Understanding Human Rights
Meaning and Nature of Human Rights
• The rights people are entitled to simply for being human,
irrespective of their citizenship, nationalist, race, ethnicity,
language, sex, sexuality, abilities or any other status.
• “rights derived from the inherent dignity of the human person.”
(UDHR)
• minimal rights which human beings inherently hold (by virtue of
being human) against the state (or other public authority).
• These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and indivisible.
Features/characteristic of Human Rights
• Human Rights are Inherent.
• Human rights are inalienable. They should not be taken
away, except in specific situations and according to due
process. (For e.g. those convicted of criminal, permission
of derogation etc)
• Human Rights are Universal. One of the cornerstone of
international human rights law. Human rights are
universal in nature, without consideration and without
exception.
• Human Rights are indivisible and Interdependent.
• Human Rights are equal and non- discriminatory.
UDHR (Art. 1)....All human beings are born free and
equal in dignity and rights. Non discrimination is one of
the underlying aspect of human rights law.
• Human Rights are both Rights and obligation. States
assume obligations and duties under international law
to respect, to protect and to fulfil human rights. At the
individual level, while we are entitled our human rights,
we should also respect the human rights of others.
Sources of International Human Rights Law
• International treaties such as;
• Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment , Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights, Convention on the Elimination
of all Forms of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW)
• Regional Treaties
e.g. African Charter on Human and Peoples’
Rights (the Banjul Charter) and its Protocol on
the Rights of Women in Africa, African
Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child,
European Convention for the Protection of
Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
• Consensus documents
Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action of
the Fourth World Conference on Women,
General Assembly Declaration on the
Elimination of Violence against Women,
Programme of Action of the International
Conference on Population and Development
(ICPD)
Sources of International law
• Primary sources listed in Article 38 of the
Statue of the International Court of Justice are
(1) TREATY; (2) CUSTOMARY INTERNATIONAL
LAW; (3) GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF LAW; (4)
Judicial decisions.
Scope of Human Rights law
• Individuals Rights
• Groups Rights/Collective Rights(Indigenous
peoples, Minority Rights)
self determination, right to land, resources and
territories, Right to development, Right to
peace, Right to healthy environment
Categories/Kinds of Human Rights
• Civil rights
The term ‘civil rights’ is often used with reference to the rights
set out in the first eighteen articles of the UDHR
• From this group, a further set of ‘physical integrity rights’ has
been identified, which concern the right to life, liberty and
security of the person, and which offer protection from
physical violence against the person, torture and inhuman
treatment, arbitrary arrest, detention, exile, slavery and
servitude, interference with one’s privacy and right of
ownership, restriction of one’s freedom of movement, and the
freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
(see, e.g., Articles 9, 10, 14 and 15 ICCPR).
• Political rights
In general, political rights are those set out in
Articles 19 to 21 UDHR and also codified in the
ICCPR. They include freedom of expression,
freedom of association and assembly, the right
to take part in the government of one’s
country and the right to vote and stand for
election at genuine periodic elections held by
secret ballot (see Articles 18, 19, 21, 22 and 25
ICCPR).
• Economic and social rights
• The economic and social rights are listed in
Articles 22 to 26 UDHR, and further developed and
set out as binding treaty norms in the ICESCR.
• These rights provide the conditions necessary for
prosperity and wellbeing. Economic rights refer, for
example, to the right to property, the right to work,
which one freely chooses or accepts, the right to a
fair wage, a reasonable limitation of working hours,
and trade union rights. Social rights are those rights
necessary for an adequate standard of living,
including rights to health, shelter, food, social care,
and the right to education (see Articles 6 to 14
ICESCR).
• Cultural rights
The UDHR lists cultural rights in Articles 27
and 28: the right to participate freely in the
cultural life of the community, the right to
share in scientific advancement and the right
to the protection of the moral and material
interests resulting from any scientific, literary
or artistic production of which one is the
author (see also Article 15 ICESCR and Article
27 ICCPR).