Are Human Rights alright? Part I

2 CommentsAmerican Revolution, fairness, French Revolution, Glorious Revolution, Human Right, human rights, justice, peace, Uncategorized, World War II

The recent riots in the UK have started a debate about the nature and scope of human rights. What exactly are they? Where did they come from? Who has them? Who doesn’t have them?  Should everyone have them? And – last but not least – what are the main problems surrounding them? It’s a tricky question but one so fundamental to functional human societies that we can’t afford to ignore it.

So, OK – what exactly are human rights?

Most of us believe that there are basic rights – sometimes called natural rights – that exist above and beyond culture or legal structures. Technically speaking a right is (amongst other things):

  • Inalienable – it can’t be taken away or given away.
  • Immutable – it doesn’t change.
  • Inviolable – it shouldn’t be broken, infringed or dishonoured.

Down through the ages all religious scripture, and many philosophers, have sought to define moral codes of conduct to promote this idea of natural rights. Some ancient cultures attempted to enshrine a notion of human rights in their constitutions and governments and, from time to time, ordinary people rose up and demanded to be given ‘rights’.

From the 17th century onwards, the idea of rights gained popular acceptance in various revolutions such as the Glorious Revolution in England (1688), the American Revolution (1776) and, most famously of all in terms of the idea of rights, the French Revolution in 1789.

All of these popular movements demanded rights, however, these rights were not universal – these were rights for some of the population not all of the population, as was demonstrated most obviously by the fact that women were excluded and slavery was allowed.

In the wake of WWII, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was drafted by nine people from around the world. On December 10, 1948, the the General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with eight nations abstaining from the vote but none dissenting.

Hernán Santa Cruz of Chile, a member of the drafting sub-Committee, wrote about this occasion:

“I perceived clearly that I was participating in a truly significant historic event in which a consensus had been reached as to the supreme value of the human person, a value that did not originate in the decision of a worldly power, but rather in the fact of existing—which gave rise to the inalienable right to live free from want and oppression and to fully develop one’s personality.  In the Great Hall…there was an atmosphere of genuine solidarity and brotherhood among men and women from all latitudes, the like of which I have not seen again in any international setting.”

This is the first time in human history that we all officially agreed – at least in theory – that universal human rights exist for everybody, everywhere, all of the time.

It was a start.

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The Universal Declaration of Human Rights – read it here – http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml
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