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Human rights are the basic rights and freedoms that belong to every person in the

world. Ideas about human rights have evolved over many centuries. But they
achieved strong international support following the Holocaust and World War II.
To protect future generations from a repeat of these horrors, the United Nations
adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. For the first time, the
Universal Declaration set out the fundamental rights and freedoms shared by all
human beings.
What is Human Rights ?
Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality,
place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any
other status. We are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination.
These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and indivisible.
Universal human rights are often expressed and guaranteed by law, in the forms
of treaties, customary international law , general principles and other sources of
international law. International human rights law lays down obligations of
Governments to act in certain ways or to refrain from certain acts, in order to
promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms of individuals or
groups. So, Human rights mention as

By born rights
Natural rights
Full freedom and autonomy of individual human being
Inalienable moral entitlement

Evolved over time


Varies from society to society ,culture to culture
Recognized by international community
Order of justice
Equal opportunity in every sphere of life of a human being.

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Characteristics of Human Rights


As we told earlier, Human Rights are The fundamental rights that humans have by
the fact of being human, and that are neither created nor can be abrogated by
any government.
here are some characteristics of Human RightsUniversal and inalienable
The principle of universality of human rights is the cornerstone of international
human rights law. This principle, as first emphasized in the Universal Declaration
on Human Rights in 1948, has been reiterated in numerous international human
rights conventions, declarations, and resolutions. The 1993 Vienna World
Conference on Human Rights, for example, noted that it is the duty of States to
promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms, regardless of
their political, economic and cultural systems.
Human rights are inalienable. They should not be taken away, except in specific
situations and according to due process. For example, the right to liberty may be
restricted if a person is found guilty of a crime by a court of law.
Interdependent and indivisible
All human rights are indivisible, whether they are civil and political rights, such as
the right to life, equality before the law and freedom of expression; economic,
social and cultural rights, such as the rights to work, social security and education ,
or collective rights, such as the rights to development and self-determination, are
indivisible, interrelated and interdependent. The improvement of one right
facilitates advancement of the others. Likewise, the deprivation of one right
adversely affects the others.
Equal and non-discriminatory
Non-discrimination is a cross-cutting principle in international human rights law.
The principle is present in all the major human rights treaties and provides the
central theme of some of international human rights conventions such as the
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International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination


and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women.
The principle applies to everyone in relation to all human rights and freedoms and
it prohibits discrimination on the basis of a list of non-exhaustive categories such
as sex, race, colour and so on. The principle of non-discrimination is
complemented by the principle of equality, as stated in Article 1 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights: All human beings are born free and equal in
dignity and rights.
Both Rights and Obligations
Human rights entail both rights and obligations. States assume obligations and
duties under international law to respect, to protect and to fulfil human rights. The
obligation to respect means that States must refrain from interfering with or
curtailing the enjoyment of human rights. The obligation to protect requires States
to protect individuals and groups against human rights abuses. The obligation to
fulfil means that States must take positive action to facilitate the enjoyment of
basic human rights. At the individual level, while we are entitled our human rights,
we should also respect the human rights of others.

Human Rights Through the History


The Human Rights what developed though time since 2200 BC since Today. There
is a Timeline of Human rights through the time shows below-

Ancient period
Ancient Greece (500 BC)
Socrates

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The intellectual idea of rights in the Western world


was formulated by the early Greeks. There existed no
special word for the word rights in Greece..The
earliest classical sources of the idea of rights can be
traced to Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Socrates was
the first to promote the idea that human beings need
to free themselves from the influence of emotions to
have better control over their lives through reason.
He believed there were natural rights which first were apprehended through
reason and doubt of authority.In Socrates time the authority to define right
and rights was vested in the state and not the people. Issues of freedom were
not addressed in the same way as they are today. Individuals had various
roles in the society, but these were subordinate to the order of social power
defined by the Greek state.
Plato and Aristotle
In the 5th Century BCE, Greek philosophers of the
Sophist School argued that all human beings are equal
by nature. Laws and institutions that failed to respect
this basic equality, e.g. slavery, were thus branded as
being contrary to nature.
Both Plato and his disciple Aristotle, each in his own
way, argued for a common nature of being human,
which is realized in a legally instituted community, i.e.
the polis. Aristotle goes so far as to define human being as a social animal,
more specifically as a political animal (zoon politikon). The foundations for
living together as human beings are liberty, equality and justice. The civil society is
a community of free human beings.
The Al- Quran (500 AD)

