Global narrative of civil rights
While belief in the sanctity of human life has ancient precedents in many religions of the world, the foundations of modern human rights began during the era of
renaissance humanism
in the
early modern period
. The
European wars of religion
and the civil wars of seventeenth-century
Kingdom of England
gave rise to the philosophy of liberalism and belief in
natural rights
became a central concern of European intellectual culture during the eighteenth-century
Age of Enlightenment
. Ideas of
natural rights
, which had a basis in
natural law
, lay at the core of the
American
and
French Revolutions
which occurred toward the end of that century, but the idea of human rights came about later. Democratic evolution through the nineteenth century paved the way for the advent of
universal suffrage
in the twentieth century. Two world wars led to the creation of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
.
The
post-war
era saw movements arising from specific groups experiencing a shortfall in their rights, such as
feminism
and the
civil rights
of African Americans. The human rights movements of members of the
Soviet bloc
emerged in the 1970s along with workers' rights movements in the West. The movements quickly jelled as social activism and political rhetoric in many nations put human rights high on the world agenda.
[1]
By the 21st century, historian Samuel Moyn has argued, the human rights movement expanded beyond its original anti-totalitarianism to include numerous causes involving humanitarianism and social and economic development in the
Developing World
.
[2]
The history of human rights has been complex. Many established rights for instance would be replaced by other systems which deviate from their original western design. Stable institutions may be uprooted such as in cases of conflict such as war and terrorism or a change in culture.
[3]
Ancient and pre-modern eras
[
edit
]
Some notions of
righteousness
present in ancient law and religion are sometimes retrospectively included under the term "human rights". While
Enlightenment
philosophers suggest a secular social contract between the rulers and the ruled, ancient traditions derived similar conclusions from notions of
divine law
, and, in
Hellenistic philosophy
,
natural law
.
Samuel Moyn
suggests that the concept of human rights is intertwined with the modern sense of
citizenship
, which did not emerge until the past few hundred years.
[4]
Nonetheless, relevant examples exist in the Ancient and pre-modern eras, although Ancient peoples did not have the same modern-day conception of universal human rights.
[5]
Ancient West Asia
[
edit
]
The reforms of
Urukagina
of
Lagash
, the earliest known legal code (
c.
2350 BC
), is often thought to be an early example of reform. Professor Norman Yoffee wrote that after
Igor M. Diakonoff
"most interpreters consider that Urukagina, himself not of the ruling dynasty at Lagash, was no reformer at all. Indeed, by attempting to curb the encroachment of a secular authority at the expense of temple prerogatives, he was, if a modern term must be applied, a reactionary."
[6]
Author
Marilyn French
wrote that the discovery of penalties for adultery for women but not for men represents "the first written evidence of the degradation of women".
[6]
[7]
The oldest legal code extant today is the
Neo-Sumerian
Code of Ur-Nammu
(
c.
2050 BC
). Several other sets of laws were also issued in
Mesopotamia
, including the
Code of Hammurabi
(
c.
1780 BC
), one of the most famous examples of this type of document. It shows rules, and punishments if those rules are broken, on a variety of matters, including
women's rights
,
men's rights
,
children's rights
and
slave rights
.
Africa
[
edit
]
The Northeast African civilization of
Ancient Egypt
[8]
supported basic human rights.
[9]
For example,
Pharaoh
Bocchoris
(725?720 BC) promoted
individual rights
, suppressed imprisonment for debt, and reformed laws relating to the transferral of property.
[9]
Antiquity
[
edit
]
Many historians suggest that the
Achaemenid Persian Empire
of
ancient Iran
established unprecedented principles of human rights in the 6th century BC under
Cyrus the Great
. After his conquest of the
Neo-Babylonian Empire
in 539 BC, the king issued the
Cyrus cylinder
, discovered in 1879 and seen by some today as the first human rights document.
[10]
[11]
[12]
The cylinder has been linked by some commentators to the decrees of Cyrus recorded in the
Books of Chronicles
,
Nehemiah
, and
Ezra
, which state that Cyrus allowed (at least some of) the Jews to return to their homeland from their
Babylonian Captivity
. Additionally it stated the freedom to practice one's faith without persecution and forced conversions.
[13]
[14]
According to art historian
Neil MacGregor
, the proclamation of full religious freedoms in Babylon and elsewhere in the Persian empire was an important inspiration for human rights by prominent thinkers millennia later, especially in the United States.
[15]
In opposition to the above viewpoint, the interpretation of the Cylinder as a "
charter
of human rights" has been dismissed by other historians and characterized by some others as political propaganda devised by the
Pahlavi
regime.
[16]
The German historian
Josef Wiesehofer
argues that the image of "Cyrus as a champion of the UN human rights policy ... is just as much a phantom as the humane and enlightened Shah of Persia",
[17]
while historian
Elton L. Daniel
has described such an interpretation as "rather
anachronistic
" and tendentious.
[18]
The cylinder now lies in the
British Museum
, and a replica is kept at the
United Nations Headquarters
.
Many thinkers point to the concept of
citizenship
beginning in the early
poleis
of ancient Greece, where all free citizens had the right to speak and vote in the political assembly.
[19]
The
Twelve Tables
Law established the principle "Privilegia ne irroganto", which literally means "privileges shall not be imposed".
