Sheina Marie S.

Sinoyan

Dec. 11, 2022

"HUMAN RIGHTS "

When the term “human rights” is used, it conjures up, for some, powerful images of the
righteous fight for the inalienable rights that people have just by virtue of being human.Human
rights are rights that every person has from the moment they are born to the moment they die.
They are things that everyone is entitled to, such as life, liberty, freedom of expression, and the
right to education, just by virtue of being human.

People can never lose these rights on the basis of age, sex, nationality, race, or disability. Human
rights offer us a principled framework, rooted in normative values meant for all nations and
legal orders. In a world order in which states/governments set the rules, the human rights
regime is the counterweight, one concerned with and focused on the individual. In other words,
we need human rights because it provides us a way of evaluating and challenging national laws
and practices as to the treatment of individuals.

Moreover, rights often complement each other, and at times, can be combined to form new
rights. For example, humans have a right to liberty, and also a right to be free from slavery, two
rights which complement and reinforce each other. Other times, rights can be in tension, like
when a person’s right to freedom of expression infringes upon another’s right to freedom from
discrimination.
This is what a human rights system can do. When state governments and legal orders fail to
protect people within their control, the international system can challenge the national order
and demand it uphold a basic standard of good governance. Since the adoption of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, the human rights system has grown, tackled new challenges,
developed institutions for review and enforcement, and built a significant body of law.
Numerous tools have been established to help states, groups, and individuals defend and
protect human rights.

In conclusion, we should not   as the US has been doing under the current administration 
selectively withdraw, defund, and disparage one of the only tools available to the world’s most
vulnerable peoples. The human rights system is an arena, a language, and a source of power to
many around the world fighting for a worthwhile future built on our shared human values.