Human rights imply certain privileges to be enjoyed by every individual without any consideration of caste,creed,colour,sex,race wealth and so on.
The human being is the central subject of human rights because they’re inherent in every human being.
They reflect a philosophy of universal tone and compassion. They are universal, social but never absolute. (Philosophy of live and let live)
It is essential that every person who enjoys these rights to allow others to claim the same.
Man is a social animal and because he lives in society there are always certain restrictions on the enjoyment of his rights and freedom. At the same time HR are dynamic in nature and keep expanding with socioeconomic, cultural and political dev’s within the state
(people uprooted from their habitats- right to live)
Democracy is impossible without HR. Since it guarantees life, equality, liberty, equal opportunity and so on.
Today HR has become the ‘Burning Topic’ of the day and has been drawing global attention because of the efforts of NGO, and HR activists(because of the increasing incidents of violation of HR- HR has now become more important. Double standards of America – Religious persecution etc.
All countries without exception have record of HR violation and therefore it is very necessary that a general awareness be created about HR specially by the mass media.
India is a museum of so many culture languages and because of this caste diversity of people it becomes necessary to teach the study of HR in all educational institutions. HR are ‘your rights’ therefore know them as well as promote and popularize them in the least interest of society in general.
HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS:
1215 Magna Carta (The great charter). It was a document sealed by king John of England in which he made a series of promises to his subjects that he would govern. England according to the customs of the law.
It established the principle of that ‘no person not even the king is above the law and that the govt. must follow it’s own law in dealing with citizens.
It had 63 clauses most of which are no longer valid except clause, 30 & 40 which state that nobody would be divided justice nobody would be arbitrarily imprisoned & there would be no taxation without consultation. This charter is of symbolic value and has been revised several times during English history.
16th and 17th Century- REFORMATION:
looked upon as the age of enlightenment when the theory of marital rights was advocated by various Christian Philosophy and scholars.
THOMAS HOBBS: Spoke of enjoying rights in the state of nature and asserted that all humans are equal and should not be deprived to the right of life.
John Luke said that HR’s are self evident truth ad existed even before civic society and was organized 1976- American Declaration of India was made against the British Govt. justifying the right to revolt against oppressive regime.
The constitution of the U.S has 10 amendments known as the BILL OF RIGHTS which establishes basic American civil liberties that the govt. can violate.
The Americans inspired the French to revolt against their king in 1789 and France established a new political and social order by mollifying the divine rights of the king
The declaration of the rights of man and of the citizen gave the world the 3 imp doctrines of equality, fraternity and liberty. 1914-1918 after WWI a declaration of the rights of man was recognized to guarantee fundamental rights to all citizens of the world. But unfortunately it was not in force for very long with the rise of Nazism in Germany, Facism in Italy and Bolenism in USSR. The question of HR became the focus if international declaration and Great Britain and U.S.A issued a joint declaration in 1941 known as the Atlantic Charter, which stated that ‘ complete history’ over the enemy was essential to defend life, liberty, Independence, religious freedom and to preserve human rights justice in their own land as well as in the other lands’’
This was endorsed by Russia in a conference in 1943 an after the war in 1945 a conference was held in San Francisco of UN attended by delegates of 50 states.
When the UDHR was passed, many countries refused to ratify it. There were 8 communist countries at that point of time. South Africa has apartheid, Saudi Arabia refused to acknowledge that men could be similar to women.
The declaration or the UDHR is of moral importance and has glittering ideals but it is not legally enforceable and time and again many of its articles have been violated. In response to the criticisms, the United Nations has passed various covenants (ICCCPR Eco Cultural Rights) and conventions in order to modify some of the deficiencies for the observance of human rights.
The Declaration of the Right to Development (DRD): The declaration for the right to development is the outcome of the study of developmental levels of states all over the world. Studies conducted by the UN have shown that there are imbalances in the levels of development between and within nations and hence it is necessary to uplift the weaker and deprived sections of society such as women, children, tribals, and those affected by social practices and norms.
Relevant recent issue: Aaja Nachale lyrics
“In India every issue gets politicized”
“Previously it was degrading to make handbags and shoes… today it is hi – fi”
Every individual has a natural urge to maintain self respect and improve the standard of living. Life is worth living not only when a person hats access to the basic necessities of life but it also implies living with dignity. This requires opportunities for every individual to actualize his or her own potential and enhance the quality of life.
The DRD was adopted on December 4 1986 by the UN General Assembly and became a more contemporary right in the List of human rights. It added a new dimension to human rights both for the individual and society and made it obligatory for every state to develop the life of people within in the Nation.
The Preamble of the DRE defines development as:
“A comprehensive, economic, social, cultural and political process which aims at the constant improvement of the well being of the entire population and of all individuals on the basis of their active, free, and meaningful participation in development and in the fair distribution of benefits resulting there from.”
Cases where there have been failures of DRD: Narmada Valley Project
In this sense the human being is the central subject of development and all developmental projects should aim for the larger good of a greater number. All projects and programmes should take steps to eliminate the massive violations of human rights of people affected by racial discrimination, foreign domination, displacement, and threats against national unity. Development must become an inseparable part of every individual’s life by eradicating social injustice and promoting peace and security. The right to development therefore includes:
1) The Right to Self Determination (Kashmir? Khalistan? Nandigram?)
2) Education
3) A pollution free environment
4) Rehabilitation
The World Conference on Human Rights at Vienna in 1993 reaffirmed the Right to Development as an integral part of Universal Human Rights and stated that “All Countries must co operate to bring about equitable economic relations and create a social climate that will enable every person to have an active role in Development and enjoy Human Rights”.
Article 16:
(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
Article 16 does not take into account the cultural background of different Countries.
CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women): The concept of Human Rights was subjected to criticism with regard to its universality by feminist thinkers specially in Asian Countries. The feminist thinkers point out that many cultural practices in different parts of he World are oppressive to Women and as such the UDHR has ignored gender related issues in a patriarchal society. Article 16 denies Women the right to Walk out of violent homes and in fact negates Article 3, which is Right to Life, Article 4 – Right against Servitude and Article 5 – Right against Torcher.
Article 16 almost legally enforces the confinement of Women to the house in order to protect the family.
The UN Commission on the status of Women was established in 1946 to monitor the situation of Women and protect their rights. It submitted its report after 30 years.
The convention was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1979 on December 18th and became an International treaty in 1981. More than 40 countries objected to some of the articles of the convention due to Political, Cultural or Religious reasons. The CEWDO basically emphasizes the equality of sexes and seeks to remove Gender Bias. Political and Civil Right of Women are enumerated in great detail and due respect is given to Cultural Factors which affect gender relations. It states that the role of Women in Pro Creation should not be a basis for discrimination and that the responsibility for bringing up children should be shared by both parents.
Issue: Videocon does not appoint Women at higher levels at all!
Socio economic factors should not restrain the life and liberty of Women and the Girl Child should be educated. The media must play an important role in eliminating stereo typed concepts of Women and create awareness that Women’s issues are actually Human Rights Issues.
Check Out this Video - IT has a lot on Human Rights around the World.
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