The
Mauryan
Emperor
Ashoka
, who ruled from 268 to 232 BCE, established the largest empire in South Asia. Following the reportedly destructive
Kalinga War
, Ashoka adopted Buddhism and abandoned an expansionist policy in favor of humanitarian reforms. The
Edicts of Ashoka
were erected throughout his empire, containing the 'Law of Piety'.
[20]
These laws prohibited religious discrimination, and cruelty against both humans and animals.
[21]
The Edicts emphasize the importance of tolerance in public policy by the government. The slaughter or capture of
prisoners of war
was also condemned by Ashoka.
[22]
Some sources claim that slavery was also non-existent in ancient India.
[23]
The Greek records say there is absence of slavery during the rule of Sandrocottus.
[24]
In
ancient Rome
an
ius gentium
or
jus gentium
was a right which a citizen was due simply by dint of his citizenship.
[25]
The concept of a Roman
ius
is a precursor to a right as conceived in the Western European tradition. The word "
justice
" is derived from
ius
. Human rights legislation in the Roman Empire included the introduction of the
presumption of innocence
by Emperor
Antoninus Pius
[26]
and the
Edict of Milan
by Emperor
Constantine the Great
establishing complete freedom of religion.
[27]
The coining of the phrase 'Human rights' can be attributed to
Tertullian
in his letter To Scapula wherein he wrote about the religious freedom in Roman Empire.
[28]
[29]
He equated "fundamental human rights" as a "privilege of nature" in this letter.
Early Islamic caliphate
[
edit
]
Historians generally agree that
Muhammad
preached against what he saw as the social evils of his day,
[30]
and that Islamic social reforms in areas such as
social security
, family structure,
slavery
, and the rights of women and
ethnic minorities
were intended to improve on what was present in existing
Arab
society at the time.
[31]
[32]
[33]
[34]
[35]
[36]
For example, according to
Bernard Lewis
, Islam "from the first denounced
aristocratic
privilege, rejected
hierarchy
, and adopted a formula of the career open to the talents."
[
which?
]
[31]
John Esposito
sees Muhammad as a reformer who condemned practices of the pagan Arabs such as
female infanticide
,
exploitation
of the poor,
usury
, murder, false contracts, and theft.
[37]
Bernard Lewis
believes that the egalitarian nature of Islam "represented a very considerable advance on the practice of both the
Greco-Roman
and the
ancient Persian
world."
[31]
Muhammed also incorporated Arabic and
Mosaic
laws and customs of the time into his divine revelations.
[38]
The
Constitution of Medina
, also known as the
Charter of Medina
, was drafted by
Muhammad
in 622. It constituted a formal agreement between Muhammad and all of the significant tribes and families of Yathrib (later known as
Medina
), including
Muslims
, Jews, and
pagans
.
[39]
[40]
The document was drawn up with the explicit concern of bringing to an end the bitter intertribal fighting between the clans of the Aws (
Aus
) and
Khazraj
within Medina. To this effect it instituted a number of rights and responsibilities for the Muslim, Jewish and pagan communities of Medina bringing them within the fold of one community-the
Ummah
.
[41]
If the prisoners were in the custody of a person, then the responsibility was on the individual.
[42]
Lewis states that Islam brought two major changes to ancient slavery which were to have far-reaching consequences. "One of these was the presumption of freedom; the other, the ban on the enslavement of free persons except in strictly defined circumstances," Lewis continues. The position of the Arabian slave was "enormously improved": the Arabian slave "was now no longer merely a chattel but was also a human being with a certain religious and hence a
social status
and with certain quasi-legal rights."
[43]
Esposito
states that reforms in
women's rights
affected marriage, divorce and
inheritance
.
[37]
Women were not accorded with such legal status in other cultures, including the West, until centuries later.
[44]
The Oxford Dictionary of Islam
states that the general improvement of the status of Arab women included prohibition of
female infanticide
and recognizing women's full personhood.
[45]
"The
dowry
, previously regarded as a bride-price paid to the father, became a nuptial gift retained by the wife as part of her personal property."
[37]
[46]
Under Islamic law, marriage was no longer viewed as a "status" but rather as a "contract", in which the woman's consent was imperative.
[37]
[45]
[46]
"Women were given inheritance rights in a
patriarchal society
that had previously restricted inheritance to male relatives."
[37]
Annemarie Schimmel
states that "compared to the pre-Islamic position of women, Islamic legislation meant an enormous progress; the woman has the right, at least according to the letter of the law, to administer the wealth she has brought into the family or has earned by her own work."
[47]
William Montgomery Watt
states that Muhammad, in the historical context of his time, can be seen as a figure who testified on behalf of
women's rights
and improved things considerably. Watt explains: "At the time Islam began, the conditions of women were terrible?they had no
right to own property
, were supposed to be the property of the man, and if the man died everything went to his sons." Muhammad, however, by "instituting rights of property ownership, inheritance, education and divorce, gave women certain basic safeguards."
[48]
Haddad and
Esposito
state that "Muhammad granted women rights and privileges in the sphere of
family life
, marriage, education, and economic endeavors, rights that help improve women's status in society."
[49]
However, other writers have argued that women before Islam were more liberated drawing most often on the first marriage of Muhammad and that of Muhammad's parents, but also on other points such as worship of female idols at Mecca.
