Human Rights by Josep Sanllehí

HUMANS RIGHTS: AN OVERVIEW

1. Human rights: what does it mean? 2. The UDHR: what is it? 3 The UDHR: how is enforced?
1 Human rights: what does it mean?

2 The Universal Declaration of Human
Rights: what is it?
3 The Universal Declaration of Human
Rights: how is enforced?
1 Human rights: what does it mean?
There are two kinds of rights
• Liberty or privilege rights.

• Claim rights.
Liberty or privilege rights (or simply

“liberties”)
e.g. freedom of speech
• Rights that grant permission.
• Rights on the own behaviour, because
they do not entail properly obligations on
other people.
Liberty or privilege rights (or simply “liberties”)
You have the right to pick up a coin that you find

by the side of the road: this right is a liberty or
a privilege.
She has the right to look at the sky: this right is a liberty
or a privilege.
I have the right to turn my hand down: this right is a liberty or a
privilege.
...............
Claim rights
e. g. right to life
• Rights which grant an entitlement.

• Rights on the others’ behaviour, because
they entail obligations on other people
regarding the right-holder.
Claim rights
A contract between employer and employee

confers on the employee the right to be paid
his wages: this right is a claim.
You have the right of having privacy in your
correspondence: this right is a claim.
I have the right my hand not to be mutilated: this right is a
claim.
...............
Some questions!
• Has he the right to paint his nails?

• Is it a liberty right or a claim right?
• Have I (the teacher) the right to have only good
students?
More questions!
• Have you (the students) the right to one smile

per day (from your teacher)?
• Have we the right to download music (and other
copyright contents) from the internet?
Liberty and claim rights are the inverse of one

another
• A person has a liberty right permitting
someone to do something only if there is no
other person who has a claim right
forbidding him from doing so; and likewise, if
a person has a claim right against someone
else, another person's liberty is thus limited.
Human rights: what are rights?
Rights are liberties and claims which people

are entitled to
Human rights: why are human?
Human rights are human because all humans

are entitled to. Every human being, as a
human being, holds human rights.
Rights limited to some people (a part of society, a group, a
class,...) or held by non-humans (animals,...) are not
human rights.
Remember!
• In the past...
- In ancient Greece, most people considered that
strangers had not the right to...
- In the Roman Empire, most people considered that
slaves had not the right to...
- In 18th century Europe, most people considered that
only nobles had the right to...
Remember!
• In the present...
- Most people consider that only some immigrants have
the right to...
- Most (or some) people consider that only women
have the right to...
Human rights: what does it mean?
Human rights are liberty and claim rights

which all humans are entitled to
Some questions!
• Have I the right to have a new computer?

• Is it a human right?
• Have we the right to education?
• Have you the right not to go to school?
Who and how to decide which liberties and

claims are human rights?
• Human rights are beliefs -strong beliefs- that

some people have argued.
• Human rights are reasonable and reasoned
ideas.
• Human rights are ideals hold by (a great
number of) people.
Until 1948, most human rights were only

ideals hold by some people, that is to say,
human rights were only moral rights.
...but the history of human rights does not end here.

2 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
what is it?
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

what is it?
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

(UDHR), a milestone document in the history of
human rights, is a non-binding declaration
adopted by the United Nations General
Assembly in Paris on the 10th of December,
1948.
The UDHR was drafted by representatives of

different legal and cultural backgrounds from
all regions of the world and adopted, by a
vote of 48 in favour, 0 against and 8
abstentions, as a common standard of
achievements for all people and all nations.
It sets out, for the first time, fundamental human
rights to be universally protected.
Countries voting in favour of the Declaration
Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Burma,

Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark,
the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia,
France, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Iceland, India, Iran, Iraq,
Lebanon, Liberia, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New
Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay,
Peru, Philippines, Thailand, Sweden, Syria, Turkey, United
Kingdom, United States, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Countries abstaining
Byelorussia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Ukraine, USSR,