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In its Arabic texts, the Qur'an


is
considered the primary
source of authority by
Muslims The Quran. The
Qur'an is a relatively short
book of 77,000 words that
are divided into one hundred
and fourteen chapters .The
book is largely concerned
with establishing boundaries
that Muslims are prohibited
from transgressing Within these boundaries the Qur'an treats human beings as
equally valuable and endowed with certain rights by virtue of simply being human,
hence Human rights. It shows us many kind of teachings of Human rights. Such1. Right to Life
The Qur'an upholds the sanctity and absolute value of human life and points out
that, in essence, the life of each individual is comparable to that of an entire
community and, therefore, should be treated with the utmost care
2. Right to Respect
The Qur'an deems all human beings to be worthy of respect because of all
creation they alone chose to accept the "trust" of freedom of the will.
3. Right to Justice
The Qur'an puts great emphasis on the right to seek justice and the duty to do
justice
Right to Freedom- the Qur'an is deeply concerned about liberating human beings
from every kind of bondage.
And also the Quran Shows us other general rights like Right to Acquire Knowledge
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Right to Sustenance
Right to Work
Right to Privacy
Right to Protection from Slander, Backbiting, and Ridicule
Right to "The Good Life"

Enlightenment period
Thomas Hobbs
Thomas Hobbes, an English philosopher in the 17th
century, was best known for his book Leviathan (1651)
and his political views on society. Many philosophers
and political theorists have believed that hobbs is
endowed with certain natural rights. Thomas Hobbes
analysis in Leviathan indicated that individual humans
had the natural right to survive.
Today, the term right is bantered about quite
commonly and in different ways. We have equal rights,
legal rights, prison riots, the right to life, and a right to
choose. Thomas hobbs defined four different generic types of rights:
Privileges, which are rights to do something and imply a guarantee that the
citizen be protected from the actions of others. For example, the right to
practice a religious belief is a guarantee that others will not persecute one for
this choice.
Immunities, which are rights to not do something and imply a guarantee of
freedom from burdens that one might otherwise face. For example, the
immunity from having to give evidence against oneself in court.

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Claims, which are rights that imply others will do something in your interest.
For example the right to repayment of a loan implies a duty on the part of
the debtor.
Powers, which are rights of an individual to deny usage to others. For
example, the right to a sandwich implies a power to deny others from eating
it.