[50]
Sociologist
Robert Bellah
(
Beyond belief
) argues that Islam in its 7th-century origins was, for its time and place, "remarkably modern...in the high degree of commitment, involvement, and participation expected from the rank-and-file members of the community." This is because, he argues, that Islam emphasized the equality of all Muslims, where leadership positions were open to all. Dale Eickelman writes that Bellah suggests "the early Islamic community placed a particular value on individuals, as opposed to collective or group responsibility."
[51]
Early
Islamic law
's principles concerning
military conduct
and the treatment of
prisoners of war
under the early
Caliphate
are considered precursors to
international humanitarian law
. The many requirements on how prisoners of war should be treated included, for example, providing shelter, food and clothing, respecting their cultures, and preventing any acts of execution, rape or revenge. Some of these principles were not codified in Western
international law
until modern times.
[52]
Islamic law under the early Caliphate institutionalised humanitarian limitations on military conduct, including attempts to limit the severity of war, guidelines for ceasing hostilities, distinguishing between civilians and combatants, preventing unnecessary destruction, and caring for the sick and wounded.
[53]
Middle Ages
[
edit
]
The concept of human rights in the medieval ages built on the
natural law
tradition. This tradition was heavily influenced by the writings of
St Paul's
early Christian thinkers such as
St Hilary of Poitiers
,
St Ambrose
, and
St Augustine
.
[54]
Augustine was among the earliest to examine the legitimacy of the laws of man, and attempt to define the boundaries of what laws and rights occur naturally based on wisdom and conscience, instead of being arbitrarily imposed by mortals, and if people are
obligated to obey laws that are unjust
.
[55]
This medieval tradition became prominent and influenced
Magna Carta
is an English charter originally issued in 1215 which influenced the development of the
common law
and many later constitutional documents related to human rights, such as the 1689
English Bill of Rights
, the 1789
United States Constitution
, and the 1791
United States Bill of Rights
.
[56]
Magna Carta was originally written because of disagreements between
Pope Innocent III
,
King John
and the English barons about the rights of the King. Magna Carta required the King to renounce certain rights, respect certain legal procedures and accept that his will could be bound by the law. It explicitly protected certain rights of the King's subjects, whether free or fettered?most notably the writ of
habeas corpus
, allowing appeal against unlawful imprisonment.
For modern times, the most enduring legacy of Magna Carta is considered the right of habeas corpus. This right arises from what are now known as clauses 36, 38, 39, and 40 of the 1215 Magna Carta. Magna Carta also included the right to
due process
:
No Freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or be disseised of his Freehold, or Liberties, or free Customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or any other wise destroyed; nor will We not pass upon him, nor condemn him, but by lawful judgment of his Peers, or by the Law of the Land. We will sell to no man, we will not deny or defer to any man either Justice or Right.
?
Clause XXIX of Magna Carta
The
statute of Kalisz
(1264), bestowed privileges to the Jewish minority in the
Kingdom of Poland
such as protection from discrimination and hate speech.
[57]
At the
Council of Constance
(1414?1418), scholar and jurist
Pawel Wlodkowic
delivered an address from his
Tractatus de potestate papae et imperatoris respectu infidelium
("Treatise on the Power of the Pope and the Emperor Respecting Infidels") in which he advocated the peaceful coexistence of Christians and pagans, making him a precursor of
religious tolerance
in Europe.
[58]
Early modern period and modern foundations
[
edit
]
Age of Discovery, early modern period and Age of Enlightenment
[
edit
]
The conquest of the Americas in the 15th and 16th centuries by Spain, during the
Age of Discovery
, resulted in vigorous debate about human rights in Colonial Spanish America.
[59]
This led to the issuance of the
Laws of Burgos
by
Ferdinand the Catholic
on behalf of his daughter,
Joanna of Castile
. Friar
Antonio de Montesinos
, a Friar of the
Dominican Order
at the Island of
Hispaniola
, delivered a sermon on December 21, 1511, which was attended by
Bartolome de las Casas
. It is believed that reports from the Dominicans in Hispaniola motivated the Spanish Crown to act. The sermon, known as the Christmas Sermon, gave way to further debates from 1550 to 1551 between Las Casas and
Juan Gines de Sepulveda
at
Valladolid
. Among the provisions of the Laws of Burgos were
child labor
;
women's rights
; wages; suitable accommodations; and rest/
vacation
, among others.
Several 17th- and 18th-century European philosophers, most notably
John Locke
, developed the concept of
natural rights
, the notion that people are naturally free and equal.
[60]
Locke believed natural rights were derived from divinity since
humans
were creations of God, and his ideas were important in the development of the modern notion of rights. Lockean natural rights did not rely on citizenship nor any law of the state, nor were they necessarily limited to one particular ethnic, cultural or religious group. Around the same time, in 1689, the
English Bill of Rights
was created which asserted some basic human rights,
[61]
most famously freedom from
cruel and unusual punishment
.
[62]
In the 1700s, the novel became a popular form of entertainment. Popular novels, such as
Julie, or the New Heloise
by
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
and
Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded
by
Samuel Richardson
, laid a foundation for popular acceptance of human rights by making readers empathize with characters unlike themselves.