Yugoslavia, South Africa and Saudi Arabia.
The Universal Declaration of Human

Rights
Images of a historical moment
Third Session of the General Asse The President of the General Asse
mbly, 181st and 183rd Plenary Mee mbly, Mr. H. V.
tings, Evatt
Palais de Chaillot (Australia), puts to the vote the dra
, Paris, France, 10 December 1948: ft resolution as a whole. A roll-call
Adoption of the Universal Declara is taken. The Universal Declaration
tion of Human Rights of Human Rights is adopted. 183rd
Plenary Meeting, 10 December 19
48
X X
The UDHR text
Eleanor Roosevelt holds the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.
The UDHT text consists of a preamble and

thirty articles. René Cassin, one of the
drafters of the Declaration, compared the
Declaration to the portico of a Greek
temple, with a foundation, steps, four
columns and a pediment
Acropolis of Athens and the The portico of the

Parthenon, the temple of the temple of Concord at
Greek goddess Athena Agrigentum
Art. 28-30
(pediment)
Art. 3-27
(4 columns)
Preamble (7 par.)
(steps)
Art. 1-2
(foundation)
Art. 3-11 Art. 18-21

Rights of the Spiritual, public and
individual political freedoms
Art. 12-17 Art. 22-27

Rights of the individual in Social, economic and
civil and political society cultural rights
The seven paragraphs of the preamble,

setting out the reasons for the Declaration,
are represented by the steps.
• “Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and
inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation
of freedom, justice and peace in the world,...” (preamble, par. 1)
• “Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly

relations between nations,...” (preamble, par. 4)
Articles 1 and 2 are the foundation blocks, with

their principles of dignity, liberty, equality and
brotherhood.
• “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights...” (art. 1)
• “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this
Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex,
language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin,
property, birth or other status....” (art. 2)
The main body of the Declaration forms the four

columns. The first column (articles 3–11)
constitutes rights of the individual.
• “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.” (art. 3)
• “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude.” (art. 4)
• “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment

or punishment.” (art. 5)
• “All are equal before the law...” (art. 7)

The second column (articles 12–17) constitutes the

rights of the individual in civil and political society.
• “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home
or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation.” (art. 12)
• “Everyone has the right to leave any country,...” (art. 13)
• 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. (...) Marriage shall be
entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.” (art. 16)
• “Everyone has the right to own property...” (art. 17)
The third column (articles 18–21) is concerned

with spiritual, public and political freedoms.
• “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion;...”
(art. 18)
• “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression;...” (art. 19)
• “Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.”
(art. 20)
• “Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country,
directly or through freely chosen representatives.” (art. 21)
The fourth column (articles 22–27) sets out

social, economic and cultural rights.
• “Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and
favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.” (art.
23)
• “Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal payment for
equal work.” (art. 23)
• “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and
well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and
medical care and necessary social services,...” (art. 25)
• “Everyone has the right to education.” (art. 26)
The last three articles (articles 28-30) of the

Declaration provide the pediment which
binds the structure together. These articles
are concerned with the duty of the individual
to society and the prohibition of use of
rights in contravention of the purposes of
the United Nations.
Music for the UDHR text
Created by Seth Brau

Produced by Amy Poncher
Music by Rumspringa
courtesy Cantora Records
Notice!
The UDHR:
• is not a law,
• is not a binding resolution,
• is not a treatise, is a declaration,
• sets forth general principles of human rights,
not specific commitments. For these reasons...
... although the Declaration urges member

states of United Nations to promote human
rights, the states can respect and observe
the rights included in the Declaration, or
not.
Until 1948, most human rights were only

ideals hold by some people, that is to say,
human rights were only moral rights.
From 1948, human rights included in the
UDHR are more than moral rights, but there
are not yet legal rights.
...but the history of human rights does not end here.
The question is how to enforce the human

rights included in the UDHR?
3 The UDHR: how is enforced?
3 The UDHR: how is enforced?
The UDHR: how is enforced?
The third paragraph of the Declaration

intends the rights in the UDHR to be legally
enforced through some means:
• “it is essential, (…) that human rights should

be protected by the rule of law.”
To protect the rights in the Declaration by the

rule of law, the UDHR has to become:
• a binding treatise
• a covenant
• a law
The Declaration was bifurcated into two

distinct and different covenants, a Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights and another
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights.
Why was bifurcated into two covenants?

