What are Human Rights?

Human rights are standards that allow all people to live with dignity, freedom, equality,
justice, and peace. Every person has these rights simply because they are human beings. They
are guaranteed to everyone without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex,
language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or
other status. Human rights are essential to the full development of individuals and
communities.

Many people view human rights as a set of moral principles that apply to everyone. Human
rights are also part of international law, contained in treaties and declarations that spell out
specific rights that countries are required to uphold. Countries often incorporate human rights
in their own national, state, and local laws.

Why are Human Rights Important?

Human rights reflect the minimum standards necessary for people to live with dignity.
Human rights give people the freedom to choose how they live, how they express themselves,
and what kind of government they want to support, among many other things. Human rights
also guarantee people the means necessary to satisfy their basic needs, such as food, housing,
and education, so they can take full advantage of all opportunities. Finally, by guaranteeing
life, liberty, equality, and security, human rights protect people against abuse by those who
are more powerful.

Human Rights Outlined in the International Bill of Rights

1) The right to equality and freedom from discrimination
2) The right to life, liberty, and personal security
3) Freedom from torture and degrading treatment
4) The right to equality before the law
5) The right to a fair trial
6) The right to privacy
7) Freedom of belief and religion
8) Freedom of opinion
9) Right of peaceful assembly and association
10) The right to participate in government
11) The right to social security
12) The right to work
13) The right to an adequate standard of living
14) The right to education
15) The right to health
16) The right to food and housing

Importance of human rights

The importance of the human rights movement is that it tells people that one cannot call a
society a good and a just society until all its citizens enjoy these human rights. The human
rights laws aim at eliminating unjust discrimination against any human being.

The concept of Human rights is based on the principle of human solidarity, cooperation, and
development and access of all to the common heritage of humankind.

The impact and importance of human rights are so deep and strong that the constitutions of
India, Indonesia, Costa Rica and other countries incorporated many of the provisions of rights
codified in the said Declaration in their respective constitutions. This may be treated as
landmark the history of progress of civilization.

The issue of Women empowerment and inequality have been taken up as a Human rights
issue. Several institutions, organizations are working hard to create awareness among the
masses. It is high time that every person within the society come forward in support women
in her fight for justice. She should be treated at par with men all venues of social framework.
Her position needs to be elevated.

Recent Events:
The human rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) following the dilution of Article
370 and the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) have brought renewed
international focus on India’s human rights practice.

Since 2014, the government has cancelled the registration of more than 14,000 NGOs under
the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). It has also mainly targeted its own critics.

Scores of hate crimes against Muslims and other religious groups, ethnic groups, including
Dalits and Adivasi (an indigenous tribal people), as well as caste and gender-based crimes,
took place across the country in 2019.
The Freedom in the World 2020 report ranked India at the 83rd position, along with Timor-
Leste and Senegal. India’s score fell by four points to 71, the worst decline among the
world’s 25 largest democracies this year.

Measures Taken by Government during the Pandemic:

During the Corona pandemic, the government ensured the right to food of every person
through the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, so that no one would go hungry.

Apart from this, wages have been increased under MGNREGA for the empowerment of

workers in rural areas. The government directly transferred money to the accounts of
migrant laborer’s affected by Covid-19, to ensure the protection of their rights.

How the Bill of Human Rights is relevant today?

Yes, we can say that human rights in India or any part of the world is relevant. The
Declaration has also provided the foundation from which a wealth of other legally binding
human rights treaties has been developed, and has become a clear benchmark for the
universal human rights standards that must be promoted and protected in all countries.

The Indian human rights and Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) continues
to serve as a foundation for national and international laws and standards. For organizations
like Amnesty who are committed to protecting and fighting for human rights, it acts as a
guiding inspiration for our mission and vision.

Human rights are at the heart of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as in the
absence of human dignity one cannot hope to drive sustainable development.

The Covid-19 crisis has been fueled by deepening poverty, rising inequalities, structural and
entrenched discrimination and other gaps in human rights protection. Only measures to
close these gaps and advance human rights can ensure that people fully recover and build
back a world that is better, more resilient, just, and sustainable.

The only problem today is that the term “human rights” has been corrupted to apply to things
that aren’t actually “human rights”. Human rights are things that you naturally have that
people or governments shouldn’t take away. Such as the freedom to find a way to live-which
is not the same things as being given the things needed to live. Contrarily, people are trying
to make the case that health care is a human right. Services can never be a human right. The
freedom to pursue health care is a human right, because that implies that nobody can stop
your action to find the service to support your life. Just like nobody should be able to stop
your action to produce food for yourself, or shelter. That’s not the same as you having a right
to have someone give you those things.