[63]
[64]
Two major revolutions occurred during the 18th century in the United States (1776) and in France (1789). The
Virginia Declaration of Rights
of 1776 sets up a number of fundamental rights and freedoms. The later
United States Declaration of Independence
includes concepts of natural rights and famously states "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness"; this was followed in 1789 by the
United States Bill of Rights
, that enumerated specific rights, such as
freedom of speech
and the right against
self-incrimination
. Similarly, the French
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
defines a set of individual and collective rights of the people. These are, in the document, held to be universal?not only to French citizens but to
all men without exception
.
19th century to World War I
[
edit
]
Philosophers such as
Thomas Paine
,
John Stuart Mill
and
Hegel
expanded on the theme of
universality
during the 18th and 19th centuries.
In 1831
William Lloyd Garrison
wrote in
The Liberator
newspaper that he was trying to enlist his readers in "the great cause of human rights"
[65]
so the term
human rights
may have come into use sometime between Paine's
The Rights of Man
and Garrison's publication. In 1849, a contemporary,
Henry David Thoreau
, wrote about human rights in his treatise
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience
which was later influential on human rights and civil rights thinkers. United States
Supreme Court Justice David Davis
, in his 1867 opinion for
Ex parte Milligan
, wrote: "By the protection of the law, human rights are secured; withdraw that protection and they are at the mercy of wicked rulers or the clamor of an excited people."
[66]
Many groups and movements have managed to achieve profound social changes over the course of the 20th century in the name of human rights. In Western Europe and North America,
labour unions
brought about laws granting workers the right to strike, establishing safer work conditions and forbidding or regulating
child labor
. The
women's suffrage
movement succeeded in gaining for many women the
right to vote
.
National liberation
movements in the
Global South
succeeded in gaining many countries independence from Western
colonialism
, one of the most influential being
Mahatma Gandhi
's leadership of the
Indian independence movement
. Movements by ethnic and religious minorities for racial and religious equality succeeded in many parts of the world, among them the American
civil rights movement
, and more recent diverse
identity politics
movements, on behalf of women and minorities which have occurred around the world.
[
citation needed
]
The foundation of the
International Committee of the Red Cross
, the 1864
Lieber Code
and the first of the
Geneva Conventions
in 1864 laid the foundations of
international humanitarian law
, to be further developed following the two World Wars.
Auguries of United Nations human rights law have been located in the late-19th century
movement to suppress and abolish slavery
across the world as well as in the conventional protection of minorities from religious, racial, and national discrimination within states under the auspices of unilateral, bilateral, and multilateral treaty law, first found in the
1878 Treaty of Berlin
.
[67]
[68]
Pope Leo XIII's Apostolic Exhortation
Rerum Novarum
in 1891 marked the official beginning of
Catholic Social Teaching
. The document was principally concerned with discussing workers' rights, property rights, and citizens' rights against State intrusion. From that time forward, popes (and
Vatican II
) would release apostolic exhortations and encyclicals on topics that touched on human rights more and more frequently.
The proposition that a state's agents could be held criminally responsible for atrocities perpetrated against the state's own nationals was advanced by the British, French, and Russian governments in May 1915 in response to Turkey's
genocide of Armenians
.
[69]
[70]
Between World War I and World War II
[
edit
]
The
League of Nations
was established in 1919 at the negotiations over the
Treaty of Versailles
following the end of
World War I
. The League's goals included disarmament, preventing war through collective security, settling disputes between countries through negotiation, diplomacy and improving global welfare. Enshrined in its Charter was a mandate to promote many of the rights which were later included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The League of Nations had mandates to support many of the former colonies of the Western European colonial powers during their transition from colony to independent state.
Established as an agency of the League of Nations, and now part of United Nations, the
International Labour Organization
also had a mandate to promote and safeguard certain of the rights later included in the UDHR:
the primary goal of the ILO today is to promote opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work, in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity.
?
Report by the Director General for the International Labour Conference 87th Session
Also of particular note is the ILO's 1919 convention protecting women from pregnancy discrimination in employment, the 1921
Right of Association (Agriculture) Convention
, and the 1930
Forced Labour Convention
.
Modern human rights movement
[
edit
]
After World War II
[
edit
]
Rights in war and the extension of the Geneva Conventions
[
edit
]
The
Geneva Conventions
came into being between 1864 and 1949 as a result of efforts by
Henry Dunant
, the founder of the
International Committee of the Red Cross
. The conventions safeguard the human rights of individuals involved in conflict, and follow on from the
1899 and 1907 Hague Conventions
, the international community's first attempt to define
laws of war
. Despite first being framed before World War II, the conventions were revised as a result of World War II and readopted by the international community in 1949.
The Geneva Conventions are:
In addition, there are three additional amendment protocols to the Geneva Convention:
- Protocol I
(1977): Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts.
- Protocol II
(1977): Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts.
- Protocol III
(2005): Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Adoption of an Additional Distinctive Emblem.
All four conventions were last revised and ratified in 1949, based on previous revisions and partly on some of the 1907 Hague Conventions. Later, conferences have added provisions prohibiting certain methods of warfare and addressing issues of civil wars. Nearly all 200 countries of the world are "signatory" nations, in that they have ratified these conventions. The
International Committee of the Red Cross
is the controlling body of the Geneva conventions.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
[
edit
]
The
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
is a non-binding declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly
[75]
in 1948, partly in response to the barbarism of
World War II
. The Declaration urges member nations to promote a number of human, civil, economic and social rights, asserting these rights are part of the "foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world". It was declared by the
United Nations General Assembly
to be a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations. It sets forth, for the first time in history, fundamental human rights to be universally protected.
