The Concept of Human Rights - Research Paper Example

The Concept of Human Rights Abstract The concept of human rights originates from the ancient times, yet its modern understanding has not basically changed: human rights are generally the rights that a person has because of being human. The concept has long been popular in the Western world, but the contemporary reality evidently calls for re-examination of this notion in favor of the universal character of human rights. This is explained by numerous violations of human rights in war and terrorist conflicts, as well as the needs of the globalizing world with lots of people moving to different countries. This paper explores the concept of human rights in relation to its meaning, origin, history, theory, and place in the contemporary world. It focuses on the history of the human rights development both globally and with regard to the Western society. Theory of human rights is explored in terms of the three generations theory suggested by Vasak. Finally, the place of human rights and various controversies related to their violations in the modern world are discussed. Human Rights Most often we hear the phrase “human rights” when someone talks about the protection of human rights in the modern world. Indeed, as Hafner-Burton & Tsutsui observe, “the protection of human rights is one of the most pressing and yet most elusive goals of the international community” (Hafner & Tsutsui, 2005, p. 1373). Claude & Weston, too, admit that the idea of human rights “has found its way around the globe”, so that every day people are reminded of its importance (Claude & Weston, 2006, p. 3). In the United States, people demand that the homeless get better condition, health insurance be fit for all, torture be brought to an end on the military bases; in Brazil and other countries, the indigenous peoples fight against colonization of their lands and their dispossession; Tibetan monks resort to demonstrations to stop the Chinese from meddling with customs; Cuban people petition for just elections and free speech; the Burmese challenge enslavement practices used by the country’s government to force them construct a gas pipeline which belongs to one multinational company, etc. All these issues are classified as human rights (Claude & Weston, 2006). The fact that people all around the globe have to deal with it evidences its universal character and capacity to impact people’s aspirations. Yet, what exactly is “human rights”? This paper explores the concept of human rights in relation to its meaning, origin, history, theory, and place in the contemporary world. The Human Rights Concept The concept of human rights is based on understanding of human rights as – literally – the rights that a person has because of being human. Hence, human rights are exercised universally by all people as well as they universally hold against any other person or institution. Human rights, believed to be the highest moral rights, regulate basic structures and major practices of political life; besides, in everyday situations they are known to have advantage over other claims of moral, political, or legal nature (Donelly, 2003, p. 1). Universality of human rights is their distinctive feature. As ideal standards, or in word, human rights have been accepted almost in every country, since all states proclaim adherence to the international norms of human rights on a regular basis. However, these days the concept of human rights is more often spoken of in relation to human rights violations. Constant reports in the media about people becoming victims of state regimes, suffer from “crimes against humanity”, injustices, and cruelties. This is the modern discourse of human rights and it is predominantly legal (Freeman, 2011, p.9). Freeman argues that legal understanding of human rights and turning them into an exclusively technical term by lawyers has led to distortion of this concept. This has been aggravated by the fact that the social sciences neglected the concept and generated scarce studies on this topic (Freeman, 2011, p.9). History of Human Rights Briefly, the history of human rights may be described as follows. Back in 539 BC the army of Cyrus the Great, the first king of ancient Persia, conquered the city of Babylon. He was known for his great achievement with regard to the history of the mankind. Cyrus freed the slaves, announced that all people had the right to choose their own religion, and proclaimed racial equality (Freeman, 2011, p.15). These and some other orders of his were written in cuneiform on a cylinder of baked clay. Known today as the Cyrus Cylinder, this ancient document is considered the world’s first charter of human rights. It has been translated into all six official languages ​​of the United Nations, and its provisions are reflected in the first four articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. From Babylon, the idea of ​​human rights quickly spread to India, Greece, and, eventually, to Rome. There was born the idea of “natural law”, as it was observed that people tend to follow certain unwritten rules of life, and the Roman law was based on rational ideas drawn from the nature of things (Freeman, 2009, p.17). The by-laws of human rights, such as Magna Carta (1215), Petition of Right (1628), the U.S. Constitution (1787), the French Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen (1789), and the American Bill of Rights (1791), were precursors to many of today’s documents on human rights. Historically, in the Western world Magna Carta is considered the oldest document that has had a significant impact on the process of historical development, which eventually led to the emergence of modern constitutional law in the Western world. In 1215, after King John of England had violated a number of ancient laws and traditions according to which England was ruled, his subjects forced him to sign Magna Carta, which listed the rules that later came to be seen as human rights. Among them there were the right of the church to non-interference in its affairs by the state, the right of all free citizens to own and inherit property, and the right to protection from excessive taxes. Magna Carta enshrined the right of widows who owned property not to remarry and established the principles of fairness and equality before the law. It also contained provisions forbidding bribery and illegal actions of officials. Magna Carta is widely recognized as one of the most important legal documents for the development of a modern democracy, and its adoption was a key stage in the struggle for freedom (Freeman, 2011, p.20). The modern history of human rights starts with the establishment of the United Nations back in 1945 (Freeman, 2009, p.15). In 1948, a United Nations Commission on Human Rights attracted worldwide attention. Under the dynamic leadership of the well-known human rights activist Eleanor Roosevelt, the widow of President Franklin Roosevelt and delegate to the United Nations, the Commission has started to compose a document that ultimately became the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Claude & Weston, 2006, p.214). Eleanor Roosevelt, who was the inspiration behind its creation, called the Declaration called “the international Magna Carta of all men everywhere.” (Roosevelt, 1948). This document was formally adopted by the United Nations on 10 December 1948. The preamble and the first article of the Declaration explicitly proclaimed inherency of human rights for all people of the Earth: “disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind ...  