Human rights

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(Undo revision 1146498 - Americentric much? This is an article about rights applying to all human beings. We don't need to point out that non-US-citizens fall into this category.)
(quite right you are...while we are at lets delete all that material about China and the U.S. Too too much about the Yanks. Lets keep this focused on what actually European Europeans have imposed upon/given the rest of humanity.)
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{{philosophy}}
 
{{philosophy}}
'''Human rights''' are those [[rights]] that all people have (or should have, or are believed to have) as members of the human race.
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'''Human rights''' are those [[rights]] that all people have (or should have, or are believed to have) as humans.
  
 
Unfortunately, no consensus can be reached as to what constitutes human rights.  Many non-Western countries have said that trying to impose Western concepts of human rights (such as freedom of religion or political rights) is an act of [[colonialism]].  Instead, many of them say that Western ideology does not give enough thought to rights such as clothing, stability, and work.
 
Unfortunately, no consensus can be reached as to what constitutes human rights.  Many non-Western countries have said that trying to impose Western concepts of human rights (such as freedom of religion or political rights) is an act of [[colonialism]].  Instead, many of them say that Western ideology does not give enough thought to rights such as clothing, stability, and work.

Revision as of 01:39, 11 February 2013

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Human rights are those rights that all people have (or should have, or are believed to have) as humans.

Unfortunately, no consensus can be reached as to what constitutes human rights. Many non-Western countries have said that trying to impose Western concepts of human rights (such as freedom of religion or political rights) is an act of colonialism. Instead, many of them say that Western ideology does not give enough thought to rights such as clothing, stability, and work.

While almost every country in the world has signed onto the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, many of them do not live up to it.

To a large extent, human rights have become a political football in the field of international relations. In particular, the United States and China trade accusations of human rights abuses on a yearly basis.[1][2]

Contents

Origins

The concept of human rights emerged from Enlightenment era thinkers' (and revolutionaries') ideas about "natural rights" and the "rights of man." This was mainly a reaction to absolutist monarchism, the divine right of kings, and religious oppression. The inviolability of the human body became a central concept in human rights, especially after Voltaire's campaign to overturn the verdict against Jean Calas, the French Calvinist framed for murder.[3][4]

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Given that different cultures give differing weights to what is or is not a human right the United Nations set forth to reach consensus and, in 1948 in the aftermath of the second world war proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Of the fifty six participating countries there were no dissenters although there were eight abstentions.

There are thirty 'Articles' [5] although not each of these directly equates to a right. In brief - and heavily paraphrased - the rights are

  1. The right to equality. [6]
  2. The right to equality before the law.[7]
  3. The right to life, liberty and security of person. [8]
  4. No one should be held in slavery.[9]
  5. No one shall be tortured.[10]
  6. The law should accept that you are a person [11]
  7. Equal protection before the law. [12]
  8. The right to effective remedy when rights are violated[13]
  9. Protection against arbitrary arrest, imprisonment or exile [14]
  10. The right to equality before the law and to an impartial hearing [15]
  11. The right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty[16]
  12. The right to privacy and to protection against defamation [17]
  13. Freedom of movement [18]
  14. The right of asylum [19]
  15. The right to nationality [20]
  16. The right to marry, protection against forced marriage [21]
  17. The right to own property individually or jointly [22]
  18. Freedom of religion [23]
  19. Freedom of opinion and expression [24]
  20. Peaceful assembly [25]
  21. The right to participate in democratic government [26]
  22. The right to a reasonable standard of living and social participation [27]
  23. The right to intellectual property
  24. The right to live in an ordered society

Objections to the UDHR

Naturally this attempt to reach consensus has its critics. In brief these can be summed up as

  • Objections to freedom of religion. This is counter to some religious beliefs - "thou shall not suffer a witch to live" for example
  • Objections to gender equality - again often on religious grounds
  • Objections by libertarians about property rights - to quote "Enforcement of one person's economic, social, or cultural rights necessarily involves forcing others to relinquish their property, or to use it in a way prescribed by the enforcers."[28]
  • The lack of the inclusion of the right to refuse to kill - a stance taken by Amnesty International
  • Unschoolers object to the right to an education saying that it impinges on their right to bring up their children as they see fit
  • Objections based on national sovereignty. (Translation: "United Nations, you are not the boss of us!")

See also

Footnotes

  1. , Reuters,China calls U.S. a hypocrite over human rights,...China accused Washington of hypocrisy...,2010-03-10, [1]
  2. Far-Ranging Support for Google’s China Move, Michael Wines, The New York Times, ...In the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi the speaker of the House and an ardent Democrat called Google’s actions an example to businesses and governments... , 2010-01-14,[2]
  3. Voltaire by Thomas S. Vernon
  4. See also Inventing Human Rights by Lynn Hunt. (Review by Gordon S. Wood and lecture on the book.)
  5. http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml
  6. [3]
  7. [4]
  8. [5]
  9. [6]
  10. [7]
  11. [8]
  12. [9]
  13. [10]
  14. [11]
  15. http://www.udhr.org/UDHR/ART10.HTM
  16. [12]
  17. [13]
  18. http://www.udhr.org/UDHR/ART13.HTM
  19. [14]
  20. [15]
  21. [16]
  22. [17]
  23. [18]
  24. [19]
  25. [20]
  26. [21]
  27. [22]
  28. http://mises.org/journals/jls/15_4/15_4_1.pdf
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