Human rights

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*The '''lack''' of the inclusion of the right to refuse to kill - a stance taken by Amnesty International
 
*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
 
*Unschoolers object to the right to an education saying that it impinges on their right to bring up their children as they see fit
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*Objections based on national sovereignty. (Translation:  "United Nations, you are not the boss of us!")
  
 
==See also==
 
==See also==

Revision as of 22:21, 20 March 2011

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Human rights are those rights that all people have (or should have, or are believed to have) as members of the human race.

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

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

  1. The right to life, liberty and security of person.
  2. No one should be held in slavery
  3. No one shall be tortured
  4. The right to equality before the law.
  5. The right to effective remedy when rights are violated
  6. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
  7. The right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty
  8. The right to privacy
  9. Freedom of movement
  10. The right of asylum
  11. The right to a nationality
  12. The right to marry
  13. The right to own property
  14. Freedom of religion
  15. Freedom of opinion and expression
  16. Peaceful assembly
  17. Equal pay for equal work
  18. The right to rest and leisure
  19. The right to a reasonable standard of living
  20. The right of an education
  21. The right to participate in society
  22. The right to intellectual property
  23. 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."[4]
  • 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. http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml
  4. http://mises.org/journals/jls/15_4/15_4_1.pdf
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