INTRODUCTION

Human rights are the rights given to every individual in the world which applies
from birth till death. It is the right which can be enjoyed by everyone without
any discrimination, as they are human being so they have this right to enjoy.
One can lose these rights if he or she ceases to be a human being. Human rights
are those basic standards without which people cannot live in dignity. To violate
someone’s human rights is to treat that person as though she or he were not a
human being. To advocate human rights is to demand that the human dignity of
all people be respected. 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 values like dignity, fairness, equality, respect
and independence. But human rights are not just abstract concepts – they are
defined and protected by law.

In some communities, ‘human rights’ include a specific set of laws and

legislation. In others, ‘human rights’ are simply guidelines that reflect the
morals and expectations of individuals within that community.
Rights Meaning and Definition

Meaning : Human rights refer to the "basic rights and freedoms to which all
humans are entitled”. It is the inherent rights of a man. "Inalienable fundamental
rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a
human being. Human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to
life and liberty, freedom of expression, and equality before the law; and social,
cultural and economic rights, including the right to participate in culture, the
right to food, the right to work, and the right to education.

Definition : It is very difficult to define Human Right. However attempts made

by some authorities are stated hereunder -

1. According to Laski, “Rights are those conditions of social life without

which no man can seek in general, to be himself at his best.”
2. T. H. Green explained that “Rights are powers necessary for the
fulfilment of man’s vocation as a moral being.
3. According to Jeremy Bentham, human rights refer to “the basic rights
and freedoms that all humans should have the right to life and liberty,
freedom of thought and expression, equality before the law”.
4. In the words of Abraham Lincoin, “nation conceived in liberty, and
dedicated to the proposition that all man are created equal”
Impact of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which the United Nation

Organisation, adopted on 10th December 1948, enumerates various Civil &
Political Rights and Economic and Social Rights. This Declaration had a great
impact on the philosophy and ideology of the Constitution framers, while the
Constitution of India was in the making at that time. Many similar rights were
incorporated in our Constitution under the headings Fundamental Rights and
Directive Principles of the State Policy in Chapter III & IV respectively and
these rights have a great significance for the Indian people as they have enabled
every citizen of India to live freely and honourably. A human being gets full
freedom to develop himself mentally and physically, through the principles
imbedded by freedom fighters lead by Mahatma Gandhi.

At the time of Declaration of the Human Rights, the General Assembly

proclaimed the Universal Declaration was to be a common standard of
achievement for all the people and all the nations, to the end that every
individual and every organ of the society, keeping the declaration constantly in
mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights
and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure
their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the people
of Member states themselves and among themselves and among the people of
territories under their jurisdiction.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights promulgated by the United

Nations, to which India was a party, proclaimed basic human rights, although it
did not provide for any machinery for its enforcement. The historical struggle
for political freedom in India had made a declaration of Fundamental Rights
inevitable. In fact, the Indian Declaration at the Round Table Conference had
pressed for the enactment of Fundamental Rights in the Constitution which, it
was expected the British Parliament would pass.

India adopted its Republican Constitution in 1950 and included a special part on
Fundamental Rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted and
proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations on the 10th of
December 1948 is indeed one of the precious events in the ongoing march of
mankind in the direction of refining civilization. A standard code of Human
Rights for the entire homo sapiens race was made applicable to the whole globe
and it was what mankind had been striving over for centuries. Now what is
understood is that ‘the premises for the Universal Declaration is that the entire
mankind is treated as one member of one human family; the rights are
inalienable and are considered on the foundation of freedom, justice and peace.
Dignity of the human person is acclaimed and men and women with equal
rights are indeed to march ahead for the promotion of social progress and for the
better standards of life and environment of such freedom. The topic of human
rights is of universal concern and it cuts across all ideological, political and
cultural boundaries. Respect for human rights is one of the cardinal principles
for an effective operation of Constitution, Law and the Government of any
country. Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is based on
two assumptions namely, the right to liberty and equality is man’s birth right
and cannot be alienated, because man is rational and a moral being, he is
different from other creations on earth and, therefore, is entitled to certain rights
and freedoms which other creators do not enjoy. Here it is contentatious to note
the words of Prof. Upendra Baxi, who holds that ‘I take it as axiomatic that the
historic mission of the contemporary human rights is to give voice to human
suffering to make it visible and to ameliorate it. Laying down the very basis of
the Human Rights, the commendable author goes on to continue that ‘the ethics
of human rights emerges as a tradition of critical morality by which the positive
morality of human rights practices themselves may be judged. Respect towards
the other as a co-equal human is a groundwork of an ethic of human rights,
furnishing universal valid norms for human conduct and the basic structure of a
society.’ Every societal culture encapsulates beliefs, sentiments, symbols that
impart sense to the notion of being human, no matter in how many different
registers of inclusivity. These societal human rights cultures relate to global
cultures of human rights. They are shaped by the golden cultures and in turn
shape them.

