Most people have an idea of what their human rights are, but few know that the concept is incredibly broad. Rather than being limited to freedoms of speech and belief, human rights encompass nearly all aspects of life. They include the right to food, shelter and security; the ability to work and earn a living without fear of being exploited or mistreated; and the freedom to marry and raise children according to one’s own beliefs and practices. They also embrace the right to play, leisure and travel.
The roots of human rights go back to ancient Greece and Rome, where the idea was that human conduct should be judged by, and brought into harmony with, natural law. It was a view expressed in Sophocles’ Antigone, for example, where the title character defied King Creon to bury her brother, arguing that it was her duty to follow the laws of nature and honour her dead son.
More recently, the modern world developed the concept of human rights as a response to the barbarities committed in the Second World War. Human rights are a set of principles that recognise the fundamental worth of every person, and form the basis for a world built on freedom, justice and peace.
In 1948 the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which delineates 30 basic human rights that all humans are entitled to. The UDHR is the most widely agreed set of human rights in existence. It is the basis for all other legally binding international human rights treaties, and it is incorporated into many national constitutions and legal frameworks worldwide.
It is important that people understand the full range of their human rights in order to protect them and fight against discrimination, intolerance and injustice. This is because when people do not know their rights, they cannot take them seriously or defend them if they are violated. It is also vital to understand that human rights are indivisible and interdependent, and violations of some rights often lead to violations of others.
Human rights have been influenced by a number of philosophical and religious traditions, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism and Confucianism. Dr Peng-chun Chang, an expert on Confucianism, believes that its teachings of ren or compassion lay the groundwork for these ideas.
Throughout history, human rights have been a focus of debate and debate has been intense in recent years, as governments grapple with the challenge of developing and maintaining human rights in a rapidly changing global political and economic environment.
The UDHR and other international human rights instruments are legally binding but they can only be enforced by a system of international bodies that monitor and investigate allegations of violations. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is the most important of these bodies, but there are a range of other monitoring and investigative committees. The role of these committees is to ensure that people are treated fairly and with dignity, and to encourage states to protect their citizens’ human rights.