Hi purrrfect,
Here are some explanations of what Human Rights are.
- Universal moral rights belonging to all people because they are human.
- The rights people are entitled to simply because they are human
beings, irrespective of their citizenship, nationality, race,
ethnicity, language, sex, sexuality, or abilities; human rights become
enforceable when they are codified as conventions, covenants, or
treaties, or as they become recognized as customary international law.
- Rights thought to belong to all people simply because they are human beings.
The rights of all individuals to certain fundamental freedoms.
Enshrined in the Human Rights Act.
- Basic rights intended to protect all people from cruel and inhumane
treatment, threats to their lives, and persecution.
- Rights identified as being held by all humans from birth by virtue
of belonging to a civil society; rights such as the freedom of speech
and expression, the right to vote and practice a religion, the right
to equal treatment before the law and freedom from abuse by public
authorities.
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Meriam-Webster Dictionary definition
Main Entry: human rights
Function: noun plural
: rights (as freedom from unlawful imprisonment, torture, and
execution) regarded as belonging fundamentally to all persons
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Human rights - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights
"Human rights (natural rights) are rights which some hold to be
"inalienable" and belonging to all humans; according to natural law.
Such rights are believed, by proponents, to be necessary for freedom
and the maintenance of a "reasonable" quality of life."
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Origins of Rights
"Positive human rights follow mainly from the Rousseauian Continental
legal tradition, and are things to which every person is entitled and
for which every state is obligated. Examples of such rights (not all
are universally agreed upon) include: the rights to education, to a
livelihood, to private property, freedom of religion, freedom of
speech, and legal equality. Positive rights have been codified in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in many 20th century
constitutions.
Negative human rights follow mainly from the Anglo-American legal
tradition, and are rights which denote actions that a government
should not take. These are codified in the United States Bill of
Rights and the English Bill of Rights and include freedoms of speech,
religion and assembly.
There are a number of theories of where rights come from. The theory
espoused by the US Declaration of Independence and ingrained in
Anglo-American legal thought is that rights arise from natural law.
This theory is considered antiquated in moral philosophy."
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"Modern Liberal Definition of Human Rights
Within modern liberal political cultures, basic human rights are
defined as those which can be upheld in a society which follows two
basic rules:
All individuals should be allowed to act in any way they choose
providing that in doing so they do not prohibit other individuals from
that same privilege.
All individuals must take responsibility for the repercussions of their actions."
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Human Rights Watch
http://www.hrw.org/about/
"Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of
people around the world.
We stand with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, to
uphold political freedom, to protect people from inhumane conduct in
wartime, and to bring offenders to justice.
We investigate and expose human rights violations and hold abusers accountable.
We challenge governments and those who hold power to end abusive
practices and respect international human rights law.
We enlist the public and the international community to support the
cause of human rights for all."
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Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the General Assembly
of the United Nations
http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html
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Where do Human Rights come from described at the following site:
HISTORY OF UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS - UP TO WW2 by Moira Rayner
http://www.universalrights.net/main/histof.htm
"Human rights are rights possessed by people simply as, and because
they are, human beings. The term has only come into common currency
during the 20th century.
The idea of 'human rights' is not universal - it is essentially the
product of 17th and 18th century European thought. Even the idea of
'rights' does not necessarily exist in every society or advanced
civilisation. Rights are not the same thing as standards of behaviour
punishable or required by rules, which can be fundamentally unfair to
individuals, or used to oppress minority interests.
The earliest rules about standards of behaviour among people dealt
with prescribing or prohibiting conduct that experience proved was
likely to lead to conflict. There were great lawmakers - the Roman,
Justinian, for one, who published his great Codex of various laws in
the early 6th century -who tried to establish a cohesive schemes of
rights and duties. The great religions of the world - Judaism,
Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, and others - have all
sought to establish comprehensive, coherent moral codes of conduct
based on divine law..."
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The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy Human Rights
http://www.iep.utm.edu/h/hum-rts.htm
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Google search:
human rights
human rights origin
what are human rights
human rights history
why we need human rights
Best regards,
tlspiegel |
