HUman Rights
Introduction
1.1 What are human rights?
“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”1
Every individual, as a human being, is entitled to certain rights that are not dependent
on their sex, ethnicity, colour, race, language, age, religion, political or other beliefs,
national or social origin, property, economic status, disability, birth or other factors.
These individual human rights are inalienable in that they cannot be taken away,
violated or given away. Human rights are by their very nature indivisible and without
ranking. They include entitlement to free, active, and meaningful participation,
contribution, as well as enjoyment of civil, social, cultural, economic, and political
development. Human rights are interrelated as well as often interdependent of other
rights. For example, the right to health may be dependent on the right to information,
or even education to be adequately fulfilled.
2. Journalists and Human Rights
2.1 Journalists’ Role in Communications, Media, and Human Rights
Today, due to the globalization of services, information, and labour — the media holds a powerful and
much-depended upon role in communication. In the arena of
communication it is journalists who serve as the main actors in reporting the world’s
events and conveying valuable information. Journalists hold the power to determine
what news is and to construct stories and select words in ways that affect people.
Our views of history can be strongly influenced by journalists. Journalists carry the
ability to inform the public, to connect remote worlds, and to shape an individual’s
knowledge and understanding of the world live in. They have the opportunity to
increase public awareness, to educate the public on their rights, and, above all, to help in monitoring
human rights.
2.2 Why should Journalists contribute to the human rights movement?
Journalists can use their ability to communicate and their access to mass media sources, not only to
report events, but also to add more in-depth analysis. Through analysis and the bringing together of
multiple perspectives, journalists create the potential for a more knowledgeable, well-rounded and
aware public. This increased awareness can lead to a stronger civil society and a more active population.
3. The Concept of Human Rights
The concept of human rights can be traced through human history as referring to the “…basic right or
freedom to which all human beings are entitled...”2 Despite longstanding roots, the term “human
rights,” came into common usage in the twentieth century, in part reflecting seventeenth and
eighteenth century European thought.3 The term was introduced by ancient Greek and Roman
philosophers—who linked rights and freedoms to the historical roots of democracy. Though human
rights are naturally and absolutely entitled to all, the term has become highly politicized and the
definition has changed to include “fundamental rights, especially those believed to belong to an
individual, and in whose exercise a government may not interfere, as the rights to speak, associate,
work, etc.”4
3.1 Tolerance and Agency
Human Rights consist of two critical components.
1) Tolerance is crucial to maintain respect for human rights. Tolerance of differences, as well as
recognition and acceptance of differences including gender, economic status, race, ethnicity, disability
and age are pertinent to avoid discrimination and advocate for equality.
2) Human agency is the capacity for human beings to make choices and to impose those choices on the
world. With respect to human rights, “agency” both emphasizes an individual’s right to act as they wish,
and their obligation to ensure their action does not infringe upon the rights of others.
4. Human Rights
Modern history has seen gross violations of many human rights including; hate crimes, genocide, the
subordination of women and the abuse of children. These violations have led to international
frameworks, treaties, and regulations to help prevent further violations and neglect of these rights. It is
important to not only understand what entitlements are attached to various rights and who they refer
to, but also to be informed and aware of which international treaties, conventions and regulations have
been created to uphold these rights.
4.1 Civil and Political Rights
Civil and political rights relate to the civil and political freedoms and entitlements that individuals should
be able to enjoy. They include; the right to liberty, the right to freedom from arbitrary arrest, and the
right to own property. Civil and political rights can be considered simple and uncontroversial in some
nations, yet in other countries they may be seen as complex and highly political.
Civil rights are outlined in the UDHR under articles 2 through to 18. These rights are often considered to
be the most fundamental of human rights.
•Article 3 - Right to life, liberty, and security of person;
•Article 4 - Freedom from slavery;
•Article 5 - Freedom from torture and cruel or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;
•Article 6 - Right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law;
•Article 7 - Right to be equal before the law and free from legal discrimination;
•Article 8 - Right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the
fundamental rights granted him [to one] by the constitution or by law;
•Article 9 - Freedom from arbitrary arrest, detention, or exile;
•Article 10 - Right to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal;
•Article 11 - Right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty and the freedom from laws passed after
the act to create guilt;
•Article 12 - Right to freedom of privacy and from attacks upon a person’s honour or reputation;
•Article 13 - Freedom of movement within and across the borders of a country;
•Article 14 - Right to asylum from persecution;
•Article 15 - Right to a nationality;
•Article 16 - Right to found a family;
•Article 17 - Right to own property;
•Article 18 - Freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.“Political Rights”, which are often associated
with the freedom to actively participate in political life and to be free from unnecessary, excessive or
inappropriate governmental regulation, are enumerated in Article 18 through to 21 of the Universal
Declaration:
•Article 18 - Right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion;
•Article 19 - Right to freedom of opinion and expression.
•Article 20 - Freedom of political assembly and association;
•Article 21 - Right to take part in the government of one’s country.
These rights directly relate to journalists, not only as topics to report on, but as
something they must respect and adhere to as journalists. Without freedom of
expression, communication and information, journalism and the media could not
exist.
4.2 Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Economic, social, and cultural rights include; equal pay for equal work, the right
to an adequate standard of living, the right to education, and the right to freely
participate in the community. These rights are laid out in articles 22 through to 27 of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.5
This set of rights is regularly considered as a “progressive obligation”, under which
governments offer to act “to the maximum of their available resources” to achieve their full realization.
If a country has limited resources this means that they have the obligation to do what they can, in light
of the resources available. For many governments, economic, social and cultural rights are of secondary
importance to the implementation of civil and political rights, yet many rights are interdependent and
rely on the realization of other rights so that they can be carried out. For example, the right to life,
liberty and the security of person must be realized before a government can fulfil many of its citizen’s
economic rights. Once these rights are secured, the government must then decide how to allocate
limited resources to secure the various economic, social and cultural rights of its people including, the
right to adequate medical care, education and housing.
4.3 Third Generation Rights
Sometimes known as communal or solidarity rights, third generation rights are those rights that go
beyond civil and social rights. The term “third-generation human rights” remains largely unofficial, and
thus includes an extremely broad spectrum of rights,
including:
•The right to political, economic, social, and cultural selfdetermination;
•The right to economic and social development;
•The right to participate in and benefit from the common heritage of
humanity;
•The right to peace;
•The right to a healthy and sustainable environment;
•The right to humanitarian disaster relief