CHAPTER 3

INTERNATIONAL HUMAN
RIGHTS
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of this chapter, the students will be able to:

1. Describe the Six founding Principles of the US Declaration of Independence;

2. Explain the three principles of the French Declaration of the Rights of Man;

3. Differentiate the Constitution and the Bill of Rights;

4. Describe the United Nations,

5. Explain the six Principal Organs of the United Nations;

6. Describe and appreciate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; and

7. Enumerate some of the rights that are indicated in the UDHR.

 INTERNATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN
In the previous chapters, it is discussed that the modern concept of human
rights blossomed over the eRIGHTS
past three centuries. In the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, the concept of natural rights emerged. Natural rights
are not subject to any political, legal, or religious system; they are
inalienable rights that humans possess since birth (Cengage, 2019). It is
best summarized in the preamble of The Declaration of Independence
(1776), which states that; all men are created equal, that they are endowed
by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.ment of Human Rights
United States Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence was the first formal

statement by a nation's people asserting their right to
choose their own government It is a document written by
Thomas Jefferson and was approved by the Continental
Congress on July 4, 1776, and that announced the
separation of 13 North American British colonies from
Great Britain. The Founding Fathers introduced the six
founding principles:
1. The Rule of Law - This means the law applies equally to all in society, whether they be in the
government or the masses. Although not explicitly expressed, the entire Declaration of
Independence is about the idea of the rule of law (William, 2009, p.20). Wherein, the
government and citizens all abide by the same laws regardless of political power.

2. Equality - This is from the idea that all men are created equal. All individuals have the same
status regarding their claim as human beings to natural rights and treatment under the law.

3. Unalienable Rights- This means that the rights cannot be taken away, they are born within
each person and can never be taken away by the government.

4. Social Compact- The idea that the People have come together and created a government to
protect their unalienable rights. Hence, the power of government comes from the people..
Moreover the government rests on the consent of the People and only acts justly with that
consent (Quinn, 2021).
5. Limited Government- In order to keep the governing power to its proper
scope, the government must be limited and provide recourse for citizens to be
protected from arbitrary power. In other words, the power and authority of the
government should have a limit, to ensure that it remains just and not prone to
abuse (Quinn, 2021).
6. Reform and Revolution- it is the idea that if the government becomes unjust
and violates our unalienable rights, we have the right to reform or even abolish
it (Quinn, 2021).
 During the American and French Revolutions of the late
eighteenth century, this very concept of natural rights gained
footing. Both nations struggled to forge new forms of
governments that would best promote the natural rights of
citizens. As a result, both nations produced contemporaneous
statements of rights; France, the Declaration of the Rights of
Man and of Citizens, and the United States Constitution, and the
Bill of Rights which provide the foundation for the modern
concept of human rights (Cengage, 2019).
France's Declaration of the Rights of Man
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, passed by
France's National Constituent Assembly in August 1789, is a fundamental
document of the French Revolution that granted civil rights to its citizens.
Its key drafts were prepared by General Lafayette, who is a close friend of
Thomas Jefferson. The concepts in the Declaration are derived from the
tenets of the Enlightenment, including individualism, the social contract
as theorized by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and the separation of powers
espoused by Montesquieu. In addition, the spirit of secular natural law
rests at the foundations of the Declaration.
 Social Contract
The term comes from a 1762 book by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. It is
a theory or model that originated during the Age of Enlightenment
that deals with the questions of the origin of society, and the
legitimacy of the authority of the state over the individual. It claims
that individuals have consented, either explicitly or tacitly, to
surrender some of their freedoms and submit to the authority of
the ruler or magistrate (or to the decision of a majority) in
exchange for protection of their remaining rights.
Separation of Powers
A model for the governance of a state first developed in
ancient Greece. Under this model, the state is divided into
branches, each with separate and independent powers and
areas of responsibility so that the powers of one branch are
not in conflict with the powers associated with the other
branches. The most common division of branches is
legislative, executive, and judiciary (Campbell, 2004, pp. 19-
25).
 Natural Law
Natural Law is a philosophy that claims that certain rights or values are inherent by
virtue of human nature and can be universally understood through human reason." It is
based on the idea that natural laws are universal concepts and are not based on any
culture or customs.