the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people... All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” (The United Nations, 2013). Countries members of the United Nations made a vow to work together to promote the implementation of the thirty articles on human rights, which for the first time in history were collected and presented as a single document. As a result, many of these rights in various forms are now part of the constitutional laws of democratic countries. In the theory of human rights formulated by a French legal scholar Karel Vasak three generations are distinguished (Claude & Weston, 2006, p. 21). The first generation is mainly attributed to the adoption, during the French Revolution, of the Declaration of the Rights of Man in 1789. Yet, it should be noted that in the history of human rights legislation there were earlier cases. As it has already been mentioned, in particular, in England in 1215 Magna Carta was signed, which led to expansion of the rights and freedoms of peasants and other sections of the population. In 1689, the British Parliament adopted the Bill of Rights, which sharply limited the power of the king, guaranteed the rights of parliament, and thus laid the foundations of the constitutional monarchy in the country. Still, scholars agree that the embodiment of the classic theory of the natural life of human rights was the adoption by the National Assembly of France in August 1789 of the famous Declaration of the Rights of Man, to legalize justice, liberty, equality, fraternity, safety, tolerance, equality. The individual liberty was placed at the pedestal of freedom. The provisions contained in the Declaration of the Rights of Man, were a prerequisite for further development of human rights law and were eventually accepted by all constitutions of modern democratic states (Claude & Weston, 2006, p.21). The human rights of the first generation are usually grouped as political, civil, and personal (the right of every citizen to participate in government, the right to equality before the law, the right to freedom of thought, freedom and security, etc). The second generation of human rights lawyers is associated with the expansion of individual rights arising under the influence of socialist ideas and movements (economic, social, and cultural rights, e.g. the right to work, the right to rest, the right to education, the right to social security, the right to health, right to the protection of motherhood and childhood, etc). The third generation of rights is seen in the legal enshrinement of the rights that are expressed in the right of peoples to peace, independence, self-determination, dignity, etc., which are associated with the post-war peace movement and the national liberation movement of the former colonies, as reflected in the national legislation (Claude & Weston, 2006). In the 20th century, there were many challenges to human rights. World War 2, Cold War, and other shocks raised controversial issues in human rights violations. Often states that won conflicts and claimed to sustain human rights violated human rights of people who lived in the liberated countries. After September 11, 2001 another challenge appeared which was also related to the sacrifice of rights and freedoms. It was fight against terrorism. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.” (Franklin in Wittes, 2011). The fight against terrorism has once again shown the crisis of human rights today are human rights: it turned out that regardless of the level of democracy in a country, the temptation to get a feeling – most probably false – of security through “temporary” restrictions on the rights and freedoms of citizens, is big enough. Another question arises as to whether human rights are distributed to terrorists. Should we be protected from terrorists by the same methods (just following the scandalous confession of the U.S. Intelligence for permission to use special methods of interrogation against persons suspected of terrorism)? Do all world states, too, adopt the United States logic of the actions, deliberately sacrificing the privacy of correspondence, telephone conversations, and even governor elections in order to guard against terrorist threats? Within this logic, human rights only openly interfere with intelligence agencies, openly calling to ignore any romantic understanding about human rights for the sake of security (International Council on Human Rights Policy, 2002). In the 21st century, the issues of the globalizing world lead to the need to develop the concept of universal human rights along with the one about individual and collective rights. It embraces the rights of humanity as well as rights of an individual, a separate social or ethnic group, and of all members of humanity. Within the recent global economic crisis, such rights (regardless of the socio-economic status of people) started to encompass the right to freedom from poverty and the right to a dignified existence. By the universal rights one means universally recognized human rights. This term, which is a well-established international legal term, has been applied across the globe of late (Donnelly, 2003). Universally recognized human rights are universal and characterize all human beings in the world regardless of any discrimination. In law, they are referred to as absolute rights that cannot be broken in an emergency or during hostilities. The primary right among these is the right to life, personal liberty, and security. In summary, despite the fact that the concept of human rights originates from the ancient times, its modern understanding has not basically changed: human rights are generally the rights that a person has because of being human. The concept has long been popular in the Western world, yet the contemporary reality calls for re-examination of this notion in favor of the universal character of human rights. This is explained by numerous violations of human rights in war and terrorist conflicts, as well as the needs of the globalizing world with lots of people moving to different countries. References Claude, P. & Weston, R. (2006). Human rights in the world community: Issues and action. University of Pennsylvania Press. Donnelly, J. (2003). Universal human rights in theory and practice. Cornell University Press, 2003. Freeman, M. (2011). Human rights: An interdisciplinary approach. Polity. International Council on Human Rights Policy (2002). Human Rights after September 2011. Retrieved from http://www.ichrp.org/files/reports/29/118_report_en.pdf. Roosevelt, E. (1948). On the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Retrieved from http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/eleanorrooseveltdeclarationhumanrights.htm. The United Nations (2013). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/. Wittes, B. (2011). “Liberty and security: Hostile allies.” Hoover.org. Retrieved from http://www.hoover.org/publications/defining-ideas/article/99536. Read More