SESSION : 2021- 22

S U B MIT TED B Y : A Y USHI

CLASS : XII 'E'

S U BJECT: G ENERAL
S T UDIE S

T O P I C: H U M A N R I G HT S
CERTIFICATE • This is to certify that AYUSHI student
of class 12 has successfully
completed the general studies project
on the topic human rights under the
guidance of MS. VIPASHA
SPEAKE during the academic year
2021 –22 as per the guidelines issued
by CBSE.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

• I WOULD LIKE TO EXPRESS MY SPECIAL THANKS OF GRATITUDE TO MY PRINCIPAL DR. M

KASTURI AND GENERAL STUDIES TEACHER MS. VIPASHA SPEAKE , FOR THEIR GUIDANCE
AND SUPPORT IN COMPLETING THIS PROJECT , WHICH ALSO HELPED ME IN DOING A LOT
OF RESEARCH AND ICAM TO KNOW ABOUT SO MANY NEW THINGS AND PROVIDING ME
WITH FACILITY THAT WAS REQUIRED . THI PROJECT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE
WITHOUT THEIR SUPPORT.

• AYUSHI
• XII'E'
 INTRODUCTION

HISTORY

HUMAN RIGHTS TREATIES

HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION

ABUSE OF LEGAL SYSTEM IN TRAFFICKING OF GIRLS

CONTENTS DEATH OF A BOY

CONCLUSION
 Human: noun
A member of the Homo sapiens species; a man, woman or
child; a person.

Rights: noun
Things to which you are entitled or allowed; freedoms that
are guaranteed.

Human Rights: noun

The rights you have simply because you are human.

If you were to ask people in the street, “What are human

INTRODUCTION rights?” you would get many different answers. They
would tell you the rights they know about, but very few
people know all their rights.
If you were to ask people in the street, “What are human rights?” you
would get many different answers. They would tell you the rights they
know about, but very few people know all their rights.
As covered in the definitions above, a right is a freedom of some kind. It
is something to which you are entitled by virtue of being human.
Human rights are based on the principle of respect for the individual.
Their fundamental assumption is that each person is a moral and rational
being who deserves to be treated with dignity. They are called human
rights because they are universal. Whereas nations or specialized groups
enjoy specific rights that apply only to them, human rights are the rights
to which everyone is entitled—no matter who they are or where they
live—simply because they are alive.
Yet many people, when asked to name their rights, will list only freedom of speech
and belief and perhaps one or two others. There is no question these are important
rights, but the full scope of human rights is very broad. They mean choice and
opportunity. They mean the freedom to obtain a job, adopt a career, select a partner of
one’s choice and raise children. They include the right to travel widely and the right to
work gainfully without harassment, abuse and threat of arbitrary dismissal. They even
embrace the right to leisure.
HISTORY

The belief that everyone, by virtue of her or his humanity, is entitled to certain human rights is fairly new. Its roots, however, lie in
earlier tradition and documents of many cultures; it took the catalyst of World War II to propel human rights onto the global stage
and into the global conscience.

Throughout much of history, people acquired rights and responsibilities through their membership in a group – a family,
indigenous nation, religion, class, community, or state. Most societies have had traditions similar to the "golden rule" of "Do unto
others as you would have them do unto you." The Hindu Vedas, the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi, the Bible, the Quran (Koran),
and the Analects of Confucius are five of the oldest written sources which address questions of people’s duties, rights, and
responsibilities. In addition, the Inca and Aztec codes of conduct and justice and an Iroquois Constitution were Native Ameri can
sources that existed well before the 18th century. In fact, all societies, whether in oral or written tradition, have had systems of
propriety and justice as well as ways of tending to the health and welfare of their members.
 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination (ICERD)1965International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights

(ICCPR)1966International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural

Rights (ICESCR)1966Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)1979Convention against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment

HUMAN (CAT)1984Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)

RIGHTS
TREATIES 1989International Convention on Protection of the Rights of All Migrant
Workers and Members of Their Families (ICMRW)1990
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

• The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system responsible
for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe and for addressing
situations of human rights violations and make recommendations on them. It has the ability to discuss
all thematic human rights issues and situations that require its attention throughout the year. It meets
at the UN Office at Geneva. The Council is made up of 47 United Nations Member States which are
elected by the UN General Assembly. The Council was created by the United Nations GENERAL
ASSEMBLY on 15 March 2006 by resolution 60 /251 Its first session took place from 19 to 30 June
2006. One year later, the Council adopted its "INSTITUTION BUILDING PACKAGE " to guide its work and
set up its procedures and mechanisms.2021
• The Human Rights Council recorded one of its busiest years. Under the presidency of AMBASSADOR
NAZHAT S. KHAN OF FIJI – the first held by a representative from a small island developing state in the
Pacific – the Council continued to introduce innovations, break boundaries and set new human rights
standards. It did this against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, which continued to disrupt
countless lives and livelihoods around the world.
 • A state commits human rights violations either directly or indirectly.
Violations can either be intentionally performed by the state and or
come as a result of the state failing to prevent the violation. When a
state engages in human rights violations, various actors can be
involved such as police, judges, prosecutors, government officials, and
more. The violation can be physically violent in nature, such as police
brutality, while rights such as the right to a fair trial can also be
violated, where no physical violence is involved.

