Human rights

Human rights are generally held to be the basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled, entirely by virtue of their status as human beings.

History: 1689 to 1900

The English Bill of Rights of 1689 was the world's first major declaration of rights, and it influenced the American, French and all other declarations.

The U.S. Declaration of Independence says that people are "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

The American Bill of Rights is based on the [{English Bill of Rights]] of 1689. The French Revolution adopted a Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen‎ in 1789.

In the19th century the concept spread rapidly through Europe and the colonial empires. Prime Minister William Gladstone, based British foreign policy in the late 19th century on opposition to violations of human rights, especially in the Ottoman Empire.

20th century

In the 20th century, secular concepts of human rights proliferated: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the American Convention on Human Rights; the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights; the European Convention of Human Rights; various UN conferences' declarations on the environment, economic development, AIDS, and other topics; and the Geneva Conventions and their additional protocols.

The most well-known example of human rights is the United Nations 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights or UDHR. This document contains thirty articles listing about fifty rights authored and approved by the UN under the leadership of Eleanor Roosevelt, among others. At the time the UN Declaration was ratified by its members, it was hailed by Americans as a major advancement in the cause of liberty.

The Universal Declaration provides:

Article 29 (2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society. (3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

The first International Conference on Human Rights was held in Tehran, Iran, in 1968. A powerful bloc of Asian, African, and Arab states successfully asserted their control over the UN Human Rights Program. Their aggressive conference diplomacy was the culmination of a major transition in UN politics, with supposedly Western notions of individual freedom rejected in favor of an agenda that privileged economic modernization and the collective rights of peoples in Third World nations over those of individuals in those nations. Twenty years after the iconic image of Eleanor Roosevelt holding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the residual elements of the program she presided over were repudiated in a storm of insistent demands from the new anti-colonial order.

The UDHR implicitly asserted that human rights are superior to notions of state sovereignty and called for the imposing of moral standards across the globe. These notions of universal human rights derive in part from Wilsonianism--the efforts of President Woodrow Wilson after World War I. They were reiterated in 2002 by President George W. Bush in his refusal to recognize Iraqi sovereignty and his efforts to impose a new democratic system of governance upon Iraq, and are a component of the Neoconservative effort to spread democracy in the Middle East, even in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. The UN has supported this program, but the high cost has troubled Americans.

India

Deeply influenced by the UN's 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Indian constitution provides for a host of rights, including the right of equality, cultural and religious freedoms, and the right to education. Discrimination based on race, caste, gender, birthplace, and religion was subsequently outlawed. Yet, political and social realities have intruded. Because of India's multiplicity of religious and ethnic groups, each with their own traditions and beliefs, and the complex interplay between these groups, the principles contained in the constitution have not always been followed in practice.

In 1948, the United Nations issued the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a list of human rights they deem inherent and inviolable.

Helsinki Accords

The European Convention of Human Rights, implemented in 1953, led later to the 1975 Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Accords). This document guaranteed the postwar borders of European states, the peaceful settlement of disputes, and respect for human rights. It regulated the principles of economic, scientific, and technological cooperation and provided for the exchange of printed, film, and televised information.

The Helsinki Accords were used by human rights activists and the Reagan Administration to pressure the Soviet Union to relax some of its totalitarianism, and to allow the escape of Soviet Jews. Mikhail Gorbachev finally unleashed "glasnost" and "perestroika" that energized human rights activists and led to the collapse of Communism in Europe, 1989-91.

See also

• Declaration of the Rights of Women, French Revolution (1791)
• Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, French Revolution (1789)
• Declaration of Rights and Sentiments American women, (1848)
• Declaration of Independence U.S. (1776)

Further reading

• Burke, Roland. "From Individual Rights to National Development: the First UN International Conference on Human Rights, Tehran, 1968," Journal of World History 2008 19(3): 275-296, in EBSCO
• Devine, Carol et al. Human Rights: The Essential Reference (1999) online edition
• Langley, Winston E. Encyclopedia of Human Rights Issues since 1945 (1999) online edition

Primary sources

• UN. Human Rights: A Compilation of International Instruments - Vol. 1 pt. 1 (2002) by Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Geneva; online edition