INTRODUCTION

• David Hume viewed nature as being cruel to humans, as humans are burdened with numerous wants and necessities, yet provided with slender means to fulfill them.

• This observation highlights the need for protection not only from society but also from fellow human beings to fulfill one’s wants.

• The recognition of this need led to the development of human rights as a concept to protect individuals.

• Human rights emerged as a new way of thinking about the rights of man.

• These rights are now embodied in international treaties, declarations, charters, and also within the constitutional provisions of various states around the world.

EVOLUTION

• The concept of rights has roots in the philosophical foundations of the liberal democratic tradition in Europe, especially in Great Britain, France, and the United States.

• Human rights were philosophically treated in the works of Thoreau (Civil Disobedience), John Stuart Mill (On Liberty), and Thomas Paine (The Rights of Man).

• Earlier contributions to the idea of rights of man were made by philosophers during the Reformation, Age of Reason, Puritan Revolution, and the Glorious Revolution in works like Hobbes’ Leviathan (1651), Locke’s Two Treatises on Government (1689), and Rousseau’s Social Contract (1762).

• The ideas of these philosophers influenced the formulation of human rights documents, declarations, conventions, and treaties at various levels.

• One of the earliest human rights documents was the Magna Carta (1215), which established rights such as trial by jury, property rights, equality before the law, free migration, and the right of widows to choose not to remarry.

• In 1776, the American Declaration of Independence proclaimed the concept of natural rights, stating that all men are created equal and are endowed with certain unalienable rights such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

• The Declaration emphasized that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed and that people have the right to alter or abolish governments that become destructive to these rights, reflecting Locke’s idea of resistance.

• The Bill of Rights (first ten amendments) addressed the shortcomings of the American Declaration and guaranteed individual rights like freedom of speech, religion, and due process.

• The French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen (1789) declared that the aim of political association is the conservation of the natural and inalienable rights of man, including liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.

• The Declaration promoted civil and political rights, such as equality before the law, freedom from arrest, freedom of opinion, and freedom of expression.

• The liberal, democratic tradition of human rights was later incorporated into the Constitutions and legal systems of various countries worldwide.

• After World War II, significant efforts were made to institutionalize and guarantee human rights, particularly through the United Nations and other regional instruments.

• The formation of the United Nations marked a landmark in the institutionalization of human rights.

• The UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) (1948) are the most explicit expressions of human rights and dignity.

• Human rights, as enshrined in international instruments, represent basic rights of individuals entitled to them as human beings.

• These rights are set to induce states to respect the fundamental freedoms of their citizens.

• Apart from the UN Charter and the UDHR, several other international instruments on human rights have been adopted, including:

  • International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) (1966)

  • International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) (1966)

  • Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crime and Genocide (1948)

  • Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (1954)

  • Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (1965)

  • Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (1979)

  • Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984)

  • Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)

• Regional instruments on human rights include:

  • European Convention on Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (1950)

  • American Convention on Human Rights (1981)

• These instruments express the basic rights of individuals, which should be guaranteed by states to their citizens.

• The first and second generations of human rights mainly focus on seeking economic, political, and social rights for individuals and regulating state actions.

• Universal human rights are often guaranteed by law in the form of treaties, customary international law, general principles, and other sources of international law.

• International human rights law imposes obligations on governments to act or refrain from certain acts to promote and protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of individuals or groups.

• A third generation of rights has emerged, addressing issues related to the environment and sustainable development, exemplified by the Rio Declaration (1992) with 27 principles of sustainable development.

• Through the ratification of international human rights treaties, governments commit to enacting domestic measures and legislation that align with their treaty obligations.

• If domestic legal proceedings fail to address human rights abuses, mechanisms and procedures for individual complaints are available at regional and international levels.

• The principle of universality of human rights is the cornerstone of international human rights law, emphasized first in the UDHR (1948) and reiterated in various international conventions and declarations.

• The 1993 Vienna World Conference on Human Rights affirmed the duty of states to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms, regardless of their political, economic, or cultural systems.