[76]
...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 to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was framed by members of the Human Rights Commission, with
Eleanor Roosevelt
as Chair, who began to discuss an "International Bill of Rights" in 1947. The members of the Commission did not immediately agree on the form of such a bill of rights, and whether, or how, it should be enforced. The Commission proceeded to frame the UDHR and accompanying treaties, but the UDHR quickly became the priority.
[77]
Canadian law professor John Humphrey and French lawyer
Rene Cassin
were responsible for much of the cross-national research and the structure of the document respectively, where the articles of the declaration were interpretative of the general principle of the preamble. The document was structured by Cassin to include the basic principles of dignity, liberty, equality and brotherhood in the first two articles, followed successively by rights pertaining to individuals; rights of individuals in relation to each other and to groups; spiritual, public and political rights; and economic, social and cultural rights. The final three articles place, according to Cassin, rights in the context of limits, duties and the social and political order in which they are to be realized.
[77]
Humphrey and Cassin intended the rights in the UDHR to be legally enforceable through some means, as is reflected in the third clause of the preamble:
[77]
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law.
?
Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948
Some of the Declaration was researched and written by a committee of international experts on human rights, including representatives from all continents and all major religions, and drawing on consultation with leaders such as
Mahatma Gandhi
.
[78]
The inclusion of both civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights
[77]
[79]
was predicated on the assumption that basic human rights are indivisible and that the different types of rights listed are inextricably linked. Though this principle was not opposed by any member states at the time of adoption (the declaration was adopted unanimously, with the abstention of the
Soviet Bloc
,
Apartheid
South Africa and
Saudi Arabia
), this principle was later subject to significant challenges.
[79]
European Convention on Human Rights
[
edit
]
The UN declaration was succeeded by the
European Convention on Human Rights
, a binding convention drafted by the
Council of Europe
in 1950 and signed by 47 countries.
[80]
The Convention has 18 articles, 13 of which are rights guaranteed under it:
[81]
- Right to life
? All human beings have a right to live without being subjected to unlawful killing, the exception being lawful self-defence or defence of another. Under this article all states have a responsibility to investigate suspicious deaths and take
positive action
to prevent loss of life in certain circumstances.
- Prohibition of torture ? Without exception, nobody can be subjected to torture or "cruel and degrading treatment".
- Prohibition of slavery ? Slavery, servitude and forced labour are forbidden unless part of legal
penal servitude
,
compulsory military service
or required to be done during a
state of emergency
.
- Right to liberty and security ? All people have a right to liberty except in the context of judicial imprisonment. The article also provides those arrested with the right to be informed, in a language they understand, of the reasons for the arrest and any charge they face, the right of prompt access to judicial proceedings to determine the legality of the arrest or detention, to trial within a reasonable time or release pending trial, and the right to compensation in the case of arrest or detention in violation of this article.
- Right to a fair trial ? Anybody accused of a crime has the right to a public hearing before an independent and impartial tribunal within reasonable time, the presumption of innocence, and other minimum rights for those charged with a criminal offence (adequate time and facilities to prepare their defence, access to legal representation, right to examine witnesses against them or have them examined, right to the free assistance of an interpreter)
- Freedom from
retroactive punishment
? Nobody can be prosecuted for an act or omission that was not illegal under national or international law at the time.
- Right to privacy
? Under the ECHR, all people have a right to respect for one's "private and family life, his home and his correspondence" as long as none of it violates the law. Among other things, this article forbids illegal police searches and legally protects private sexual activity.
- Freedom of thought, conscience and religion ? All people have a right to freely express their beliefs as long as those beliefs are not illegal, to change their religion, and to express religious belief through worship, teaching, practice and observance.
- Freedom of assembly ? All people have a right to form or join any group or organization for any purpose as long as that purpose is not illegal.
- Right to marriage ? All men and women of marriageable age have a right to marry and form a family. Controversially this protection only applies to heterosexual couples.
[
according to whom?
]
- Freedom of expression ? All people may freely express their opinions and impart and receive information except in certain extreme circumstances.
- Freedom from discrimination ? Protects rights defined elsewhere in the convention from being denied on the basis of sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinions, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status. 20 of the 47 signatories adhere to an additional protocol extending this to cover discrimination in any legal right.
- Right to remedy ? Anybody who believes their rights have been violated may petition the
European Court of Human Rights
to have their case heard and their grievances addressed and redressed.
The other five articles address enforcement of the rights enumerated in the convention and special circumstances in which these rights can be restricted. The United Kingdom, one of the signatories of the ECHR, later passed the
Human Rights Act 1998
enshrining these rights in UK law and giving the judiciary the ability to enforce them under UK law.
Late 20th century
[
edit
]
We have already found a high degree of personal liberty, and we are now struggling to enhance equality of opportunity. Our commitment to
human rights
must be absolute, our laws fair, our natural beauty preserved; the powerful must not persecute the weak, and human dignity must be enhanced.
Jimmy Carter
Inaugural Address.
[82]
According to historian
Samuel Moyn
the next major landmark in human rights happened in the 1970s.
[83]
Human rights were included in point VII of the
Helsinki Accords
, which was signed in 1975 by thirty-five states, including the United States, Canada, and all European states except
Albania
and
Andorra
.
