3. Human Rights

4. A Definition
HUMAN RIGHTS are rights to which all human beings are entitled just because they are human, regardless of the society, the culture, or the times in which they live.

5. A Very Old Idea
Philosophers in ancient Greek and Roman civilizations, in the Middle Ages, and in the Age of Enlightenment were all familiar with the belief that human beings have certain “natural rights” just as a matter of the laws of nature.

6. Human Rights ≠ Civil Rights
Human Rights are ideals that people agree to, but there are only limited and indirect means to enforce them.
Civil Rights are established by law,
and there is a means of enforcement.
Human Rights give powerful “moral authority”
to our arguments and our political actions.

7. Examples of “human rights” thinkingUS
Declaration Of Independence
1776
“We hold these truths to be self- evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness…Whenever Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it.”
French
Declaration of the Rights of Man
1789
“The representatives of the French people, organized as a National Assembly, believing that the ignorance, neglect, or contempt of the rights of man are the sole cause of public calamities and of the corruption of governments, have determined to set forth in a solemn declaration the natural, unalienable, and sacred rights of man, in order that this declaration, being constantly before all the members of the Social body, shall remind them continually of their rights and duties…”

8. Examples of “human rights” thinking
United Nations Charter
1945
WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED
to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and
to affirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and
to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and
to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,
AND FOR THESE ENDS
to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours, and
to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and
to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and
to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples,

9. Human Rights Documents
IF there are human rights, THEN we should be able to identify them, write them down, and agree on them.

10. Countries on the Committee that Drafted the UDHR
Australia Belgium Belarus Chile China Egypt France India Iran
Philippines Panama Lebanon United Kingdom United States Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Uruguay Yugoslavia

11. U.N. arguments for “human rights”
Because recognizing the natural value and the equal and permanent rights of all members of the human family is the basis of freedom, justice and peace in the world;
Because ignoring and despising human rights resulted in barbarous acts which outraged mankind;
Because the greatest hope of the common people is the creation of a world in which human beings will have freedom of speech and belief, and freedom from fear and want;
Because it is essential to develop friendly relations between nations;
Because Member States, in co-operation with the United Nations, have promised to achieve the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms;
And because a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge:

12. Human Rights Statement
The U.N Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)

13. Converting principles into a treaty
1948 UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights
1966 UN’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

14. Ratified the treaty Signed but did not ratify the treaty Neither signed nor ratified the treaty

15. The ICCPR Treaty as of 2010 Antigua and Barbuda; Bhutan Brunei Burma
Signed, not ratified
Not signed, Not Ratified
China
Comoros
Cuba
Guinea-Bissau
Laos
Nauru
Pakistan
São Tomé and Príncipe
Antigua and Barbuda;
Bhutan
Brunei
Burma
Fiji
Kiribati
Micronesia
Saint Lucia
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
Solomon Islands
Tonga
United Arab Emirates
Vanuatu
Vatican City

16. How can the world respond to human rights violations?
Talk privately to the nation?
Publicly criticize the nation?
Adopt a UN resolution condemning the nation?
Impose trade penalties on the nation?
Boycott all business and travel with the nation?
Support insurrections within the nation?
Take military action against the nation?

17. Arguments against “human rights”
Philosopher Jeremy Bentham ( ) said that the very idea of natural rights was pure nonsense, in fact “nonsense on stilts”.
Where do these rights come from? Who says they are rights?
Jeane Kirkpatrick, US ambassador to the United Nations during the President Ronald Reagan years, called the Universal Declaration on Human Rights “ a letter to Santa Claus”.
Human rights are unrealistic, cost too much, require very high taxation
Iran's President Ali Khamene'i
"When we want to find out what is right and what is wrong, we do not go to the United Nations; we go to the Holy Koran (Qur'an). For us, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is nothing but a collection of mumbo-jumbo by disciples of Satan." So, in 1990, a number of Islamic nations meeting in Cairo, Egypt, crafted their own Islamic version of a human rights statement.
Rights are culturally relative

18. An Alternative Human Rights Statement
Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam (1990)

19. Human Rights Monitoring/Advocacy Groups
Amnesty International
Human Rights Watch
The U.N Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam (1990)