What Are Human Rights, Definition, Essay And others

Human Rights

Human Rights Definition

The basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled, often held to include the right to life and liberty, freedom of thought and expression, and equality before the law.

What are human rights?

The rights you have simply because you are human.
If you were to ask people in the street, “What are human rights?” you would get many different answers. They would tell you the rights they know about, but very few people know all their rights.
As covered in the definitions above, a right is a freedom of some kind. It is something to which you are entitled by virtue of being human.
Human rights are based on the principle of respect for the individual. Their fundamental assumption is that each person is a moral and rational being who deserves to be treated with dignity. They are called human rights because they are universal. Whereas nations or specialized groups enjoy specific rights that apply only to them, human rights are the rights to which everyone is entitled—no matter who they are or where they live—simply because they are alive.
Yet many people, when asked to name their rights, will list only freedom of speech and belief and perhaps one or two others.
There is no question these are important rights, but the full scope of human rights is very broad. They mean choice and opportunity. They mean the freedom to obtain a job, adopt a career, select a partner of one’s choice and raise children. They include the right to travel widely and the right to work gainfully without harassment, abuse and threat of arbitrary dismissal. They even embrace the right to leisure.
In ages past, there were no human rights. Then the idea emerged that people should have certain freedoms. And that idea, in the wake of World War II, resulted finally in the document called the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the thirty rights to which all people are entitled.
UDHR 60 UDHR 60: We are all born free and equal
Human rights are what every human being needs to live a healthy and fulfilled life and to participate fully in society. They are entitlements - you have them just because you are human.

Human rights are:

Universal - they apply to everyone equally
Inalienable - they cannot be taken away from people
Indivisible - they are all connected: failure to protect one right can lead to abuse of other rights, just as taking action to fulfil one right can lead to the fulfilment of other rights.
Human rights are underpinned by a set of common values that have been prevalent in societies, civilisations and religions throughout history, such as fairness, respect, equality, dignity and autonomy.

Human Rights Violations

Human rights advocates agree that, sixty years after its issue, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is still more a dream than reality. Violations exist in every part of the world. For example, Amnesty International’s 2009 World Report and other sources show that individuals are:
Tortured or abused in at least 81 countries
Face unfair trials in at least 54 countries
Restricted in their freedom of expression in at least 77 countries
Not only that, but women and children in particular are marginalized in numerous ways, the press is not free in many countries, and dissenters are silenced, too often permanently. While some gains have been made over the course of the last six decades, human rights violations still plague the world today.
To help inform you of the true situation throughout the world, this section provides examples of violations of six Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR):

ARTICLE 3 — THE RIGHT TO LIVE FREE

“Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.”
An estimated 6,500 people were killed in 2007 in armed conflict in Afghanistan—nearly half being noncombatant civilian deaths at the hands of insurgents. Hundreds of civilians were also killed in suicide attacks by armed groups
In Brazil in 2007, according to official figures, police killed at least 1,260 individuals—the highest total to date. All incidents were officially labeled “acts of resistance” and received little or no investigation.
In Uganda, 1,500 people die each week in the internally displaced person camps. According to the World Health Organization, 500,000 have died in these camps.
Vietnamese authorities forced at least 75,000 drug addicts and prostitutes into 71 overpopulated “rehab” camps, labeling the detainees at “high risk” of contracting HIV/AIDS but providing no treatment.

Universal declaration of human rights