Human rights are commonly understood as "inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal (applicable everywhere) and egalitarian (the same for everyone). These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national and international law. The doctrine of human rights in international practice, within international law, global and regional institutions, in the policies of states and in the activities of non-governmental organizations, has been a cornerstone of public policy around the world. The idea of human rights states, "if the public discourse of peacetime global society can be said to have a common moral language, it is that of human rights." Despite this, the strong claims made by the doctrine of human rights continue to provoke considerable skepticism and debates about the content, nature and justifications of human rights to this day. Indeed, the question of what is meant by a "right" is itself controversial and the subject of continued philosophical debate.
Many of the basic ideas that animated the human rights movement developed in the aftermath of the Second World War and the atrocities of The Holocaust, culminating in the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Paris by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. The ancient world did not possess the concept of universal human rights. Ancient societies had "elaborate systems of duties... conceptions of justice, political legitimacy, and human flourishing that sought to realize human dignity, flourishing, or well-being entirely independent of human rights". The modern concept of human rights developed during the early Modern period, alongside the European secularization of Judeo-Christian ethics. The true forerunner of human rights discourse was the concept of natural rights which appeared as part of the medieval Natural law tradition that became prominent during the Enlightenment with such philosophers as John Locke, Francis Hutcheson, and Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui, and featured prominently in the political discourse of the American Revolution and the French Revolution.
From this foundation, the modern human rights arguments emerged over the latter half of the twentieth century. Gelling as social activism and political rhetoric in many nations put it high on the world agenda.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. —Article 1 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)Read more about Human Rights: History of Concept, Philosophy, Classification, International Protection, Human Rights Violations
Other articles related to "human rights, rights, humans, right, human":
... The UDHR enshrines universal rights that apply to all humans equally, whichever geographical location, state, race or culture they belong to ... Relativists do not argue against human rights, but concede that human rights are social constructed and are shaped by cultural and environmental contexts ... Universalists argue that human rights have always existed, and apply to all people regardless of culture, race, sex, or religion ...
... Human Rights Watch issued a "Letter to President General Pervez Musharraf" calling on the Bush administration to "release detainees who were Taliban soldiers or who have no connection to Al Qaeda, and who are not ...
... that a state has the institutions to preserve democratic governance and human rights, has a functioning market economy, and accepts the obligations and intent of the EU ... of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights, respect for and protection of minorities, the existence of a functioning market ... European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights ...
... Paragraph 2 of Article 27 affirms that "the right to disseminate shall not be exercised for the purpose of changing the provisions of Articles 1, 2 and 3 of Constitution", articles in question referring to ... Journalists, politicians, human rights defenders and trade unionists were convicted under this provision, often simply for having used the word "Kurdistan" ... After the European Court of Human Rights had passed more than 100 judgments finding a violation of Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights some changes were made to existing legislation ...
... Human rights are those rights which every person holds because of their quality as a human being human rights are "inalienable" and belonging to all humans ... If a right is inalienable, that means it cannot be bestowed, granted, limited, bartered away, or sold away (e.g ... These include the right to life, the right to be prosecuted only according to the laws that are in existence at the time of the offence, the right to be free from slavery, and the right to be free ...
Famous quotes containing the words rights and/or human:
“Close by the Rights of Man, at the least set beside them, are the Rights of the Spirit.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)
“His hair has the long jesuschrist look. He is wearing the costume clothes. But most of all, he now has a very tolerant and therefore withering attitude toward all those who are still struggling in the old activist political ways ... while he, with the help of psychedelic chemicals, is exploring the infinite regions of human consciousness.”
—Tom Wolfe (b. 1931)