Also, though they were added later by way of amendment, the fundamental
duties enshrined in the Constitution of India, contained in Part IV A, are in
consonance with Article 29 (1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
which says, “everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and
full development of his personality is possible". ‘We must reaffirm faith in
recognition of the inherent dignity and inalienable rights of all citizens as the
foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, which implies
obligations and responsibilities.’ Human rights, thus, go hand in hand with
responsibilities. It is very necessary that all citizens should be made aware of
the potential of Article 51A relating to fundamental duties as a means to ensure
the protection of human rights. Hereby, the demand for effective protection of
Human Rights has also gained prominence by this Declaration.

Promoting and Protecting Human Rights in the UN system

A major step in drafting the International Bill of Human Rights was realized on
10 December 1948, when the General Assembly adopted the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all
peoples and nations. However, at same time when the Universal Declaration
was being made, the Constitution of India was also in making. Part III and Part
IV of the Constitution were specifically created, with an interest of providing
for the Human Rights in the Constitution itself and on a further comparison of
the two documents, it is found that the two are conspicuously similar and tend
to give effect to promote the standard of the Human being as such and also to
secure him the natural rights, which formed a part of his right to live a peaceful
and amicable right. Constitutional guarantees for the human rights of our people
were one of the persistent demands of our leaders throughout the freedom
struggle. It was made as far back as in 1895 in the Constitution of India Bill,
popularly known as the Swaraj Bill, which was inspired by Lokmanya Tilak.
The demand was repeated in Mrs. Anne Besants’ Commonwealth of India Bill,
finalized by the National Convention of Political parties in 1925, by the Motilal
Nehru Committee in 1928, at the Karachi session of the Indian National
Congress in 1932 and by the Tej Bahadur Sapru Committee, 1944-45.

Greatest legal luminaries of our country participated in the Constitutional

debates and on the basis of the human rights Jurisprudence of 1950, Part III of
the Constitution containing the Chapter on Fundamental Rights was evolved.
On the analogy of the Irish Constitution, other rights came to be included in Part
IV and were called the Directive Principles of State Action.

The distinction between fundamental rights and human rights is that the
political decisions lead to fundamental rights while the moral principles lead to
human rights. The above-mentioned distinction between human and
fundamental rights is based on a distinction between morality and ethics.
Human rights indicate moral universalistic principles, while fundamental rights
form the particularistic ethics of the community in which they play the
functional role of fundamental norms that legitimise ordinary law. Accordingly,
human rights are universal because of their being grounded only on the notion
of person, transcending any particular context. Fundamental rights, instead, are
characterised by their function within a particular judicial and political system,
regardless of the scope of this system.
Fundamental Rights are provided to the citizens by the Constitution of India.
The Fundamental Rights and Duties are among the vital sections of the
Constitution and prescribe the fundamental obligations of the state to its citizens
and the duties of the citizens to the state. These are the essential elements of the
constitution and they were developed by the Constituent Assembly of India
between 1947 and 1949. Part III of the Constitution of India describes the
Fundamental Rights offered to the country`s citizens. Fundamental Rights are
essential human rights that can be offered to every citizen irrespective of caste,
race, creed, place of birth, religion or gender. Fundamental Rights are subjected
to specific restrictions and enforceable by courts. These are equal to freedoms
and these rights are essential for personal good and the society at large.

Fundamental Rights are preserved as they guarantee civil liberties to all the
citizens of the country for a calm and pleasant life. These are individual rights
and comprise freedom of speech and expression, freedom to practice religion,
equality before law, freedom of association and peaceful assembly and the right
to constitutional remedies for the safeguard of civil rights by means of writs
such as habeas corpus. The concept of providing the fundamental rights to the
citizens has been taken from the England`s Bill of Rights; United States Bill of
Rights and also France`s Declaration of the Rights of Man. Anyone who is
violating the fundamental rights will face punishments in the court of law.

Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar, the Founder Father of Indian Constitution made a
cautionary note on the eve of adopting the constitution of India:

Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled
to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in
accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic,
social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development
of his personality.
Human Rights Principles

Human rights are universal and inalienable; indivisible; interdependent and

interrelated. They are universal because everyone is born with and possesses the
same rights, regardless of where they live, their gender or race, or their
religious, cultural or ethnic background. Inalienable because people’s rights can
never be taken away. Indivisible and interdependent because all rights –
political, civil, social, cultural and economic – are equal in importance and none
can be fully enjoyed without the others. They apply to all equally, and all have
the right to participate in decisions that affect their lives. They are upheld by the
rule of law and strengthened through legitimate claims for duty-bearers to be
accountable to international standards.

