Human rights

{{philosophy}}
'''Human rights''' are those [[rights]] that all people have (or should have, or are believed to have) as [[human]]s.

Unfortunately, no consensus can be reached as to what constitutes human rights.  Many non-[[West]]ern countries have said that trying to impose Western concepts of human rights (such as [[freedom of religion]] or [[political]] rights) is an act of [[colonialism]].  Instead, many of them say that Western ideology does not give enough thought to rights such as clothing, stability, and work.

While almost every country in the world has signed onto the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]], many of them do not live up to it. 

To a large extent, human rights have become a political football in the field of [[international relations]].  In particular, the [[United States]] and [[China]] trade accusations of human rights abuses on a yearly basis.<ref> [http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62B0WQ20100312 China calls U.S. a hypocrite over human rights], ''Reuters'', March 12, 2010</ref><ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/15/world/asia/15china.html Far-Ranging Support for Google’s China Move], ''New York Times'', November 10, 2010</ref>

==Origins==
The concept of human rights emerged from [[Enlightenment]]-era thinkers' (and [[revolution]]aries) ideas about "[[natural law|natural rights]]" and the "rights of man." This was mainly a reaction to absolutist [[monarchism]], the [[divine right of kings]], and religious oppression. The inviolability of the human body became a central concept in human rights, especially after [[Voltaire]]'s campaign to overturn the verdict against Jean Calas, the [[French]] [[Calvinist]] framed for [[murder]].<ref>[http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/voltvern.htm Voltaire] by Thomas S. Vernon</ref><ref group=note>See also ''Inventing Human Rights'' by Lynn Hunt. ([http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/08/books/review/Wood2.t.html Review by Gordon S. Wood] and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZVD1G4q0bA lecture on the book.])</ref>

===French revolution and American Bill of Rights===
While some states (notably Virginia) passed declarations of rights prior to 1789, the first attempt to pass a "canon" of human rights was made almost simultaneously in the US and France with the "{{wpl|Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen}}" of August 1789 and the (slightly later) [[American Bill of Rights]] (i.e. the first ten amendments to the US constitution) which became law by 1791 after being approved by Congress in September of 1789. To a large degree, all subsequent declarations of human rights (as well as many constitutions) draw significant inspiration from either or both of those declarations.<ref group=note>Though the [[second amendment]] is almost entirely unique to the US.</ref>

==The Universal Declaration of Human Rights==
Given that different [[culture]]s give differing weights to what is or is not a human right, the [[United Nations]] set forth to reach consensus and, in 1948 in the aftermath of [[World War II]], proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Of the 56 participating countries, there were no dissenters, although there were eight abstentions.

There are 30 'Articles',<ref>[http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml The Universal Declaration of Human Rights], full text at the United Nations website</ref> although not each of these directly equates to a right. In brief — and heavily paraphrased — the rights are:
{{collist|2|
#The right to [[equality]] and dignity<ref>[http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/#a1 Article 1]</ref>
#The right to equality before the [[law]]<ref>[http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/#a2 Article 2]</ref>
#The right to [[life]], [[liberty]], and security of person<ref>[http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/#a3 Article 3]</ref>
#No one should be held in [[slavery]]<ref>[http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/#a4 Article 4]</ref>
#No one shall be [[torture]]d<ref>[http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/#a5 Article 5]</ref>
#The law should accept that you are a person<ref>[http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/#a6 Article 6]</ref>
#Equal protection before the law<ref>[http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/#a7 Article 7]</ref>
#The right to effective remedy when rights are violated<ref>[http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/#a8 Article 8]</ref>
#Protection against [[arbitrary detention|arbitrary arrest]], imprisonment, or exile<ref>[http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/#a9 Article 9]</ref>
#The right to equality before the law and to an impartial hearing<ref>[http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/#a10 Article 10]</ref>
#The right to be [[Presumption of innocence|presumed innocent]] until proven guilty<ref>[http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/#a11 Article 11]</ref>
#The right to [[privacy]] and to protection against defamation<ref>[http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/#a12 Article 12]</ref> 
#Freedom of movement<ref>[http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/#a13 Article 13]</ref>
#The right of asylum<ref>[http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/#a14 Article 14]</ref>
#The right to nationality<ref>[http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/#a15 Article 15]</ref> 
#The right to [[marriage|marry]], protection against forced marriage<ref>[http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/#a16 Article 16]</ref> 
#The right to own property, individually or jointly<ref>[http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/#a17 Article 17]</ref> 
#[[Freedom of religion]]<ref>[http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/#a18 Article 18]</ref>
#Freedom of opinion and expression<ref>[http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/#a19 Article 19]</ref>
#The right to peaceful assembly<ref>[http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/#a20 Article 20]</ref>
#The right to participate in democratic government<ref>[http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/#a21 Article 21]</ref>
#The right to a reasonable standard of living and social participation<ref>[http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/#a22 Article 22]</ref>
#The right to [[Copyright|intellectual property]]<ref>[http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/#a27 Article 27 (2)]</ref>
#The right to live in an ordered society<ref>[http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/#a28 Article 28]</ref>
}}

