitarian (the same for
everyone). These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in
both national and international law.
Human rights include the right to personal liberty and Due Process of
Law; to freedom of thought, expression, religion, organization, and
movement; to freedom from discrimination on the basis of race, religion,
age, language, and sex; to basic education; to employment; and to
property. Human rights laws have been defined by international
conventions, by treaties, and by organizations, particularly the United
Nations. These laws prohibit practices such as torture, Slavery, summary
execution without trial, and arbitrary detention or exile.
 What are the basic characteristics of human rights?
 
The following are the basic characteristics of human rights:

1. Inherent – Human Rights are inherent because they are not granted by any

person or authority.  Human rights do not have to be bought, earned or inherited;
they belong to people simply because they are human. Human rights are inherent to
each individual.

2. Fundamental - Human Rights are fundamental rights because without them, the
life and dignity of man will be meaningless.

3. Inalienable - Human rights cannot be taken away; no one has the right to
deprive another person of them for any reason. People still have human rights even
when the laws of their countries do not recognize them, or when they violate them -
for example, when slavery is practiced, slaves still have rights even though these
rights are being violated. Human rights are inalienable. Human Rights are
inalienable because:
a. They cannot be rightfully taken away from a free individual.
b. They cannot be given away or be forfeited.

4. Imprescriptibly - Human Rights do not prescribe and cannot be lost even if

man fails to use or assert them, even by a long passage of time.

5. Indivisible - To live in dignity, all human beings are entitled to freedom, security
and decent standards of living concurrently. Human rights are indivisible. Human
Rights are not capable of being divided. They cannot be denied even when other
rights have already been enjoyed.

6. Universal - Human Rights are universal in application and they apply irrespective
of one’s origin, status, or condition or place where one lives. Human rights are
enforceable without national border. Human rights are the same for all human
beings regardless of race, sex, religion, political or other opinion, national or social
origin. We are all born free, and equal in dignity and rights— human rights are
universal.
7. Interdependent - Human Rights are interdependent because the fulfillment or
exercise of one cannot be had without the realization of the other.

Classification
Human rights can be classified and organized in a number of different ways; at
an international level the most common categorisation of human rights has been
to split them into civil and political rights, and economic, social and
cultural rights.
Civil and political rights are enshrined in articles 3 to 21 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and in the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Economic, social and cultural rights are enshrined in articles 22 to 28 of the 
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and in the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights(ICESCR).

 Indivisibility
The UDHR included both economic, social and cultural rights and civil and
political rights because it was based on the principle that the different
rights could only successfully exist in combination:
The ideal of free human beings enjoying civil and political freedom and
freedom from fear and want can only be achieved if conditions are
created whereby everyone may enjoy his civil and political rights, as well
as his social, economic and cultural rights.
—International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International
Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, 1966
This is held to be true because without civil and political rights the public
cannot assert their economic, social and cultural rights. Similarly, without
 livelihoods and a working society, the public cannot assert or make use of
civil or political rights (known as the full belly thesis).
The indivisibility and interdependence of all human rights has been
confirmed by the 1993 Vienna Declaration and Programme of
Action:
All human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent and related.
The international community must treat human rights globally in a fair
and equal manner, on the same footing, and with the same emphasis.
—Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, World Conference on
Human Rights, 1993
This statement was again endorsed at the 2005 World Summit in New
York (paragraph 121).
Although accepted by the signatories to the UDHR, most do not in
practice give equal weight to the different types of rights. Some Western
cultures have often given priority to civil and political rights, sometimes at
the expense of economic and social rights such as the right to work,
to education, health and housing. Similarly the ex Soviet bloc countries and
Asian countries have tended to give priority to economic, social and
cultural rights, but have often failed to provide civil and political rights.

Categorization

Opponents of the indivisibility of human rights argue that economic, social

and cultural rights are fundamentally different from civil and political
rights and require completely different approaches. Economic, social and
cultural rights are argued to be:
 positive, meaning that they require active provision of entitlements
by the state (as opposed to the state being required only to prevent the
breach of rights)
 resource-intensive, meaning that they are expensive and difficult to
provide
 progressive, meaning that they will take significant time to
implement
 vague, meaning they cannot be quantitatively measured, and
whether they are adequately provided or not is difficult to judge
 ideologically divisive/political, meaning that there is no consensus
on what should and shouldn't be provided as a right
 socialist, as opposed to capitalist
 non-justiciable, meaning that their provision, or the breach of them,
cannot be judged in a court of law
 aspirations or goals, as opposed to real 'legal' rights
Similarly civil and political rights are categorized as:
 negative, meaning the state can protect them simply by taking no
action
 cost-free
 immediate, meaning they can be immediately provided if the state
decides to
 precise, meaning their provision is easy to judge and measure
 non-ideological/non-political
 capitalist
 justiciable
 real 'legal' rights
Olivia Ball and Paul Gready argue that for both civil and political rights
and economic, social and cultural rights, it is easy to find examples which
do not fit into the above categorization. Among several others, they
highlight the fact that maintaining a judicial system, a fundamental
requirement of the civil right to due process before the law and other
rights relating to judicial process, is positive, resource-intensive,
progressive and vague, while the social right to housing is precise,
justifiable and can be a real 'legal' right.
 DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN RIGHT
The UN Charter, 1945 The United Nations Charter was drafted, approved and unanimously
adopted by all the delegates of the 51 states, who attended the United Nations Conference
at San Francisco The UN Charter contains provisions for the promotion and protection of
human rights. The importance of the Charter lies in the fact that it is the first official
document in which the use of ‘human rights’ is, for the first time traceable and which also
recognized the respect for fundamental freedom.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 The Universal Declaration of Human
Rights was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 10th December,
1948. The Declaration consists of thirty Articles and covers civil, political, economic, social
and cultural rights for all men, women and children. The declaration however is not a legally
binding document. It is an ideal for all mankind.

International Covenants on Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

1948 was not a legally binding document. It lacked enforcements. This deficiency was
sought to be removed by the U.N. General Assembly by adopting in December, 1966, the
two Covenants, viz,
1. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and
2. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The two International
Covenants, together with the Universal Declaration and the Optional Protocols, comprise
the International Bill of Human Rights. The International Bill of Human Rights represents a
milestone in the history of human rights. It is a modern Magna Carta of human rights.