The basic principle of the Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789) was that, all "men
are born and remain free and equal in rights" (Article 1), they are the rights of liberty,
private property, the inviolability of the person, and resistance to oppression (Article 2).
All citizens have the right to participate in legislation directly or indirectly and were
equal before the law (Article 6); no one was to be arrested without a judicial order
(Article 7). Freedom of religion (Article 10) and freedom of speech (Article 11) were
guaranteed and protected within the bounds of public "order" and "law.”
 United States Constitution, and Bill of
Rights
A bill of rights is a formal declaration of the fundamental rights of
individuals within a particular territory. Its purpose is to protect
those rights from any arbitrary, unfair, or capriciously applied
actions by the government. A constitution is a written set of rules
for a country, it says what the government must do for the people
and what the people must do for the government.
 In the summer of 1787, delegates from the 13 states convened in
Philadelphia and drafted a blueprint for self-government which is the
Constitution of the United States. The first draft set up a system of checks and
balances that included a strong executive branch, a representative legislature
and a federal judiciary. The first draft of the US Constitution was remarkable, but
deeply flawed. Since, it did not include a specific declaration of individual rights.
It only specified what the government could do but did not say what it could not
do. Thus, the American Bill of Rights, inspired by Thomas Jefferson and drafted
by James Madison, was adopted, and in 1791 the Constitution's first ten
amendments became the law of the land. It is a list of specific prohibitions on
governmental power, in response to calls from several states for greater
constitutional protection for individual liberties.
The entire Bill of Rights was created to protect rights the original citizens
believed were naturally theirs, which includes (ACLU, 2021):
● Freedom of Religion- the right to exercise one's own religion. or no
religion, free from any government influence or compulsion
(Amendment 1).
● Freedom of Speech, Press, Petition, and Assembly-Even unpopular
expression is protected from government suppression or censorship
(Amendment 1).
● Privacy- The right to be free of unwarranted and unwanted government
intrusion into one's personal and private affairs, papers, and possessions
(Amendment 4)
● Due Process of Law-The right to be treated fairly by the government
whenever the loss of liberty or property is at stake (Amendment 5).
● Equality Before the Law- The right to be treated equally before the law,
regardless of social status (Amendment 6)
 After World War II, the concept of human rights as it is now
understood has emerged. Outraged by the horrors of war and the
Holocaust (UDHR, 1984), the United Nations addressed issues such as
torture, warfare against civilians, the treatment of prisoners of war,
and the prosecution of war criminals, initiating new rules for warfare
that protected basic human rights (Cengage, 2019). In 1948, the
member states of the United Nations drafted the United Nations
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since the adoption of the
declaration, the UN, national governments, and independent
organizations have worked tirelessly to advance, promote, enforce
and safeguard human rights throughout the world.
UNITED NATIONS
What is the United Nations?
The United Nations is an international organization
founded in 1945 at the Yalta Conference as a replacement
for the League of Nations after World War II. It is founded
to promote worldwide cooperation and to protect human
rights. The UN and its work are guided by the purposes and
principles contained in its founding Charter.
United Nations Charter
The Charter of the United Nations is the founding
document of the United Nations. It was signed on 26 June
1945. in San Francisco, at the conclusion of the United
Nations Conference on International Organization, and
came into force on 24 October 1945. It is the constitution
of the United Nation as an international organization and
also a constitution of the international community.
 The United Nations 4 Main
Purposes
1. To keep peace throughout the world;
2. To develop friendly relations among nations;
3. To help nations work together to improve the lives of poor
people, to conquer hunger, disease and illiteracy, and to
encourage respect for each other's rights and freedoms; and
4. To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations to achieve
these goals
The Organization and its Members shall act
according to this principles (Article 2):
1. The sovereign equality of all its Members;
2. The fulfillment of the obligations of all members, to ensure the rights and
benefits resulting from membership.
3. The settlement of the international disputes by peaceful means in such a
manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not
endangered.
4. Avoiding threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political
independence of any state when conducting international relations;
5. All Members shall give the United Nations full
support and cooperation in all its endeavors.
6. The maintenance of international peace and
security b extending its principle to non-members of
the UN.
7. Non-intervention of the UN in matters which are
essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any
state.
 The organization's membership is open to all other peace-loving states
which accept the obligations contained in the present Charter and, in the
judgment of the Organization, are able and willing to carry out these
obligations. The admission of any such state to membership in the United
Nations will be affected by a decision of the General Assembl upon the
recommendation of the Security Council (Article 4). The UN security council
has the power to enforce preventive or enforcement action to any member,
that may lead to the suspension of the rights and privileges of membership,
and may escalate to the expulsion from the Organization if a Member of the
United Nations has persistently violated the Principles contained in the
Charter. Likewise, the Security Council has the power to restore these rights
and privileges. (Articles 5, and 6).