John Locke
John Locke (1632-1704) was a British philosopher,
Oxford academic and medical researcher. Going
beyond Hobbes, however, John locke
identified fundamental and inalienable rights to life,
liberty and property. Thus the state has the function
of guaranteeing and upholding these natural rights of
man. When it fails to do so, it loses its legitimization.
Unlike Hobbes, Locke does not assign untrammeled
power to the state, insisting instead on the division of
power between the legislative (lawmaking) power and
the executive (law-enforcing) power. Later, Charles de Montesquieu (16891755)
would take up this idea and distinguish a third power, the judicative (law
interpreting) power. With Locke, the natural rights of the individual are superior to
the state, and so the individual can claim them as his/her personal rights over
against the state.
The ideas of John Locke had an important influence on the American Declaration
of Independence.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born June 28, 1712 in Geneva and died July 2, 1778 in
Ermenonville, France. He was one of the most important philosophers of the
French enlightenment.Rousseau Discussed Human Right in his Social Contract
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theory. Rousseau points out that right does not equal might. In other words, having
a right can never derive from force. A right must be
given legitimately which means it is attached to moral
and legal code. This makes it contractual whereby the
rights of one are applied to the rights of all. Once a right
is established, it is beneficial and necessary for the
individual to apply this right effectively for his best
interests and those of the whole. This motivation is
directed at the formation of community thereby creating
a social contract between individuals that come together
to act as a group.
Now a combination of rights is formed whereby each individual is protected by the
whole group that stands together as a community. The concept is that man standing
alone is more vulnerable than many men united each in defense of the other. This
condition makes it impossible for one to hurt an individual without hurting the
whole group or for one to hurt the group without affecting each individual.
There is now a social contract where individual rights are combined. In this case, it
is in the best interest of the individual to give over his rights to the group since he
has a more powerful protective base than standing alone
Thomas Aquinas
Saint Thomas Aquinas was a Catholic Priest in the Dominican Order and one of the
most important medieval philosophers and theologians. Although Thomas Aquinas
does believe in the existence of rights, he conceives of them in ways that are
significantly different from Enlightenment thought. When Thomas begins his
treatment of the virtue of justice in the Summa Theologiae Secunda Secundae, q.
57, a. 1, he starts with the question "whether right is the object of justice?" Since it
is obvious that he will answer "yes," it is misleadingly simple to believe that he
therefore is advocating rights. In fact, in the translation, there are two Latin word
which are translated as "right," and Thomas clearly sees a connection between
them, since one is in fact a species of the other. The two words are "rectum" and
"jus." The meaning of "rectum" is clearly the "morally correct" and has the sense
of "straight and true" in English. What is right in this sense, is the object of all the
virtues, and so is not special to justice, but insofar as justice concerns the ordering
of each person to others, there is a species of "rectum" that applies only to justice.
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This is "jus," which is the basis of what is just


(justum) and thus of justice (justitia).
Thomas fleshes out the meaning of "jus"
through this orientation to others which is the
proper object of justice. Thus, when he comes
to define the virtue of justice ( ST II-II, q. 58, a.
1), he says that it is "the habit whereby a man
renders to each one his due by a constant and
perpetual will." And since a virtue is defined by
the good act which is proper to it, and that a
good act is in turn defined by its proper object,
"jus" or "what is due to each man" seems to
have a logical priority over the virtue of justice. "Jus" also seems rather similar to
the modern notion of "right" in that it is that which is peculiar to every person and
what every other person owes to him or her.

John Stuart Mill


John Stuart Mill, (20 May 1806 8 May 1873)
was a British philosopher, political economist
and civil servant. He was an influential
contributor to social theory, political
theory and political economy. He has been
called "the most influential English-speaking
philosopher of the nineteenth century".
The canonical statement of Mill's human right
can be found in Utilitarianism. He said that-

When we call anything a persons right, we


mean that he has a valid claim on society to
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protect him in the possession of it, either by the force of law, or by that of
education or opinion. If he has what we consider a valid claim, on whatever
account, to have something guaranteed to him by society, we say that he has a right
to it. If we desire to prove that anything does not belong to him by right, we think
this done as soon as it is admitted that society ought not to take measures for
securing it to him, but should leave it to change, or to his own exertions.

Thomas Paine
Whatever is my right as a man is also the right of another; and it becomes my
duty to guarantee as well as to possess.
Thomas Paine, Rights of Man
Thomas Paine (1737-1809) was an English and
American political activist, philosopher,
political theorist and revolutionary. He was
best known for his outstanding writing in the
book Rights of Man.

He was one of the greatest promoters of


Human Rights. It is now accepted by the UK
government that all people have the right to
live in safety, have enough food and an equal
opportunity to education and heath care. When
Thomas Paine wrote The Rights of Man, in
1791 and 1792 ( the book had two volumes),
this was not the case. Many people could not
read or write and most lived in poverty. The
Right of Man put forward a strong argument for certain basic natural rights,
including:
- The right to be educated
- The right to work
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- The right to be looked after in old age


Paine said that governments which did not protect these rights were unlawful. The
book was very critical of monarchies and the nobles, saying that, since people did
not necessarily inherit wisdom, it was wrong that they inherited the right to rule.

