Human Rights

Do you think you should be treated the same as other people? If you were wrongly convicted, would you expect a fair trial? Do you expect torturing another human to be illegal? Human rights are a collection of shared principles and standards for all humans to hold and be entitled to have. They keep us all safe, and they try to eliminate inequality across the world. But what are they, and how do we protect them? Read on to find out.

Definition of human rights

Human rights cover a broad range of topics, but in essence, they are a collection of shared principles and standards for all humans to hold and are entitled to. A crucial part of this definition is the fact that human rights apply to all humans. This means that regardless of race, gender, sexuality, religion or any other characteristic of a person, you are entitled to certain things, and in return, should not deprive anybody else of them. But what exactly is the definition of human rights?

Figure 1: A protest on International Human Rights Day in Minnesota, USA. Fibonacci Blue/ Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-2.0

Human Rights List

How many human rights are there? 5? 7? 30? You may have heard a few numbers being thrown around when it comes to human rights. In fact, there are 30 human rights though some have been deemed more essential than others in order to create the 5 basic human rights you may have come across. When it comes down to it, all 30 human rights are extremely valuable and so you should consider them all to be important. Let's take a look at the human rights list:

1. The right to be free and equal

2. The right to not be discriminated against

3. The right to life, freedom and safety

4. The right to not be held in slavery

5. The right to not be tortured

6. The right to fair and equal legal protection

7. The right for the law to apply to everyone and to treat everybody equally

8. The right to legal support if necessary

9. The right to not be detained without cause

10. The right to a fair trial if convicted of a crime

11. The right to be considered innocent until proven guilty if accused of a crime

12. The right to privacy - nobody should enter our homes or read private documentation without good cause

13. The right to free movement within and beyond our country

14. The right to seek asylum in another country if we are in need of protection

15. The right to be a citizen of a country, unless there is a good reason why we shouldn't be

16. The right to marry (or not marry!) as we choose

17. The right to own property

18. The right to believe and think what we want/ believe

19. The right to freely express what we think and believe

20. The right to form or be part of (or not be part of) peaceful groups

21. The right to vote on political matters, for all votes to have the same influence and for votes to remain anonymous

22. The right to develop using resources available in the country

23. The right to employment and equal pay in our chosen employment

24. The right to rest and take time off from work

25. The right to food, water, shelter, clothing and healthcare

26. The right to education

27. The right to participate in the arts and sciences, and for our work to be protected

28. The right to live in a peaceful society with adequate protection of the other human rights

29. The right to have the law guarantee our human rights and the responsibility to help allow communities to develop as much and as fairly as possible

30. The right to not have the human rights violated by any individual, group or government

Why are human rights important?

Human rights are important for many reasons. Not only do they help to work towards a world of equality, justice, development and tolerance, but they also keep us safe from harm and safeguard our liberty and needs. When human rights are violated, atrocities can occur and people can suffer tremendously. Think about that list of human rights, what do you think would happen if you were denied any one of those rights? The answer is nothing good at best and fateful at worst.

So now we know what human rights are and why human rights are important - how can we go about protecting them?

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The law is a very good place to start when it comes to protecting human rights. Human rights are recognised internationally by law with documents such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The UDHR was created and signed in 1948, following World War 2, to provide a common understanding of the rights every human should not be denied and to prevent a repeat of the horrors the world experienced during the world wars. The declaration consists of 30 articles that outline basic human rights (discussed above) and expresses that these rights should be protected by law.

Since then, two legal frameworks have been introduced to enforce the UDHR:

1. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights⁽¹⁾
2. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights⁽²⁾

Figure 2: Eleanor Roosevelt with a copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. FDR Presidential Library & Museum/ Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-2.0

Geneva Convention Human Rights

The Geneva Convention was originally established in 1864 after increasing advancements in the technologies and methods of warfare. It set up rules to protect anyone no longer fighting, protecting the human rights of wounded or stranded soldiers, prisoners of war, and civilians. Following World War 2, nations across the world accepted the four Geneva Conventions which were updated to catch up with the nature of modern warfare. This meant the convention now covers anyone affected by conflict and sets a new humanitarian standard for how war is enacted. The Geneva Convention is now internationally accepted – 196 countries have signed it. Countries that haven't signed the Geneva Convention are still expected to follow these rules whether they signed this or not. It is also used for deciding what counts as war crimes.

Unfortunately, the Geneva Convention has been widely criticised. Arguably, it is not effective because 141 countries were still using torture in 2014. As well as this, very few cases of actions violating the Geneva Convention actually end up going to trial. This is because it is very difficult to prosecute these cases, due to the 'fog of war' and UN bureaucracy. If the convention is not put into practice, it still leaves people vulnerable to the threat of human rights violations and allows perpetrators to go unpunished.

European Convention on Human Rights

The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) was formed in 1949 and signed a year later. ⁽³⁾ It is comprised of 14 articles protecting basic human rights in Europe, such as the right to a fair trial and restricting the use of the death penalty. 46 member states of the Council of Europe signed the convention, and have agreed to uphold its values. But why is this relevant when international law accounts for many of these human rights?

The ECHR has created a system to protect people who feel that their human rights have been violated by any individual, group or country. Everybody from within the 46 member states can appear before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg to fight their case. This gives people a voice and helps to safeguard human rights even further throughout Europe.

Figure 3: European Court of Human Rights. Adrian Grycuk/ Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA-3.0 PL

Human Rights Act 1998

Following the introduction of the European Convention on Human Rights, the UK incorporated the fundamentals of the convention into British law. This takes the form of the Human Rights Act of 1998. Changes made to the European Convention are reflected in UK law as well. What does this mean for people of the UK? This means that any UK resident can go to the British Court to seek justice instead of going to the European Court of Human Rights. This includes prisoners and foreign nationals.

The Human Rights Act 1998 faces objections from pressure groups and the media, who argue that the ECHR and 1998 Human Rights Act undermine the UK's sovereignty. These groups argue that British courts are determined by decisions made by the European Court of Human Rights. In the wake of Brexit, the UK government revealed proposals to scrap the 1998 Human Rights Act and put the “British Bill of rights and responsibilities” in its place. This means British courts would no longer be overruled by the European Court of Human Rights on certain matters. However, many people believe this could diminish the high quality of human rights that Britain has.