What are human rights?

Human Rights

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.

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Some articles on human rights:

Copenhagen Criteria - Political Criteria - Human Rights
... 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 ...
Isa Khan (Guantanamo Detainee 23) - Human Rights Watch Letter
... 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 ...
Human Rights - Relationship With Other Topics - Relativism and Universalism
... 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 ...
Copenhagen Criteria
... require 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 ... guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights, respect for and protection of minorities, the existence of a functioning market economy as well as the capacity to cope with competitive ... European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights ...
Human Rights In Turkey - Freedom of Expression
... 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 the ... 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 ...

Famous quotes containing the words rights and/or human:

    Is a democracy, such as we know it, the last improvement possible in government? Is it not possible to take a step further towards recognizing and organizing the rights of man?
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    Here is a golden Rule.... Write legibly. The average temper of the human race would be perceptibly sweetened, if everybody obeyed this Rule!
    Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)