Karl Marx (1848)


In 1948 Karl Marx publishes The Communist
Manifesto, He calls for a society where there are no
social classes. Karl Marx took the same view of human
rights, maintaining that they are concerned with rights to
enjoy and dispose of property arbitrarily, free of all social
or political responsibilities, except those commensurate
with the equal rights of others. To paraphrase Marx, the
rights represented by civil society are extended to those
who want to receive the freedom of property or the
egoism of trade, not to those who desire to free themselves
from property and trade.
Friedrich Engels
Friedrich Engels (November 28, 1820 August 5, 1895) was a German author,
political theorist and philosopher, most well known for his monumental work with
Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital.In his book Anti-Dhring,
Frederick Engels criticizes the social theories of the German philosopher and
economist Eugen Dhring.

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" The issue of human rights is the contemporary


version of this debate. Following Engels, I would say
that the "scientific content" of human rights
"determines its value for proletarian agitation."
Engels points out that with the decline of the Roman
Empire and the development of independent states,
each claiming the same right to nationhood as the
others, and being, in the bourgeois world at least, on
similar levels of development, the notion of equality
gave way to the idea of universal human rights. That
"universal human rights" are basically bourgeois
rights is illustrated by the fact that "the American
constitution, the first to recognize the rights of man, in the same breath confirms
the slavery of the coloured races existing in America: class privileges are
proscribed, race privileges sanctioned."
What Engels has tried to show is that our modern notions of human rights and
human equality are not eternal verities that hold true for every time and place. Both
the bourgeois and proletarian versions are historical products.
Engels says, quoting Marxif the modern notion of human rights already possesses the fixity of a popular
prejudice, this is due to the continuing influence of the Enlightenment on our
times.
Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham was an English philosopher and political radical. He is primarily
known today for his moral philosophy, especially his principle of utilitarianism,
which evaluates actions based upon their consequences. Utilitarianism, especially
in the classical form advocated by Jeremy Bentham, is frequently and fiercely
attacked for its inability to acknowledge and guarantee rights. Whether the
example proffered is the punishment of the innocent, torture, murder or any other
repugnant act, the accusation remains the same: Jeremy Bentham does not respect
rights. Bentham himself would have assented to this statement and with
enthusiasm. Nonsense Upon Stilts, his response to the 1789 French Declaration
of the Rights of Man and the Citizen (the Declaration), is a devastating
philosophical and political critique of the concept of natural rights. Indeed,
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Benthams destruction of the natural foundations of rights


was so thorough that no one has managed to restore them.

Immanuel kant
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) is one of the
most influential philosophers in the history of
Western philosophy. His contributions to
metaphysics, epistemology, ethics,
and aesthetics have had a profound impact on
almost every philosophical movement that
followed him. Immanuel Kant (1724 1804)
examined the idea of human rights within
politics in such a way that it is only a
legitimate government that guarantees our
natural right to freedom, and from this
freedom we derive other rights. From this
basis it can be assumed that Kant looks at the
development, creation and implementation of
rights as primarily dependent on the state and
how the government within the state functions. Furthermore, Kant stresses that a
society can only function politically in relation to the state if fundamental rights,
laws and entitlements are given and enhanced by the state. As Kant teaches, these
righteous laws are founded upon 3 rational principles:
1. The liberty of every member of the society as a man
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2. The equality of every member of the society with every other, as a subject
3. The independence of every member of the commonwealth as a citizen.
It is common for Kant's rights-based liberalism to be contrasted with the
communitarian authoritarianism of the later Fichte and of Hegel, and it is the
concept of autonomy that is generally regarded as the theoretical fount of Kant's
theory of natural rights, providing the analytical link between Kant's moral
philosophy and his political and legal theory.
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856
February 3, 1924) was the 28th President of the
United States from 1913 to 1921 and leader of
the Progressive Movement. When the European
nations went to war in August 1914, President
Wilson saw the conflict as a sign that the old
international system created by the Europeans had
failed. Now was the time for new leadership. Wilson
sought to create mechanisms for ensuring peace and
stability, and one of his concerns was for the peoples
of other nations. Wilson wanted to reconfigure the
old diplomacy and replace it with an open system, one based on cooperation and
communication. An ardent and eloquent advocate for liberalism, Wilson believed
that democracy should prevail as the system of political governance around the
world. In speaking to this issue time and again, he advocated the collective human
rights of peoples to determine their own fates. More specifically, he pledged
himself to the rights of eastern European peoples to choose their own form of
government as the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed at the end of the war.

Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, commonly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was the
preeminent leader of Indian nationalism in British-ruled India. Employing nonviolent civil disobedience, Gandhi led India to independence and inspired
movements for non-violence, civil rights and freedom across the world.
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It is undeniable that Gandhi is one of the worlds greatest


political and spiritual leaders. In India he is honored as
the father of the nation. He inspired his compatriots to
fight for peace, freedom and democracy. He upheld the
importance of human rights and non-discrimination. This
is why he was named Mahatma, which means great
soul.
Gandhi promoted Human Rights, which are part of every
human being, independent of origin, religion, age, gender
or social status. They are not just a history lesson or
words without meaning, but include the essence of every
single person all over the world. They allow us to live with safety, dignity, unity,
love and of course peace. This latter is another word with deep meaning, because
peace is not just a situation, it is the only way to joy, respect for diversity, and
democracy.
But his influence has not ended. Gandhi was the light-guide for thousands of
people, in order to fight against war, especially using his method of protest
satyagraha. Acceptance of suffering for the sake of truth and resistance to
violence with nonviolence became a powerful movement all over the world and
also a way of life. The first condition of nonviolence is justice all round, in every
department of life. Justice, respect for diversity, unity and solidarity, love of nature,
are the keys for a better world, according to Gandhi.
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela, one of the most recognizable
human rights symbols of the twentieth century, is
a man whose dedication to the liberties of his
people inspires human rights advocates
throughout the world.

Mandela was the key figure in South Africas


struggle to end the rule of the minority white
population over the majority black citizens of the
country. He was known for using non-violent
tactics and protests while pushing toward a new
land of equal rights regardless of race. In 1964 he
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was sentenced to life in prison for his work in desegregation. He served 27 years
before being released.
In 1993, Mandela was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He became South Africas
first black president in 1994. The time for the healing of the wounds has come.
The moment to bridge the chasms that divide us has come, he said in his
acceptance speech. He then stepped down in 1999 for his deputy, Thabo Mbeki.
After suffering from a prolonged respiratory infection, Mandela died on 5
December 2013 at the age of 95. Though Mandela Left but he gifted us with a will
to fight for out rights till the end. As he saidIf you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you
talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.

Political development of Human Rights:


The Cyrus Cylinder (2200 BC)
The Cyrus the Great Cylinder is the first charter of right of nations in the world. It is
a baked-clay cyliner in Akkadian language with cuneiform script. This cylinder was
excavated in 1879 by the Assyro-British archaeologist Hormuzd Rassam in the
foundations of the Esagila (the Marduk temple of Babylon) and is kept today in the
British Museum in London.

Cyrus the Great, the first king of Persia, freed the slaves of Babylon, 539 B.C.

