Human Rights

What are human rights?

“Human rights are the basic rights and freedoms that
belong to every person in the world, from birth until
death”
• They apply regardless of where you are from, what you
believe or how you choose to live your life.
• They can never be taken away, although they can
sometimes be restricted – for example if a person breaks
the law, or in the interests of national security.
• These basic rights are based on shared values like dignity,
fairness, equality, respect and independence.
• These values are defined and protected by law.
 Introduction to Human Rights
• The Rights and Fundamental Rights are
sections of the Constitution of India that
provides people with their rights.
These Fundamental Rights are considered as
basic human rights of all citizens, irrespective
of their gender, caste, religion or creed.
etc. These sections are the vital elements of
the constitution, which was developed
between 1947 and 1949 by the Constitution of
India.
There are six fundamental rights in India. They
are Right to Equality, Right to Freedom, Right
against Exploitation, Right to Freedom of
Religion, Cultural and Educational Rights,
and Right to Constitutional Remedies
https://www.toppr.com/guides/civics/the-
indian-constitution/rights-and-fundamental-
rights/
• They are Right to Equality,

• Right to Freedom,

• Right against Exploitation,

• Right to Freedom of Religion, Cultural and

Educational Rights

• Right to Constitutional Remedies

• Right to Equality- Right to Equality ensures
equal rights for all the citizens. The Right to
Equality prohibits inequality on the basis of
caste, religion, place of birth, race, or gender.
It also ensures equality of opportunity in
matters of public employment and prevents
the State from discriminating against anyone
in matters of employment on the grounds only
of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of
birth, place of residence or any of them.
• Right to Freedom- Right to freedom provides
us with various rights. These rights are
freedom of speech, freedom of expression,
freedom of assembly without arms, freedom
of movement throughout the territory of our
country, freedom of association, freedom to
practice any profession, freedom to reside in
any part of the country. However, these rights
have their own restrictions.
• Right against Exploitation- Right against
Exploitation condemns human trafficking, child
labor, forced labor making it an offense
punishable by law, and also prohibit any act of
compelling a person to work without wages
where he was legally entitled not to work or to
receive remuneration for it. Unless it is for the
public purpose, like community services
or NGO work.
• Right to Freedom of Religion- Right to Freedom
of Religion guarantees religious freedom and
ensures secular states in India. The
Constitutions says that the States should treat
all religions equally and impartially and that no
state has an official religion. It also guarantees
all people the freedom of conscience and the
right to preach, practice and propagate any
religion of their choice.
• Cultural and Educational Rights- Cultural and
Educational Rights protects the rights of
cultural, religious and linguistic minorities by
enabling them to conserve their heritage and
protecting them against discrimination.
Educational rights ensure education for
everyone irrespective of their caste, gender,
religion, etc
• Right to Constitutional Remedies- Right to
Constitutional Remedies ensures citizens to go to
the supreme court of India to ask for enforcement
or protection against violation of their
fundamental rights. The Supreme Court has the
jurisdiction to enforce the Fundamental Rights
even against private bodies, and in case of any
violation, award compensation as well to the
affected individual.

The Supreme Court recently added Right To Privacy

in the fundamental rights.
History and Evolution of Human Rights
Global Context
A Brief History of Human Rights. ... The United
Nations pinpoint the origin of Human
Rights to the year 539 BC. When the troops of
Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon, Cyrus
freed the slaves, declared that all people had
the right to choose their own religion, and
established racial equality.
 The Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (1948)
• In its preamble and in Article 1, the Declaration
unequivocally proclaims the inherent rights of all
human beings: “Disregard and contempt for
human rights have resulted in barbarous acts
which have outraged the conscience of mankind,
and 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.”
World War II had raged from 1939 to 1945, and
as the end drew near, cities throughout
Europe and Asia lay in smouldering
ruins. Millions of people were dead, millions
more were homeless or starving.
In April 1945, delegates from fifty countries met
in San Francisco full of optimism and hope.
The goal of the United Nations Conference on
International Organization was to fashion an
international body to promote peace and
prevent future wars.
 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
This declaration contains 30 articles, apart from its Preamble.
• Articles 1 and 2 focus on rational nature of all human beings and reaffirm
faith in their dignity, freedom, equality and fraternity. They rule out any
discrimination between them on grounds of race, colour, sex, language,
religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or
other type of status.

• Articles 3 and 4 provide for everyone's right to life, liberty and security
of person; prohibition of slavery, slave trade and servitude. Article 5 rules out
torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment to any
person.
• Article 6 to 11 provide for equality before the law, equal protection
against any discrimination, legal remedy, freedom from arbitrary arrest,
detention or exile, and adherence to fair legal procedure in case a person is
accused.
• Article 12 rules out arbitrary interference with an individual's privacy,
family, home or correspondence, and attacks upon his honor and reputation.
• Article 13 and 14 provide for the right to freedom of movement and
residence and the right to seek asylum from persecution in other
countries.
• Article 15 provides for the right to a nationality; Article 16
for the right to marry and found a family with the free and
full consent of the intending spouses; and Article 17 for the
right to own property.
• Article 18, 19 and 20 provide for the right to
freedom of thought, conscience and religion; the right to
freedom of opinion and expression; and the right to
freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
• Article 21 provides for the right to take part in the
government of one's country through one's chosen
representatives and the right of equal access to public
service. It also recommends that the will of the people,
expressed in periodic and genuine elections, by universal
and equal suffrage, by secret voting, shall be the basis of
authority of government. In this way this Article regards
democratic from of government as an essential feature of
human rights.
• On the other hand, Articles 22 to 26 provide for social and economic rights of
the individual. These include the right to social security, right to work, to free
choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work, equal pay
for equal work, just and favourable remuneration, right to form trade unions,
right to rest and leisure, adequate standard of living, special care and
assistance during motherhood and childhood, and right to education.
• Article 27 provides for cultural rights including the right to participate
freely in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in
scientific advancement and its benefits, and author's right to the protection
of the moral and material interests resulting from his scientific, literary or
artistic production.
• Article 28 focuses on everyone's entitlement to a social and
international order in which all these rights and freedoms can be fully
realized. This article is concerned with the sphere of application of the rights
in question.
• Finally, Article 29 and 30 focus on everyone's duties to the community
to ensure full development of his personality. And individual would be
entitled to the aforesaid rights and freedoms on the condition of recognizing
similar rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements
of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society. No
state, group or person would have any right to engage in any activity
involving the destruction of any of these rights and freedoms
How does the UN promote and protect human rights?

High Commissioner for Human Rights

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights (OHCHR) has lead responsibility in the UN
system for the promotion and protection
of human rights. The office supports the human
rights components of peacekeeping missions in
several countries, and has many country and
regional offices and centres. The High
Commissioner for Human Rights regularly
comments on human rights situations in the
world and has the authority to investigate
situations and issue reports on them.
 Human Rights Council
The united nations Human Rights council
created at the 2005 World Summit to replace
the United Nations Commission of Human
Rights has a mandate to Investigate violation
of human rights
 Human Rights Treaty Bodies

The human rights treaty bodies are committees

of independent experts that monitor
implementation of the core international
human rights treaties
 Special Procedures

The special procedures of the Human Rights

Council are prominent, independent experts
working on a voluntary basis, who examine,
monitor, publicly report and advise on human
rights from a thematic or country-specific
perspective.
 UNDG-HRM

The UN Development Group’s Human Rights

Mainstreaming Mechanism (UNDG-HRM)
advances human rights mainstreaming efforts
within the UN development system.
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/
Pages/UniversalHumanRightsInstruments.aspx

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeTSy3-
2p1U