During his inaugural speech in 1977, the 39th President of the United States
Jimmy Carter
made human rights a pillar of United States foreign policy.
[84]
Human rights advocacy organization
Amnesty International
later won the
Nobel Peace Prize
also in 1977.
[85]
Carter, who was instrumental to the
Camp David accord
peace treaty would himself win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 "for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development".
[86]
21st century
[
edit
]
Human rights advocacy has continued into the early 21st century, centred around achieving greater economic and political freedom.
[87]
In July 2022, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a
resolution
in which it is recognized that everyone on the planet has a right to a healthy environment. It called on states to step up efforts to ensure their people have access to a "clean, healthy and sustainable environment."
[88]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Samuel Moyn,
The Last Utopia: Human Rights in History
(Harvard University Press, 2010)
- ^
Scott McLemee, "The Last Utopia"
Inside Higher Education
Dec. 8, 2010 online
Archived
2020-10-04 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
Human Rights: Commitment and Betrayal
, M.G. Chitkara. Publisher, APH Publishing, 1996.
ISBN
978-8170247272
.
- ^
Samuel Moyn, August 30-edition of September 6, 2010, The Nation,
Human Rights in History: Human rights emerged not in the 1940s but the 1970s, and on the ruins of prior dreams
Archived
2015-04-28 at the
Wayback Machine
, Retrieved August 14, 2014
- ^
Michael Freeman (2002).
Human Rights: An Interdisciplinary Approach
. pp. 15?17.
- ^
a
b
Yoffee, Norman (2005).
Myths of the Archaic State: Evolution of the Earliest Cities, States, and Civilizations
. Cambridge University Press. p.
103
.
ISBN
978-0521521567
.
- ^
French, Marilyn (2007).
From Eve to Dawn, A History of Women in the World, Volume 1: Origins from Prehistory to the First Millennium v. 1
. Feminist Press, City University of New York. p. 100.
ISBN
978-1558615656
.
- ^
"ancient Egypt | Civilization, Geography, & History"
.
Encyclopedia Britannica
.
Archived
from the original on 2015-06-20
. Retrieved
2019-07-09
.
- ^
a
b
"Egyptian law"
.
Encyclopedia Britannica
.
Archived
from the original on 2021-02-12
. Retrieved
2019-07-09
.
- ^
"The First Global Statement of the Inherent Dignity and Equality"
. United Nations.
Archived
from the original on 2010-12-16
. Retrieved
2010-09-13
.
- ^
Lauren, Paul Gordon
(2003). "Philosophical Visions: Human Nature, Natural Law, and Natural Rights".
The Evolution of International Human Rights: Visions Seen
. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
ISBN
081221854X
.
- ^
Robertson, Arthur Henry; Merrills, J. G. (1996).
Human rights in the world : an introduction to the study of the international protection of human rights
. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
ISBN
978-0719049231
.
- ^
Kuhrt, Amelie (February 1983). "The Cyrus Cylinder and Achaemenid Imperial Policy".
Journal for the Study of the Old Testament
.
8
(25): 83?97.
doi
:
10.1177/030908928300802507
.
ISSN
0309-0892
.
S2CID
170508879
.
- ^
Van der Spek, Robartus J. (2014). Henkelman, Wouter FM; Jones, Charles E.; KOZUH, Michael; Woods, C. (eds.). "Cyrus the Great, Exiles and Foreign Gods. A Comparison of Assyrian and Persian Policies on Subject Nations".
Extraction and Control: Studies in Honor of Matthew W. Stolper
. Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization (68): 233?264.
hdl
:
1871/50835
.
ISBN
978-1614910015
.
ISSN
0081-7554
.
- ^
MacGregor, Neil (24 February 2013).
"A 2,600-year-old icon of freedom comes to the United States"
.
CNN
.
Archived
from the original on 29 April 2021
. Retrieved
29 April
2021
.
- ^
Kuhrt (1983)
, pp. 83?97
- ^
Wiesehofer (1999)
, pp. 55?68
- ^
Daniel
, p. 39
- ^
Shelton, Dinah (August 2007).
"An Introduction to the History of International Human Rights Law"
. George Washington University Law School.
SSRN
1010489
.
Archived
from the original on 15 January 2016
. Retrieved
10 April
2015
.
- ^
Draper, G.I.a.D. (1995-04-30).
"The contribution of the Emperor Asoka Maurya to the development of the humanitarian ideal in warfare"
.
International Review of the Red Cross Archive
.
35
(305): 192?206.
doi
:
10.1017/S0020860400090604
.
ISSN
1607-5889
.
Archived
from the original on 2018-11-16
. Retrieved
11 August
2018
.
- ^
"BRIA 14 4 b The Edicts of Asoka ? Constitutional Rights Foundation"
.
www.crf-usa.org
.
Archived
from the original on 2020-12-18
. Retrieved
2019-07-09
.
- ^
Amartya Sen
(1997)
- ^
Arrian
,
Indica
, "This also is remarkable in
India
, that all Indians are free, and no Indian at all is a slave. In this the Indians agree with the
Lacedaemonians
. Yet the Lacedaemonians have
Helots
for slaves, who perform the duties of slaves; but the Indians have no slaves at all, much less is any Indian a whore."
