NATURE OF HUMAN RIGHTS

• Human rights are rights to which an individual is entitled by virtue of being a human being.
• Civil, political, and social-economic rights depend on an individual’s status as a citizen of a particular state, whereas human rights are not determined by this condition.
• The scope of human rights is very wide, setting the standards for the provision and expansion of civil, political, and social-economic rights.
• When civil, political, and social-economic rights are exhausted, individuals can still seek relief under the umbrella of human rights.
• Foreigners, refugees, prisoners-of-war, or proclaimed offenders may be deprived of ordinary rights, but human rights will still apply.
• Human rights constitute the source of all rights for human beings and embody the scheme of ideal rights.
• They provide the moral foundation of any system of rights and are similar to the concept of justice.
• As justice determines the principles on which law should be based, human rights set the standards for all other rights.
• When ordinary rights are reinterpreted in light of human rights, they expand the domain of human welfare.
• For example, the right to life may include the right to live on uncontaminated land, to breathe in clean air, and to consume clean water.
• Governments may be held responsible for ensuring these conditions are met.
• Human rights must be enforced by a state or international tribunal capable of doing so.
• Anyone claiming human rights must prove themselves law-abiding and submit to the law for appropriate justice.
• To understand the true nature of human rights, it is important to inquire into the nature of rights in general.

CONCEPT OF RIGHTS

MEANING OF RIGHTS

• The idea of rights provides an essential tool for analyzing the relations between individuals and the state.
• The state claims authority over the individual, but when viewed as an instrument of society, its authority should depend on the function it performs.
• If the state is seen as a means and the individual as the end, the state cannot have absolute authority over the individual.
• If the state claims authority, the individual must claim rights.
• An individual owes allegiance to the state and obeys its commands because the state serves his interests.
• Rights arise from conflicting claims between the individual and the state.
• Any political theory that says an individual cannot have rights against the state is not a theory of rights.
• Benefits from the existence of the state do not constitute rights; rights emerge when the state’s authority is limited or when individuals demand a positive role of the state.
• Philosophers like Hobbes, Rousseau, and Hegel failed to develop a concept of rights, focusing instead on the state’s role in creating conditions for happiness.
• Absence of rights makes the happiness of individuals dependent on the benevolence of those in power.
• Without individual rights to curb the state’s authority, the state may become absolutist, authoritarian, or lead to despotism and tyranny.
• Glorification of the state without mechanisms to limit its authority means the complete subordination of the individual, opening the door to corruption, oppression, exploitation, and injustice.
• The concept of human rights originated as a protest against oppression by dominant groups.
• Rights safeguard individuals from the arbitrary use of power by the ruling class.
• Robert M. MacIver observed that throughout history, the masses have lived in misery and oppression, while dominating groups used power to subjugate others.
• In modern times, the vision of human liberation has evolved into the concept of human rights.
• These rights are now sought to be enshrined in constitutions to prevent governments from using their power arbitrarily.
• MacIver noted that the demand for human rights has shifted from mere protest to the precise demand for legal and constitutional embodiment of specific claims to liberties and opportunities.
• In essence, rights are claims by individuals to restrict the arbitrary power of the state, secured through legal and constitutional mechanisms.
• These rights may also include benefits the state provides to improve the quality of life of its citizens.