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Human rights

Human rights are moral principles, or norms,[1] for certain standards of human behaviour and are regularly protected as substantive rights in substantive law, municipal and international law.[2] They are commonly understood as inalienable,[3] fundamental rights "to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being"[4] and which are "inherent in all human beings",[5] regardless of their age, ethnic origin, location, language, religion, ethnicity, or any other status.[3] They are applicable everywhere and at every time in the sense of being universal,[1] and they are egalitarian in the sense of being the same for everyone.[3] They are regarded as requiring empathy and the rule of law,[6] and imposing an obligation on persons to respect the human rights of others;[1][3] it is generally considered that they should not be taken away except as a result of due process based on specific circumstances.[3]

For other uses, see Human rights (disambiguation).

The doctrine of human rights has been highly influential within international law and global and regional institutions.[3] Actions by states and non-governmental organisations form a basis of public policy worldwide. The idea of human rights suggests that "if the public discourse of peacetime global society can be said to have a common moral language, it is that of human rights".[7] The strong claims made by the doctrine of human rights continue to provoke considerable scepticism and debates about the content, nature and justifications of human rights to this day. The precise meaning of the term right is controversial and is the subject of continued philosophical debate.[8] While there is consensus that human rights encompass a wide variety of rights,[5] such as the right to a fair trial, protection against enslavement, prohibition of genocide, free speech,[9] or a right to education, there is disagreement about which of these particular rights should be included within the general framework of human rights;[1] some thinkers suggest that human rights should be a minimum requirement to avoid the worst-case abuses, while others see it as a higher standard.[1][10] It has also been argued that human rights are "God-given", although this notion has been both criticized[11] and supported.[12]


Many of the basic ideas that animated the human rights movement developed in the aftermath of the Second World War and the events of the Holocaust,[6] culminating in the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Paris by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948.[13] Ancient peoples did not have the same modern-day conception of universal human rights.[14] 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 European Enlightenment with such philosophers as John Locke, Francis Hutcheson, and Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui, and which featured prominently in the political discourse of the American Revolution and the French Revolution.[6] From this foundation, the modern human rights arguments emerged over the latter half of the 20th century,[15] possibly as a reaction to slavery, torture, genocide, and war crimes,[6] as a realization of inherent human vulnerability and as being a precondition for the possibility of a just society.[5] Human rights advocacy has continued into the early 21st century, centered around achieving greater economic and political freedom.[5]

(adopted 1948, entry into force: 1951) unhchr.ch

Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide

(CERD) (adopted 1966, entry into force: 1969) unhchr.ch

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

(CEDAW) (entry into force: 1981) Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

(CAT) (adopted 1984, entry into force: 1984)[38]

United Nations Convention Against Torture

(CRC) (adopted 1989, entry into force: 1989) Convention on the Rights of the Child | UNICEF Archived 26 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine

Convention on the Rights of the Child

(ICRMW) (adopted 1990)

International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families

(ICC) (entry into force: 2002)

Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

The promotes participation with the standards of the ICCPR. The members of the committee express opinions on member countries and make judgments on individual complaints against countries which have ratified an Optional Protocol to the treaty. The judgments, termed "views", are not legally binding. The member of the committee meets around three times a year to hold sessions[55]

Human Rights Committee

The monitors the ICESCR and makes general comments on ratifying countries performance. It will have the power to receive complaints against the countries that opted into the Optional Protocol once it has come into force. Unlike the other treaty bodies, the economic committee is not an autonomous body responsible to the treaty parties, but directly responsible to the Economic and Social Council and ultimately to the General Assembly. This means that the Economic Committee faces particular difficulties at its disposal only relatively "weak" means of implementation in comparison to other treaty bodies.[56] Particular difficulties noted by commentators include: perceived vagueness of the principles of the treaty, relative lack of legal texts and decisions, ambivalence of many states in addressing economic, social and cultural rights, comparatively few non-governmental organisations focused on the area and problems with obtaining relevant and precise information.[56][57]

Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination monitors the and conducts regular reviews of countries' performance. It can make judgments on complaints against member states allowing it, but these are not legally binding. It issues warnings to attempt to prevent serious contraventions of the convention.

CERD

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women monitors the . It receives states' reports on their performance and comments on them, and can make judgments on complaints against countries which have opted into the 1999 Optional Protocol.

CEDAW

The Committee Against Torture monitors the and receives states' reports on their performance every four years and comments on them. Its subcommittee may visit and inspect countries which have opted into the Optional Protocol.

CAT

The monitors the CRC and makes comments on reports submitted by states every five years. It does not have the power to receive complaints.

Committee on the Rights of the Child

The Committee on Migrant Workers was established in 2004 and monitors the and makes comments on reports submitted by states every five years. It will have the power to receive complaints of specific violations only once ten member states allow it.

ICRMW

The was established in 2008 to monitor the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It has the power to receive complaints against the countries which have opted into the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

The Committee on Enforced Disappearances monitors the . All States parties are obliged to submit reports to the committee on how the rights are being implemented. The Committee examines each report and addresses its concerns and recommendations to the State party in the form of "concluding observations".

ICPPED

Promoting human and peoples' rights

Protecting human and peoples' rights

Interpreting the

African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights

Amnesty International (2004). . Amnesty International. ISBN 0862103541, 1887204407

Amnesty International Report

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JSTOR

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Human Rights: An Interdisciplinary Approach

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Human Rights Reference Handbook

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"Tolerant Imperialism: John Stuart Mill's Defense of British Rule in India"

by the United Nations

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

The Universal Human Rights Index of United Nations documents