2020

SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS IN PAKISTAN

DEPARTMENT: PAK STUDIES
SUBMITTED TO: MS. KOCHAI
SUBMITTED BY: GROUP-C
GROUP MEMBERS:
1) SHAMA BIBI
2) KHADIJA
3) IRUM GUL
4) ZAIB UL NISA

SBK WOMEN’S UNIVERSITY BALOCHITAN

Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 2
Meaning of Human Rights .............................................................................................................. 2
Kinds of Human Rights .................................................................................................................. 2
Civil and Political Rights ............................................................................................................ 3
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ........................................................................................ 3
International Human Rights Law .................................................................................................... 4
Council on Human Rights ........................................................................................................... 5
Universal Declaration of Human Rights ..................................................................................... 5
Legal Effect of the Declaration ................................................................................................... 6
International Humanitarian Law ................................................................................................. 6
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 8
References ....................................................................................................................................... 9

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Introduction
Human rights have their roots in the past, and current human rights issues can be said to be fairly
modern. The Charter of the UN reflects the creation of the International Framework of Systemic
Human Rights Protection. Human rights are as old as history, the adoption and declaration of
human rights are more recent. The First Human Rights Act was built on a barbed clay tablet dating
from the reign of Cyrus the Great (555-529 BC); it is the English Bill of Rights (1688), the
American Declaration of Independence (1776), and the French Declaration of the Rights of the
Man (1789) that form the historical basis of modern human rights jurisprudence. With the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 (UDHR), the universality of human rights essentially
started the legal process.

Meaning of Human Rights

Humans are moral beings. They have some fundamental and inalienable rights, generally referred
to as human rights, because of their being human. Human rights are all rights that are vital to the
security and preservation of human dignity, creating conditions that every person can to the fullest
extent develop his / her personality can be defined as human rights. The birth of a person gives
rise to human rights. Human rights are fundamental to all people regardless of their ethnicity, faith,
gender and nationality and are their birth rights. Human rights can also be referred to as civil
freedoms, moral freedom, freedoms to intrinsic freedom, natural rights and birth rights because of
their profound value to human beings.

In the Declaration, held in Wien in 1993, the World Conference on Human Rights states that all
human rights derive from human dignity and integrity, and that the individual is the central element
of human rights and fundamental rights.

Kinds of Human Rights

Two types of human rights exist:
 Civil and Political Rights
 Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

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Civil and Political Rights
Civil rights and freedoms relating to the defense of the right to life and freedom of the citizen shall
be included. They are important to a person to live a decent life. Such rights include the rights to
life, equality, privacy rights, slavery and own property rights. Such privileges are also known as
(liberty). Whereas the freedom to vote in a state government can be referred to as electoral laws.
The right to be elected and to take part in public affairs, for example, by right to vote.

The essence of civil and political rights may be different but are interlinked, which means the
distinction between them doesn't seem reasonable. This led to the establishment of a single treaty
which included both civil and political rights. The Civil and Political Rights International
Covenant.

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

The principle of social equality (also known as 'freedom to'), as regards the security of the human
beings' basic needs in life, is fundamental to physical, social and cultural rights. The life of human
beings is as compromised in the absence of such rights.

This group of rights includes the right to adequate food, clothes, housing and decent living
conditions and freedom from poverty, the right to work, the right to social security, the right to
physical and mental health and the right to education.

Such rights which are often referred to as progressive rights need government action, not state
abstentions. The enjoyment of these rights requires a significant resource investment and thus their
recognition cannot be instant as with civil and political rights.

While the United Nations has accepted the above two sets of rights in two separate Conventions,
the I.e. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International
Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), they are closely related. The
developing countries in particular have rightly recognized that civil and political rights can have
no value unless they are accompanied by social, economic and cultural rights.

Therefore, all types of rights are equally essential, because where there are no civil and political
rights, material, social and cultural rights cannot be completely recognized and vice versa.

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International Human Rights Law
Since the development of the UN, international human rights law has grown extensively. The most
important argument about human rights legislation is that it provides a series of laws on all the
citizens in all nations. Equal rights are worldwide in the context that it is fundamental and it extends
to all people. Global human rights legislation, though, applies exclusively to the States'
responsibilities to persons under their control. There exists legal responsibility as states refuse to
guarantee the fulfillment of civil rights for persons under their control. Accordingly, commitments
to provide citizens with human rights are largely intra-national and, in certain instances, universal.
Therefore, a society, while being independent, is not free to handle its people as it pleases. Human
Rights law's biggest influence has been to erode the total power that a state had in the classical era.

Also as World War II was ongoing, attempts were being made to create an international body to
preserve peace. Most resolutions the conference accepted stipulated the value of civil rights. The
United Nations declaration signed at Washington on January 1st, 1942 was the first agreement that
used the words human rights.

Therefore, after the conclusion of World War II and the establishment of the United Nations, civil
security became a topic of universal interest. After then international human rights legislation has
unprecedentedly grown and has been a very important part of international legislation as a whole.
While there is no central government as defined to safeguard human rights, the numerous
institutions of the United Nations and inter-governmental organizations are upholding it.