• The second type of violation – failure by the state to protect – occurs

when there’s a conflict between individuals or groups within a society.
HUMAN If the state does nothing to intervene and protect vulnerable people
and groups, it’s participating in the violations. In the United States, the

RIGHTS state failed to protect black Americans when lynchings frequently

occurred around the country. Since many of those responsible for the

VIOLATION lynchings were also state actors (like the police), this is an example of
both types of violations occurring at the same time.
Civil and political rights
Civil and political rights are violated through genocide, torture,
and arbitrary arrest. These violations often happen during times
of war, and when a human rights violation intersects with the
breaking of laws about armed conflict, it’s known as a war crime.
Conflict can also trigger violations of the right to freedom of
expression and the right of peaceful assembly. States are usually
responsible for the violations as they attempt to maintain control
and push down rebellious societal forces. Suppressing political
rights is a common tactic for many governments during times of
civil unrest.
Violations of civil and political human rights aren’t
always linked to specific conflicts and can occur at
any given time. Human trafficking is currently one
of the largest issues on a global scale as millions
of men, women, and children are forced into labor
and sexual exploitation. Religious discrimination is
also very common in many places around the
world. These violations often occur because the
state is failing to protect vulnerable groups.
Economic, social, and cultural rights
As described in the UDHR, economic, social, and cultural rights include the right to work,
the right to education, and the right to physical and mental health. As is the case with all
human rights, economic, social, and cultural rights can be violated by states and other
actors. The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights gives a
handful exapmles of how these rights can be violated. They include:
• Contaminating water, for example, with waste from State-owned facilities (the right to
health)
• Evicting people by force from their homes (the right to adequate housing)
• Denying services and information about health (the right to health)
• Discriminating at work based on traits like race, gender, and sexual orientation (The right
to work)
• Failing to provide maternity leave (protection of and assistance to the family)
• Not paying a sufficient minimum wage (rights at work)
• Segregating students based on disabilities (the right to education)
• Forbidding the use of minority/indigenous languages (the right to participate in cultural
life)
Who is • In human rights treaties, states bear the primary burden

ultimately of responsibility for protecting and encouraging human

rights. When a government ratifies a treaty, they have a

responsible for three-fold obligation. They must respect, protect, and fulfill
human rights. When violations occur, it’s the government’s

ensuring job to intervene and prosecute those responsible. The

government must hold everyone (and itself) accountable.

human rights • This doesn’t mean that members of civil society don’t also
have a responsibility to prevent human rights violations.
violations don’t Businesses and institutions must comply with
discrimination laws and promote equality, while every
happen? individual should respect the rights of others. When
governments are violating human rights either directly or
indirectly, civil society should hold them accountable and
speak out. The international community also has an
obligation to monitor governments and their track records
with human rights. Violations occur all the time, but they
should always be called out.
 Abuse of legal system in trafficking of
girls
• The Commission has taken suo-motu cognizance of a complaint filed by the NGO, International Law Affiliates on the plight of poor girls
in Nepal and India being trafficked and forced into prostitution in various red light areas. The complainant, while requesting the
Commission to consider taking action, had forwarded a copy of his petition addressed to the Chief Justice of India dated 27 December
2004 as well as a news article captioned "The Girl Breakers of Delhi" published in a national daily on 19 December 2004.
The news article is a gory narration of trafficking and exploitation of girls belonging to lower strata of the community. It makes a
reference to the collusion between the pimps, brothel owners and police officials to force poor gullible girls into the prostitution racket
As an example the news article highlighted one of the modus operandi as :-

"The farce follows set stages: a trumped-up case is registered against these minor girls falsely alleging that they were trying to solicit
clients in a public place. The minor girls are then arrested and kept in lock-up while the police prepare a challan wherein the minor gir
age is entered as 21. This entry is apparently sufficient to transform overnight the minor girl into an adult for all subsequent court
proceedings. After this, these minor girls are produced before a magistrate and released on bail."

The Commission observed that the contents of the article, if true, portray a dismal picture of exploitation and trafficking of girls by the
abuse of legal system in connivance with the authorities who are supposed to provide protection against such exploitation. The article
points towards an organized racket in trafficking of girls and raises a serious human rights issue, which needs to be addressed with al
seriousness.
It has directed that a copy of the petition along with a copy of the news article referred to above be forwarded to the Commissioner of
Police, Delhi with a request to inquire into the matter and submit his report within four weeks.
 • Commission asks comments from Karnataka Government
on the death of a boy in Observation Home
Death of a boy Taking suo-motu cognizance of a news item captioned "Observation Home under
scanner/Boy found dead in Observation Home" which appeared in a national daily dated 14
December 2004, the Commission has asked the Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka
to look into the allegations contained in it and submit his comments within two weeks.
The newspaper had reported that 14-year-old Santosh, an inmate of Observation Home,
Madivala, Bangalore, Karnataka, was found hanging by a rope from the ceiling of the toilet
on 13 December 2004. According to the report, the deceased was put in the Observation
Home on charges of theft and committed suicide. It also stated that 35 boys lodged in the
Observation Home were reportedly shocked and no longer wanted to stay in the premises.
The report further disclosed that Ms. Brinda Adiga of Makkala Sahaya Vani, the children's
help line charged the staff in the Observation Home as being not skilled enough to handle
juveniles. No intimation about the death in the Observation Home has so far been received
in the Commission from the authorities concerned.
The Commission observed that if the contents of the report are true, the issue raised in it
causes serious concern about the protection of human rights of juveniles lodged in the
Observation Homes in Karnataka.
CONCLUSION

• The development of state institutions to promote and protect human rights is a critical
safeguard to ensure that people can obtain recourse and redress in the of injustice. A
dynamic and autonomous human rights can play a role in this process. For that reason it
is important that existing human rights commissions are encouraged to play an active and
central role in upholding of human rights. In some case where the political will is present
this task requires only training and funding opportunities,. In some cases greater
pressure on a government is required for it to allow