===Objections to the UDHR===
Naturally, this attempt to reach consensus has its critics. In brief, these can be summed up as
*Objections to freedom of religion. This is counter to some religious beliefs - "thou shall not suffer a [[witchcraft|witch]] to live", for example.
*Objections to gender equality - again, often on religious grounds.
*Objections by [[libertarian]]s about the [[social contract]] - to quote "Enforcement of one person's economic, social, or cultural rights necessarily involves forcing others to relinquish their property, or to use it in a way prescribed by the enforcers."<ref>[http://mises.org/journals/jls/15_4/15_4_1.pdf Get off our lawn!]</ref> 
*The '''lack''' of the inclusion of the right to refuse to kill - a stance taken by [[Amnesty International]].
*[[Unschooling|Unschoolers]] object to the right to an [[education]], saying that it [[bullshit|impinges]] on their [[Brainwashing|right to bring up their children as they see fit]] (even though a right to education does not mean one is forced to receive a state education, only that they have the right to should they choose to exercise that right).
*Objections based on national sovereignty. (Translation: "United Nations, you are not the boss of us!") While this objection is 
perhaps
 the most transparently childish, it (or its undeclared implementation) is also perhaps the most effective, given that any sort of real enforcement action by/on behalf of the UN must be approved by the Security Council, and the right of permanent members of that body to exercise a veto on any of its resolutions means that many nations are effectively shielded from the possibility of being required to comply with the UDHR or other international obligations.
*Objections to property rights by communists, as well as many socialists and anarchists. Prominent anarchist activist {{wpl|Pierre-Joseph Proudhon}} coined the famous slogan {{wpl|Property is theft!}}.
*Objections to intellectual property by some libertarians, both on the left and on the right. On the left, [[Richard Stallman]] claims that the term íntellectual property is a "seductive mirage",<ref>[https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.en.html Did You Say “Intellectual Property”? It's a Seductive Mirage] ''GNU Operational System''</ref> while on the right, prominent libertarian lawyer {{wpl|Stephan Kinsella}} argues that IP is incompatible with other property rights.<ref>[https://mises.org/library/against-intellectual-property-2 Against Intellectual Property] ''Mises Institute''</ref>
Furthermore, totalitarians, [[Hitler|both on the right]] and [[Stalin|on the left]] as well as their apologists, are opposed to pretty much every human right, listed or not. [[Anarchist]]s, on the other hand, tend to be more divided on the subject, with some of them denouncing the failure of governments to uphold them and others believing that the concept of human rights has no objective reality behind it and ultimately serves to justify the state's power — and if the state can grant rights, it can then take them away whenever they please.<ref>[https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/bob-black-the-myth-of-human-rights The Myth of Human Rights] Bob Black</ref>

==See also==
*[[Corporate human rights violations]]
*[[Animal rights]]
*[[Civil rights]]
*[[Plant rights]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}
==References==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:Culture]]
[[Category:Human rights| ]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]
[[Category:Rights]]

Categories: Culture, Human rights, Philosophy, Rights