United Nations Promotion and Defense of Human Rights The main obligation for upholding
human rights under the United Nations Charter rests with the General Assembly, the Economic
and Social Council and its subordinate entity, i.e. the Human Rights Committee.

There is no position in the U.N Charter for the word defense of human rights and would mean
compliance and legislative action. If abuses of human rights take on huge proportions, the UN
General Assembly and other bodies will promote dialogue and resolution. Only the Security
Council and the International Court of Justice may participate in disciplinary action within the
United Nations agencies; only they have authority to enact a binding resolution or deliver a binding
judgment. Therefore, compliance is the legitimate implementation of civil rights. In the past, the

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United Nations has been willing to support and secure civil rights in several respects that are as
follows:

 Consciousness of Human Rights-the first and most significant position that the United
Nations has performed is that it has rendered citizens and states mindful of human dignity
and basic freedoms.
 Codification of the human rights legislation- The United Nations has codified the numerous
rights and freedoms by creating treaties with all parts of the population including women,
girls, workers, refugees, etc.

Council on Human Rights

The UN 's primary organ, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), was also specifically
associated with the question of human rights. Pursuant to Article 68 of the U.N. Charter, the
Council was authorized to create commissions for the protection of human rights and any other
commissions as may be necessary to fulfill its functions. The council will also meet in Brussels
for six weeks beginning in March next year. In addition, the commission may meet during annual
sessions to discuss pressing human rights concerns. The committee, as defined by its terms of
reference, was led to draft guidelines and studies on the following topics: International resolutions
and treaties on civil liberty, the treatment of women, freedom of access on the universal bill of
rights. Minorities Defense. Preventing prejudice on cultural, language or religious grounds.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The proposal for safeguarding civil dignity and basic freedoms was formulated in the Atlantic
Charter (1941) and the United Nations Declaration (1942). In 1948, the International Declaration
of Human Rights was introduced with the aim of enumerating equal rights for everyone. The
UDHR has created a large pool of universal human rights instruments which are legally binding.
Either in resolving injustices, in periods of dispute and in our attempts to promote equal enjoyment
of civil rights, it remains an example to everyone. The Universal Declaration Preamble proclaims
the document as a shared principle for the achievement of all citizens and all countries. There are
30 Sections of the Universal Declaration. It enumerates the universal human rights values in the
most detailed way. For 30 posts, though 21 enumerated civil and political rights, 6 protected
economic and social rights. It should be noted that the Universal Declaration does not require a

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State to derogate from its public emergency obligations which threatens the nation's existence.
And the freedoms cannot even be revoked in these situations.

Legal Effect of the Declaration

The Universal Declaration established a specific level of accomplishment for the International
Community. It recognized the equality inherent in all nations and the equitable and inalienable
rights of all citizens. This is the responsibility of the States to uphold and secure human rights
irrespective of their social, political, and economic structures. The Universal Declaration was not
meant to be legally binding and therefore it did not place any legal duty on the States to put its
terms into effect. Among other terms, the declaration was just a suggestion from the legal point of
view and not specifically binding on the States. The resolutions discuss right to all persons and
countries, whether or not they are citizens of the United States. The Declaration's primary aim was
to express the ideals of universal rights and liberties and encourage others to strive for their
revolutionary fulfillment. The expressed message is that of optimism, freedom, redemption and
emancipation.

International Humanitarian Law

International humanitarian law is a subset of international law that provides human beings with
immunity against the effects of military war. Humanitarian law deals with all issues that threaten
the life, personal dignity and equality of human beings by violent conflict. Humanitarian law may
thus be related to that body of law which defines certain values and rules that prohibit the use of
violence in wartime. Such laws are guided by moral values, which are meant to discourage human
misery which violence in military conflicts. Moreover, certain laws of war focused on moral
interests or intentions are considered moral law. International Humanitarian Policy is so much in
line with human rights legislation because both are dealing with the security of people, although
there are major variations between the two. First distinction is that at the time of military war,
international humanitarian law is enforced while human rights legislation is implemented in
peacetime.

The second distinction is that the State which is a party to a treaty on human rights assumes an
obligation to treat any citizen within the jurisdiction in compliance with the treaty provisions.
Humanitarian law consists mainly of conventions, arrangements between states which are

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supposed to have substantive legal force with the parties who have agreed to them which are valid
exclusively to States which are party to such conventions.

International humanitarian law refers to all military conflicts, i.e. universal violent conflicts as well
as armed conflicts which are not regional. International conflicts may imply a military
confrontation between two or more nations, unlike non-international violent conflicts between
their armed forces that take place on the territories of a state. For example, civil war is a part of
non-international violent conflicts.

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Conclusion
There is currently universal recognition of the importance of human rights in the international
system. Nonetheless, one should not fail to accept that there is a misunderstanding existing as to
its exact meaning and extent, as to the manner in which international law guarantees such
freedoms. One important thing the human rights past tells us is that they are not timeless but
evolved in reaction to modern forms of political thought and shifts in the international community.

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References
o International Law- By Malcolm N Shaw
o https://www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights
o https://www.un.org/en/sections/universal-declaration/foundation-international-human-
rights-law/index.html
o https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/human-rights/what-are-human-rights