- ^
Slave-owning societies
Archived
2007-02-23 at the
Wayback Machine
,
Encyclopædia Britannica
- ^
"jus gentium ? Roman law"
.
Encyclopedia Britannica
.
Archived
from the original on 2021-12-24
. Retrieved
2021-12-24
.
- ^
"Ei incumbit probatio qui"
.
Law Times Journal
. 29 September 2019.
Archived
from the original on 24 December 2021
. Retrieved
24 December
2021
.
- ^
"What Was the Edict of Milan?"
.
World Atlas
. 22 May 2018.
Archived
from the original on 24 December 2021
. Retrieved
24 December
2021
.
- ^
Tertullian (2012).
The Sacred Writings of Tertullian
(Annotated ed.). Jazzybee Verlag.
ISBN
978-3849621599
.
Archived
from the original on 2021-08-27
. Retrieved
2020-03-30
.
- ^
To Scapula
,
Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry
- ^
Alexander (1998), p. 452
- ^
a
b
c
Lewis, Bernard (January 21, 1998).
"Islamic Revolution"
.
The New York Review of Books
.
- ^
Watt (1974), p. 234
- ^
Robinson (2004) p. 21
- ^
Haddad, Esposito (1998), p. 98
- ^
"Ak?h?l??",
Encyclopaedia of Islam Online
- ^
Joseph, Najmabadi (2007). Chapter: p. 293. Gallagher, Nancy.
Infanticide and Abandonment of Female Children
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Esposito (2005) p. 79
- ^
Ahmed I. (1996).
Western and Muslim Perceptions of Universal Human Rights
Archived
2016-04-18 at the
Wayback Machine
.
Afrika Focus
.
- ^
See:
- Firestone (1999) p. 118;
- "Muhammad",
Encyclopedia of Islam Online
- ^
Watt. Muhammad at Medina and R. B. Serjeant "The Constitution of Medina."
Islamic Quarterly
8 (1964) p. 4.
- ^
R. B. Serjeant,
The Sunnah Jami'ah, pacts with the Yathrib Jews, and the Tahrim of Yathrib: Analysis and translation of the documents comprised in the so-called "Constitution of Medina"
. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 41, No. 1. 1978), p. 4.
- ^
Maududi (1967), Introduction of Ad-Dahr, "Period of revelation", p. 159
- ^
Lewis (1994)
chapter 1
Archived
2001-04-01 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
Jones, Lindsay. p. 6224
- ^
a
b
Esposito (2004), p. 339
- ^
a
b
Khadduri (1978)
- ^
Schimmel (1992) p. 65
- ^
Maan, McIntosh (1999)
- ^
Haddad, Esposito (1998) p. 163
- ^
Turner, Brian S.
Islam
(
ISBN
041512347X
). Routledge: 2003,
pp. 77?78
.
- ^
McAuliffe (2005) vol. 5, pp. 66?76. "Social Sciences and the Qur’an"
- ^
Malekian, Farhad (2011).
Principles of Islamic International Criminal Law: A Comparative Search
.
Brill
. p. 335.
ISBN
978-9004203969
.
- ^
Saeed, Abdullah (2018).
Human Rights and Islam: An Introduction to Key Debates between Islamic Law and International Human Rights Law
.
Edward Elgar Publishing
. p. 299.
ISBN
978-1784716585
.
- ^
Carlyle, A. J. (1903).
A History of Medieval Political Theory in the West
. Vol. 1. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. p. 83.
Archived
from the original on 2016-06-08.
- ^
"Augustine on Law and Order ? Lawexplores.com"
.
- ^
Hazeltine, H. D. (1917). "The Influence of Magna Carta on American Constitutional Development". In Malden, Henry Elliot (ed.).
Magna Carta commemoration essays
. BiblioBazaar.
ISBN
978-1116447477
.
- ^
Isaac Lewin, The Jewish community in Poland, Philosophical Library, the University of Michigan, 1985 p.19
- ^
"The Right of Infidels to Protect Their Goods from the Perspective of the 15th Century Polish School of Ius gentium"
. Retrieved
12 April
2020
.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
Macias, Francisco (2012-12-27).
"The Laws of Burgos: 500 Years of Human Rights | In Custodia Legis: Law Librarians of Congress"
.
blogs.loc.gov
.
Archived
from the original on 2018-01-23
. Retrieved
2019-07-09
.
- ^
Tuckness, Alex (2020). Zalta, Edward N. (ed.).
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University.
Archived
from the original on 2022-03-07
. Retrieved
2022-04-03
– via Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- ^
Lind, Josh (2023-06-11).
"What are the basic human rights?"
.
Global Faq
. Retrieved
2023-06-11
.
- ^
"Britain's unwritten constitution"
. British Library.
Archived
from the original on 8 December 2015
. Retrieved
27 November
2015
.
The key landmark is the Bill of Rights (1689), which established the supremacy of Parliament over the Crown ... providing for the regular meeting of Parliament, free elections to the Commons, free speech in parliamentary debates, and some basic human rights, most famously freedom from 'cruel or unusual punishment'.
- ^
Hunt, Lynn (2008).
Inventing Human Rights: A History
. W. W. Norton & Company.
ISBN
978-0393060959
.
- ^
Slaughter, Joseph R. (2007).
Human Rights, Inc.:The World Novel, Narrative Form, and International Law
. Fordham University Press.
