History of Human Rights

WHAT ARE HUMAN

RIGHTS?
 Human Rights Defined
• Human: 
a man, woman or child; a person.
• Rights: 
Things to which you are entitled or allowed; freedoms that are guaranteed.
• Human Rights:
The rights you have simply because you are human.
 Human Rights Defined
• 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.
 Human Rights Defined
• 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.
• However, when did Human Rights start?
A BRIEF HISTORY OF HUMAN RIGHTS
 The Cyrus Cylinder (539 B.C.)
• In 539 B.C., the armies of Cyrus the Great, the first king of ancient
Persia, conquered the city of Babylon.
• But it was his next actions that marked a major advance for Man. He freed
the slaves, declared that all people had the right to choose their own
religion, and established racial equality. 
• These and other decrees were recorded on a baked-clay cylinder in the
Akkadian language with cuneiform script.
 The Cyrus Cylinder (539 B.C.)
• Known today as the Cyrus Cylinder, this ancient record has now been
recognized as the world’s first charter of human rights.
• It is translated into all six official languages of the United Nations and its
provisions parallel the first four Articles of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights.
 Important Events
• Magna Carta (1215)
• the Petition of Right (1628)
• UK Bill of Rights (1689)
• the US Constitution (1787)
• the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789)
• US Bill of Rights (1791)
 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.
• 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. 
• 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.
The Magna Carta (1215) 

Magna Carta, or “Great

Charter,” signed by the King
of England in 1215, was a
turning point in human
rights.
 Petition of Right (1628) 
• 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.
• The Petition of Right, initiated by Sir Edward Coke, was based on
principles like:
1.  No taxes may be levied without consent of Parliament
2. No subject may be imprisoned without cause
3. Martial law may not be used in time of peace
Petition of Right (1628) 

In 1628 the English

Parliament sent
this statement to King
Charles I.
 Bill of Rights 1689
1. The Bill of Rights is an Act of the Parliament of England that deals with
constitutional matters and sets out certain basic civil rights, Passed on 16
December 1689.
2. The Bill of Rights lays down limits on the powers of the monarch and sets out
the rights of Parliament, including the requirement for regular parliaments, free
elections, and freedom of speech in Parliament.
3. It sets out certain rights of individuals including the prohibition of cruel and
unusual punishment and reestablished the liberty of Protestants to have arms for
their defence within the rule of law.
4. Furthermore, the Bill of Rights described and condemned several misdeeds of
James II of England.
The Constitution of the United States of
America (1787)
• Written during the summer of 1787 in Philadelphia, the Constitution of the
United States of America is the fundamental law of the US federal system
of government and the landmark document of the Western world.
• It is the oldest written national constitution in use and defines the principal
organs of government and their jurisdictions and the basic rights of
citizens.
 Bill of Rights (1791)

The Bill of Rights of the US

Constitution protects basic
freedoms of United States
citizens.
 Bill of Rights (1791)
• The first ten amendments to the Constitution—the Bill of Rights—came
into effect on December 15, 1791, limiting the powers of the federal
government of the United States and protecting the rights of all citizens,
residents and visitors in American territory.
• The Bill of Rights protects freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the
right to keep and bear arms, the freedom of assembly and the freedom to
petition.
• It also prohibits unreasonable search and seizure, cruel and unusual
punishment and compelled self-incrimination. 
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 was adopted by the National Constituent Assembly as the first step
toward writing a constitution for the Republic of France.
• The Declaration proclaims that all citizens are to be guaranteed the rights of
“liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.”
 Declaration of the Rights
of Man and of the
Citizen (1789)

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 Geneva Conventions
• The First Geneva Convention "for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick
in Armed Forces in the Field“
• The Second Geneva Convention "for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and
Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea“
• The Third Geneva Convention "relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War“
• The Fourth Geneva Convention "relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War"
• Protocol I (1977) relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflict
• Protocol II (1977) relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflict
• Protocol III (2005) relating to the Adoption of an Additional Distinctive Emblem
 The First Geneva
Convention (1864)

The original document from

the first Geneva Convention
in 1864 provided for care to
wounded soldiers.
The United Nations (1945)

Fifty nations met in San

Francisco in 1945 and
formed the United
Nations to protect and
promote peace.
• International Bill of Rights
 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966)
 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966)
 Other ‘core’ human rights instruments
 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965)
 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
(1979)
 Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
(1984)
 Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)
 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of
their Families (1990)
 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006)
 International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (2006)
 The Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (1948) 
• By 1948, the United Nations’ new Human Rights Commission had captured
the world’s attention.
• Under the dynamic chairmanship of Eleanor Roosevelt—President Franklin
Roosevelt’s widow, a human rights champion in her own right and the
United States delegate to the UN—the Commission set out to draft the
document that became the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 
• Roosevelt, credited with its inspiration, referred to the Declaration as the
international Magna Carta for all mankind. It was adopted by the United
Nations on December 10, 1948.
The Universal Declaration
of Human Rights (1948) 

The Universal Declaration

of Human Rights has
inspired a number of other
human rights laws and
treaties throughout the
world.
 The Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (1948) 
• The Member States of the United Nations pledged to work together to
promote the thirty Articles of human rights that, for the first time in
history, had been assembled and codified into a single document. 
• In consequence, many of these rights, in various forms, are today part of
the constitutional laws of democratic nations.
“ The rights of every man are diminished
when the rights of one man are threatened.

― John F. Kennedy
”