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On October 12 (Julian calendar; October 7 by the Gregorian calendar) 539 BC,


Achaemanid army without any conflict entered the city of Babylon. Cyrus the Great
himself, on October 29, entered the city, assuming the titles of "king of Babylon, king
of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four corners of the
world". Cyrus the Great, on this cylinder, describes
how he conquers the old city of Babylon and how his
mighty army in peace marched into the city; his claim
that he entered the city peacefully supports the same
statement in the Chronicle of Nabonidus. The last king
of Babylon, Nabonidus, is considered a tyrant with odd
religious ideas, which causes Marduk, patron deity of
the city of Babylon to intervene. Cyrus considers himself chosen by a supreme god, is
confirmed by Second Isaiah, the chapters 40-55 of the Biblical book of Isaiah. The
Cyrus Cylinder then was placed under the walls of "Esagila" as a foundation deposit,
following a Mesopotamian tradition.

In 1971, the Cyrus Cylinder was described as the worlds first charter of human rights,
and it was translated into all six official U.N. languages. A replica of the cylinder is
kept at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City in the second floor
hallway, between the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council
chambers.

The Magna Carta (1215)


The Magna Carta, or Great Charter, was arguably the most significant early
influence on the extensive historical process that led to the rule of constitutional
law today in the English-speaking world.

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Magna Carta, or Great Charter, signed by the King of England in 1215, was a turning point in human
rights.

In 1215, after King John of England violated a number of ancient laws and
customs by which England had been governed, his subjects forced him to sign the
Magna Carta, which enumerates what later came to be thought of as human rights.
Among them was the right of the church to be free from governmental
interference, the rights of all free citizens to own and inherit property and to be
protected from excessive taxes. It established the right of widows who owned
property to choose not to remarry, and established principles of due process and
equality before the law. It also contained provisions forbidding bribery and official
misconduct.
Widely viewed as one of the most important legal documents in the development
of modern democracy, the Magna Carta was a crucial turning point in the struggle
to establish freedom.

Petition of Right (1628)


After the magna Carta, The next recorded milestone in the development of human
rights was the Petition of Right, produced in 1628 by the English Parliament and
sent to Charles I as a statement of civil liberties. Refusal by Parliament to finance
the kings unpopular foreign policy had caused his government to exact forced
loans and to quarter troops in subjects houses as an economy measure. Arbitrary
arrest and imprisonment for opposing these policies had produced in Parliament a
violent hostility to Charles and to George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham. The
Petition of Right, initiated by Sir Edward Coke, was based upon earlier statutes and
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charters and asserted four principles: (1) No taxes may be levied without consent
of Parliament, (2) No subject may be
imprisoned without cause shown
(reaffirmation of the right of habeas corpus),
(3) No soldiers may be quartered upon the
citizenry, and (4) Martial law may not be used
in time of peace.
United States Declaration of Independence
(1776)
On July 4, 1776, the United States Congress approved the Declaration of
Independence. Its primary author, Thomas Jefferson, wrote the Declaration as a
formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence
from Great Britain, more than a year after the outbreak of the American
Revolutionary War, and as a statement announcing that the thirteen American
Colonies were no longer a part of the British Empire. Congress issued the
Declaration of Independence in several forms. It was initially published as a
printed broadsheet that was widely distributed and read to the public.

In 1776, Thomas Jefferson penned the American Declaration of Independence.

Philosophically, the Declaration stressed two themes: individual rights and the
right of revolution. These ideas became widely held by Americans and spread
internationally as well, influencing in particular the French Revolution.
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Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789)


In 1789 the people of France brought about the abolishment of the absolute
monarchy and set the stage for the establishment of the first French Republic. Just
six weeks after the storming of the Bastille, and barely three weeks after the
abolition of feudalism, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
(French: La Dclaration des Droits de lHomme et du Citoyen) was adopted by the
National Constituent Assembly as the first step toward writing a constitution for
the Republic of France.

Following the French Revolution in 1789, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen granted specific
freedoms from oppression, as an expression of the general will.