1.Universality and Inalienability: Human rights are universal and inalienable.

All people everywhere in the world are entitled to them. The universality of
human rights is encompassed in the words of Article 1 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights: “All human beings are born free and equal in
dignity and rights.”

2. Indivisibility: Human rights are indivisible. Whether they relate to civil,

cultural, economic, political or social issues, human rights are inherent to the
dignity of every human person. Consequently, all human rights have equal
status, and cannot be positioned in a hierarchical order. Denial of one right
invariably impedes enjoyment of other rights. Thus, the right of everyone to an
adequate standard of living cannot be compromised at the expense of other
rights, such as the right to health or the right to education.
Interdependence and Interrelatedness: Human rights are interdependent and
interrelated. Each one contributes to the realization of a person’s human dignity
through the satisfaction of his or her developmental, physical, psychological and
spiritual needs. The fulfilment of one right often depends, wholly or in part,
upon the fulfilment of others. For instance, fulfilment of the right to health may
depend, in certain circumstances, on fulfilment of the right to development, to
education or to information.

3. Equality and Non-discrimination: All individuals are equal as human

beings and by virtue of the inherent dignity of each human person. No one,
therefore, should suffer discrimination on the basis of race, colour, ethnicity,
gender, age, language, sexual orientation, religion, political or other opinion,
national, social or geographical origin, disability, property, birth or other status
as established by human rights standards.

4. Participation and Inclusion: All people have the right to participate in and
access information relating to the decision-making processes that affect their
lives and well-being. Rights-based approaches require a high degree of
participation by communities, civil society, minorities, women, young people,
indigenous peoples and other identified groups.

5.Accountability and Rule of Law: States and other duty-bearers are

answerable for the observance of human rights. In this regard, they have to
comply with the legal norms and standards enshrined in international human
rights instruments. Where they fail to do so, aggrieved rights-holders are
entitled to institute proceedings for appropriate redress before a competent court
or other adjudicator in accordance with the rules and procedures provided by
law. Individuals, the media, civil society and the international community play
important roles in holding governments accountable for their obligation to
uphold human rights.
Classification of Human Rights
Human rights can be classified in a number of different ways. One of the most
widely used classifications distinguishes two general categories: They are (1)
moral right and (2) Legal Rights. The legal rights are further subdivided into
Civil and Political Rights.

Human Rights

Funda
mental
Moral Rights Legal Rights Economic Rights Social Rights Cultural Rights
Rights

Political Rights
Civil Rights

1. Moral Rights

Natural rights, also called moral rights or unchallengeable rights, are rights
which are not dependent upon the laws, customs, or beliefs or a particular
society or government. These rights are based on the ethical and moral section
of the society and do not possess any legal backing. This implies that they
cannot be enforced through the law of courts.

2. Legal Rights

These rights are recognized by the state and can be enforced through the law of
courts. Legal rights or Statutory Rights are rights conveyed by a particular
government, codified into legal statutes by some form of legislature, and as such
are contingent upon local laws, customs, or beliefs. Legal rights are culturally
and politically relative. The legal rights can be further divided into Civil and
Political rights.

Civil and Political Rights

Civil and political rights are a class of rights ensuring things such as the
protection of peoples' physical integrity; procedural fairness in law; protection
from discrimination based on gender, religion, race, sexual orientation, etc;
individual freedom of belief, speech, association, and the press; and political
participation. Civil and political rights are included in the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights and elaborated upon in the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights.

2. (A). Civil Rights

It provides conditions of a civilized life and facilitates the all round

development of an individual’s personality. Civil rights are considered to be
unquestionable and enforced by the law; deserved by all people under all
circumstances, especially without regard to race, creed, color or gender.

2. (B) Political Rights The political rights are the privileges of citizens when
enable to participate in the political affairs of the state. Mostly political rights
are available under democratic system of government.

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Economic, social and cultural rights are socio-economic human rights;

contrast with civil and political rights. Economic, social and cultural rights are
included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and elaborated upon in
the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Examples
of such rights include the right to food, the right to housing and the right to
health.
Fundamental Rights

Fundamental Rights governs the relationship between the state and the
individuals. These Fundamental Rights are covered in Part III of the Indian
Constitution, in which Article 12 to 35 of the Indian Constitution covers the
Fundamental Rights of the citizen of the country. All these Fundamental Rights
indicate that all the citizens are equally treated by the nation irrespective of
caste, sex and creed. Some of the fundamental rights are Right to Equality,
Right to Freedom, Right against exploitation, Right to Freedom of Religion.