- ^
Mayer (2000) p. 110
- ^
"
Ex Parte Milligan
, 71 U.S. 2, 119. (full text)"
(PDF)
. December 1866. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 2008-03-07
. Retrieved
2007-12-28
.
- ^
Oppenheim, Lassa (1905).
International Law, A Treatise, Vol. I, Peace
. London: Longmans, Green, and Company. pp. 343, 346?347.
- ^
Jenny S. Martinez similarly asserts in
The Slave Trade and the Origins of International Human Rights Law
(Oxford University Press, 2012) that the system of "mixed commissions" set up following the passage of the
Slave Trade Act 1807
evolved into the international criminal justice system existing today. Crucially, the abolition of slavery,
as such
, was not called for by international agreement between High Contracting Parties until the drafting of the
1926 Slavery Convention
, however.
- ^
Schabas, William A. (2021).
The Customary International Law of Human Rights
. Oxford: Oxford U.P. pp. 13?14.
- ^
"Stern warning issued to Turkey".
The New York Times
. May 25, 1915. p. 14. "In warning the members of the Turkish Government and their agents that they will be held to personal responsibility for Armenian massacres, Great Britain, France, and Russia have taken an unusual course, but one which is justified and reasonable...The slaughters that have recently taken place, like the many in other years, are not the work of an incorporeal and unpunishable something that rules in Turkey. They are ordered or permitted by individual men whose identity is known or can be determined, and they should incur the ordinary penalties for murder if they can be caught and convicted."
- ^
"Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armies in the Field. Geneva, 6 July 1906"
.
International Committee of the Red Cross
.
Archived
from the original on 22 February 2014
. Retrieved
July 20,
2013
.
- ^
"1949 Geneva Convention (I) for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field"
. Archived from
the original
on 2014-02-21
. Retrieved
2014-02-07
.
- ^
David P. Forsythe (June 17, 2007).
The International Committee of the Red Cross: A Neutral Humanitarian Actor
.
Routledge
. p.
43
.
ISBN
978-0415341516
.
- ^
Eleanor Roosevelt: Address to the United Nations General Assembly
Archived
2017-06-22 at the
Wayback Machine
10 December 1948 in Paris, France
- ^
(A/RES/217, 1948-12-10 at Palais de Chaillot, Paris)
- ^
"The Universal Declaration"
.
Human Rights Education
.
Archived
from the original on 2022-02-17
. Retrieved
2022-02-17
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Glendon, Mary Ann (July 2004).
"The Rule of Law in The Universal Declaration of Human Rights"
.
Northwestern University Journal of International Human Rights
.
2
(5). Archived from
the original
on 2008-05-04.
- ^
Glendon (2001)
- ^
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b
Ball, Olivia; Gready, Paul (2006) p. 34
No-nonsense Guide to Human Rights
. New Internationalist Publications Ltd
- ^
Andreadakis, S. (2013). "The European Convention on Human Rights, the EU and the UK: Confronting a Heresy: A Reply to Andrew Williams".
European Journal of International Law
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24
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doi
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.
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European Convention on Human Rights Guide for the Civil & Public Service
(PDF)
(Report). Irish Human Rights Commission. 2012.
ISBN
978-0956982070
.
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Carter, Jimmy
(January 20, 1977).
"Jimmy Carter Inaugural Address"
.
Archived
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. Retrieved
December 14,
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Moyn, Samuel (August 30 ? September 6, 2010).
"Human Rights in History"
.
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Archived
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Moyn, Samuel (2010).
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. Harvard University Press.
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"The Nobel Peace Prize 1977 ? Amnesty International"
. The Nobel Foundation.
Archived
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. The Nobel Foundation. December 14, 2002.
Archived
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Archived
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.
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Archived
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. Retrieved
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.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Burke, Roland. "Flat affect? Revisiting emotion in the historiography of human rights."
Journal of Human Rights
16#2 (2017): 123?141.
- Fomerand, Jacques. ed.
Historical Dictionary of Human Rights
(2021)
excerpt
- Gorman, Robert F. and Edward S. Mihalkanin, eds.
Historical Dictionary of Human Rights and Humanitarian Organizations
(2007)
excerpt
- Ishay, Micheline.
The History of Human Rights: From Ancient Times to the Globalization Era
(2nd ed. U of California Press, 2008).
online
- Maddex, Robert L., ed.
International encyclopedia of human rights: freedoms, abuses, and remedies
(CQ Press, 2000).
[
ISBN missing
]
- Mayers, David. "Humanity in 1948: The Genocide Convention and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights"
Diplomacy & Statecraft
(2015) 26#3 pp. 446?472.
- Miller, Fred
(2008).
"Rights, Natural"
. In
Hamowy, Ronald
(ed.).
The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism
. Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage
;
Cato Institute
. pp. 434?436.
ISBN
978-1412965804
.
OCLC
750831024
.
- Slaughter, Joseph R. "Hijacking human rights: Neoliberalism, the new historiography, and the end of the Third World."
Human Rights Quarterly
40.4 (2018): 735?775.
Primary sources
[
edit
]
- Ishay, Micheline, ed.
The Human Rights Reader: Major Political Essays, Speeches, and Documents from Ancient Times to the Present
(2nd ed. 2007)
excerpt
External links
[
edit
]
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