The Declaration proclaims that all citizens are to be guaranteed the rights of
liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression. It argues that the need for
law derives from the fact that ...the exercise of the natural rights of each man has
only those borders which assure other members of the society the enjoyment of
these same rights. Thus, the Declaration sees law as an expression of the general
will, intended to promote this equality of rights and to forbid only actions
harmful to the society.

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The Holocaust
The Holocaust is among the most systematic and blatant violations of human rights
in recorded history. It was rationalized by an elaborate Nazi doctrine which denied
the humanity of its victims: Jews, homosexuals, communists, Slavs. The shock
provoked by the cruelty of this unashamed dehumanization accelerated
international human rights legislation as no previous events had ever done. One
immediate result was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed by
the United Nations in 1948, in which the connection between being human and
having rights was drawn for everyone. In the decades that followed, other charters
expanded these rights and the mechanisms for their enforcement.

The United Nations (1945)


World War II had raged from 1939 to 1945, and as the end drew near, cities
throughout Europe and Asia lay in smoldering ruins. Millions of people were dead,
millions more were homeless or starving. Russian forces were closing in on the
remnants of German resistance in Germanys bombed-out capital of Berlin. In the
Pacific, US Marines were still battling entrenched Japanese forces on such islands
as Okinawa.
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. The ideals of the organization were stated in the preamble to its
proposed charter: We the peoples of the United Nations are determined to save
succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has
brought untold sorrow to mankind.The Charter of the new United Nations
organization went into effect on October 24, 1945, a date that is celebrated each
year as United Nations Day.

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The Universal Declaration of


Human Rights (1948)
Member states of the United Nations
pledged to promote respect for the
human rights of all. To advance this
goal, the UN established
a Commission on Human Rights and
charged it with the task of drafting a
document spelling out the meaning
of the fundamental rights and
freedoms proclaimed in the Charter.
The Commission, guided by Eleanor
Roosevelts forceful leadership,
captured the worlds attention.
On December 10, 1948,
the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (UDHR)was adopted by the
56 members of the United Nations.
The vote was unanimous, although eight nations chose to abstain.
The UDHR, commonly referred to as the international Magna Carta, extended the
revolution in international law ushered in by the United Nations Charter namely,
that how a government treats its own citizens is now a matter of legitimate
international concern, and not simply a domestic issue. It claims that all rights
areinterdependent and indivisible. Its Preamble eloquently asserts that:
[R]ecognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights
of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice,
and peace in the world.
The influence of the UDHR has been substantial. Its principles have been
incorporated into the constitutions of most of the more than 185 nations now in the
UN. Although a declaration is not a legally binding document, the Universal

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Declaration has achieved the status of customary international law because people
regard it "as a common standard of achievement for all people and all nations."

Modern age development of Human rights


Here we can see the recent development of countries and personals to ensure the
human rights The 1993 Vienna World Conference on Human Rights helped refocus
international attention on human rights in the post-Cold War world. The war
crimes tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, established by the
U.N. Security Council in 1993 and 1994, have developed the law of armed
conflict and international humanitarian law, seeking to protect civilians and
noncombatants in those civil war conflicts.
The 1995 United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing
attempted to place womens issues within the mainstream of international
human rights discussions
Special tribunals were established for Sierra Leone in 2002 and Cambodia in
2003 to prosecute military and political leaders responsible for atrocities
during times of war and genocide.
In 2002, the United States established the Millennium Challenge
Corporation to provide economic assistance to countries that govern
democratically, invest in their people, and encourage economic freedom.

The Human Rights day

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The UN General Assembly proclaimed 10 December as Human Rights Day in


1950, to bring to the attention of the peoples of the world the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights as the common standard of achievement for all
peoples and all nations.
This years slogan, Human Rights 365, encompasses the idea that every day is
Human Rights Day. It celebrates the fundamental proposition in the Universal
Declaration that each one of us, everywhere, at all times is entitled to the full range
of human rights, that human rights belong equally to each of us and bind us
together as a global community with the same ideals and values.