Human rights in India

Human rights are vital for all round development of individuals. The
Constitution of India makes provisions for basic rights also known as
Fundamental Rights for its citizens as well as for aliens. The Supreme Court of
India is the guarantor of the rights according to the Constitution. The court takes
into account fundamental duties while interpreting the constitutional right. In
Indian constitution, Rights are classified mainly in three broad categories: (a)
Civil (b) Political (c) Economic and Social. Fundamental Rights in India
recognize certain civil rights. Certain Political and Economic and Social rights
are recognized by other provisions in the Constitution. The Supreme Court of
India recognizes Fundamental Right as “natural right”

In pursuance of the universal declaration of human rights, 1948, the

international covenant on civil and political right, 1966,the international
covenant on economic, social and cultural rights,1966 provides for various
provisions for protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, the Indian
parliament passed the legislation entitled ‘the protection of human right act,
1993(Act No. 10 of 1994).

The main object of the Act as enshrined in its preamble is to provide for the
constitution of national human rights commission, State human right
commission in the states and establishment of human right courts for protection
of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993; India had shown a keen interest in
the past in establishing or strengthening a national institution for the promotion
and protection of human rights before the 3rd Committee of the General
Assembly. It introduced a draft resolution wherein it emphasized the importance
of the integrity and independence of such national institutions. In the draft
resolution, it also requested the Security General of the United Nations to
submit a report to the General Assembly in 2 years regarding the functioning of
the various kinds of national institutions and their contribution towards
implementing human rights.

In early 1990s India felt the need of establishing a commission as a positive

response to the criticisms of the foreign Governments in the context of political
unrest and violence in Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, North-East, and Andhra
Pradesh. In addition to the pressure from the foreign countries, the pressure was
added from the domestic front as well for the creation for a National Human
Rights Commission, because of the awareness among the people for the
protection of human rights. All this led the Government to enact a law to
establish a Human Rights Commission.

Human Rights Commission Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on May 14,
1992. The Bill was referred to the Standing Committee of the Parliament on
Home Affairs. However, in view of the urgency of the Commission due to the
pressure from the foreign countries and from the domestic front, the President
of India on September 28, 1993, promulgated an “Ordinance” for the creation of
a National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and Commissions at State
Level.
Accordingly, the National Human Rights Commission was established on
October 12, 1993. After having made certain amendments in the ordinance, the
Protection of Human Rights Bill was passed by both the Houses of the
Parliament to replace the Ordinance. The Bill became an Act after it received
the assent of the President on January 8, 1994, which is known as
the ‘Protection of Human Rights Act, 1994’. The purpose of the enactment is
laid down in the Preamble of the Act, i.e., to provide for the constitution of a
National Human Rights Commission, State Human Rights Commission in
States and Human Rights Courts for better protection of human rights and for
matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

Section 2(d) of the Act defined the expression human rights by stating that
human rights mean the rights relating to life, liberty, equality and dignity of the
individuals guaranteed by the Constitution or embodied in the International
Covenants and enforceable by courts in India. The above definition restricts the
scope of the functioning of the NHRC. India ratified the two Covenants –
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights, but these Covenants are not directly enforceable as law
before the Indian Courts. The references to these Covenants in the Act are
purely superficial, as decisive words are: “enforceable by Courts in India”.

These words limit human rights strictly to the fundamental rights embodied in
Part III of the Constitution which are enforceable by courts in India. The fact is
that they are more limited than human rights in the Covenants. Hence,
some criticise this point, as the purposes of creating the commission gets
frustrated as the human rights which are embodied in the constitution did not
need any special enforcement as for their enforcement High Courts and
Supreme Court existed; but the human rights, which are not explicitly
recognised under the constitution need their recognition and enforcement, but
they are kept out of the field of the NHRC.
Bibliography
 CONCLUSION

Even today, there are several instances of human rights violation at various
places of the world. There can be no permanent and regular prosperity of human
beings unless every country or nation creates such conditions in which human
rights are enjoyed by its natives. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
(Prevention of Atrocities) Act has the potential to bring about social change by
sending the message that human rights violations against The issue of women
empowerment and inequality have been taken up as a Human rights issue.
Several institutions, organizations are working hard to create awareness among
the masses. It is high time that every person within the society come forward in
support women in her fight for justice. She should be treated at par with men all
venues of social framework. Her position need to be elevated.
 SYNOPSIS

1. Introduction

2. Meaning and definition

3. Impact of The Universal Declaration of Human Right

4. Promoting and Protecting Human Rights in the UN system

5. Human Rights Principles

6. Classification of Human Rights

7. Human rights in India

8. Conclusion

9. Bibliography