Western states (capitalists) insisted that economic

and social rights were essentially aspirations or
plans, not rights, since their realization depended
on availability of resources and on controversial
economic theory and ideology. There was
agreement that the means required to enforce
socio-economic undertakings were different from
the means required for civil-political rights.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political

Rights
• The ICCPR is a multilateral treaty adopted by the
United Nations General Assembly in 1966 and in
force from 1976.
• It commits to respect the civil and political rights of
individuals, including the right to life, freedom of
religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly,
electoral rights and rights to due process and a fair
trial.
The International Covenant on Economic, Social

and Cultural Rights
• The ICESCR is a multilateral treaty adopted by
the United Nations General Assembly in 1966
and in force from 1976.
• It commits to work towards the granting of
economic, social, and cultural rights to individuals,
including labour rights and rights to health,
education, and an adequate standard of living.
International International Covenant

Covenant on Civil and on Economic, Social and
Political Rights Cultural Rights
The ICCPR had 72 signed and ratified The ICESCR had

signatories and 165 160 parties and 6 6
signed but not ratified
parties in October countries had
2009) neither signed not signed, but not yet
ratified ratified.
The states that sign and ratify the covenants

have to incorporate them into its national or
domestic law and respect them, because
the covenant bands treaties.
There are some other covenants and treaties

to promote human rights. Altogether form
the international human rights law: a system
of laws, both domestic, regional and
international, designed to promote human
rights.
And if a state having signed and ratified these

covenants and treatises, does not respect them
and violate human rights?
• There is currently no international court to
administer international human rights law,
however...
...some limited possibilities are open:
• The International Criminal Court (ICC) has

jurisdiction over the crime of genocide, war
crimes and crimes against humanity.
• The European Court of Human Rights, has
jurisdiction over violation of human rights in
Europe.
The International The European

Criminal Court in Court of Human
The Hague Rights in
Strasbourg
Who is?
Radovan Karadzic

Until 1948, most human rights were only ideals
hold by some people, that is to say, human
rights were only moral rights.
From 1948, human rights included in the UDHR
are more than moral rights, but there are not yet
legal rights.
From 1976, human rights included in the UDHR
are already legal rights.
...but there is a lot to be done in the history of human rights.

Human Rights by Josep Sanllehí

Cargado por

Información del documento

Derechos de autor

Formatos disponibles

Compartir este documento

Compartir o incrustar documentos

Opciones para compartir

¿Le pareció útil este documento?

¿Este contenido es inapropiado?

Copyright:

Formatos disponibles

Human Rights by Josep Sanllehí

Cargado por

Copyright:

Formatos disponibles

HUMANS RIGHTS: AN OVERVIEW

HUMANS RIGHTS: AN OVERVIEW

1 Human rights: what does it mean?

There are two kinds of rights

• Liberty or privilege rights.

Liberty or privilege rights (or simply

Liberty or privilege rights (or simply “liberties”)

You have the right to pick up a coin that you find

• Rights which grant an entitlement.

A contract between employer and employee

• Has he the right to paint his nails?

• Have you (the students) the right to one smile

Liberty and claim rights are the inverse of one

Human rights: what are rights?

Rights are liberties and claims which people

Human rights: why are human?

Human rights are human because all humans

Human rights: what does it mean?

Human rights are liberty and claim rights

• Have I the right to have a new computer?

Who and how to decide which liberties and

• Human rights are beliefs -strong beliefs- that

Human rights: what does it mean?

Until 1948, most human rights were only

...but the history of human rights does not end here.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The UDHR was drafted by representatives of

Countries voting in favour of the Declaration

Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Burma,

Byelorussia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Ukraine, USSR,

The Universal Declaration of Human

Images of a historical moment

The UDHR text

Eleanor Roosevelt holds the Universal

The UDHT text consists of a preamble and

Acropolis of Athens and the The portico of the

Art. 3-11 Art. 18-21

Art. 12-17 Art. 22-27

The seven paragraphs of the preamble,

• “Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly

Articles 1 and 2 are the foundation blocks, with

The main body of the Declaration forms the four

• “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude.” (art. 4)

• “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment

• “All are equal before the law...” (art. 7)

The second column (articles 12–17) constitutes the

The third column (articles 18–21) is concerned

The fourth column (articles 22–27) sets out

The last three articles (articles 28-30) of the

Music for the UDHR text

Created by Seth Brau

... although the Declaration urges member

Human rights: what does it mean?

Until 1948, most human rights were only

The question is how to enforce the human

The UDHR: how is enforced?

The third paragraph of the Declaration

• “it is essential, (…) that human rights should

To protect the rights in the Declaration by the

The Declaration was bifurcated into two

Why was bifurcated into two covenants?

Western states (capitalists) insisted that economic

The International Covenant on Civil and Political