Human Rights Issues


Continuous attempts are being made in every country by the Commission to
address various Human Rights Issues. Some of these issues are being monitored as
Programmes on the directions of the Supreme Court of the countries. Still there are
many unsolved issues such asPrisoners and People at Risk
Prisoners and people at risk are those whose human rights have been violated or
are under threat of violation.
Poverty and Human Rights
Everyone, everywhere has the right to live with dignity. That means that no one
should be denied their rights to adequate housing, food, water and sanitation, and
to education and health care.
Death Penalty
The death penalty is the ultimate, irreversible denial of human rights. It is the
premeditated and cold-blooded killing of a human being by the state.

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Security and Human Rights


Amnesty International insists that states must respect human rights in any actions
they take in the name of national security or countering terrorism.
Refugee and Migrant Rights
Every day across the world refugees, migrants and internally displaced persons
make the difficult decision to leave their homes.
Torture
Torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment must stop. Those responsible
for authorizing it must be held accountable.
Women's Rights
Living free from violence is a human right. Yet millions of women and girls around
the world encounter rape, domestic abuse, mutilation and other forms of genderbased violence.
Children's Rights
Across the world, children are denied their human rights. They miss out on their
right to education. They are abandoned and left to fend for themselves on the
street. They are recruited into armed forces. They are subjected to the death penalty
and suffer many other forms of violence.
Censorship and Free Speech
Everyone has the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas without
fear or interference.
Business and Human Rights
Privatization and economic globalization have given companies unprecedented
access to new territories, and expanded their reach across national borders.

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Military, Police and Arms


By encouraging governments to act responsibly in this area, Amnesty International
USA seeks to prevent or minimize violations or abuses of humanitarian and human
rights law.
International Justice
International justice is the cooperation between countries to hold accountable
individuals accused of grave human rights abuses, such as genocide, crimes against
humanity and war crimes.
Human Rights and Bangladesh
The human rights condition determined by the social and political values and also
with the economic condition. Most of the people of Bangladesh lead their life
below the poverty line. The human rights of Bangladesh are separate from the
western values. The condition of human rights of Bangladesh mainly detected by
the condition of women child minorities and the role of security forces.
International community mainly focuses on the role of security forces and severe
violation of human rights. The constitution of Bangladesh provides enough space
for rights of every individual human being. Traditional and religious value are on
the focus on any discussion of human rights of Bangladesh. If any one try to
evaluate the human right situation in Bangladesh he must acknowledge the
traditional social and religious value of Bangladesh. The constitution of
Bangladesh is the main source of human rights on legal verdict. Because of
different international treaties and as a member of UN Bangladesh should maintain
some international rules and regulation. The Human rights condition of Bangladesh
mainly focused by the international community.The mainly focused on extra
judicial killings,tortuer against women minorities repression. But there not focused
on the traditional religions values. So to improve the human rights condition of
Bangladesh, the religion must plays a vital role which ensured by the government.

Conclusion :

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We are living in an era of dramatic change and transition, in a world that is being
transformed by complex financial systems and revolutionary information
technologies into a vast global marketplace. Globalization is creating new patterns
of interaction among people and States, promising unprecedented opportunities for
material progress in larger freedom, but also threatening to compound many
existing challenges before the international community while deepening the
economic marginalization of those most vulnerable. In this complex scenario,
human rights, which were embedded formally at the United Nations as a great
international priority 50 years ago -- by means of the December 1948 Universal
Declaration of Human Rights -- have gained prominence as a universally
recognized set of norms and standards that increasingly inform all aspects of our
relations as individuals and as collective members of groups, within communities
and among nations. There is now near-universal recognition that respect for human
rights -- the rights of political choice and association, of opinion and expression,
and of culture; the freedom from fear and from all forms of discrimination and
prejudice; freedom from want and the right to employment and well-being and,
collectively, to development -- is essential to the sustainable achievement of the
three agreed global priorities of peace, development and democracy.

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