What are Human rights?
Speaking of Human Rights, Justice P.N. Bhagwati rightly observed as all those rights which are essential for the protection and maintenance of dignity of individuals and create conditions in which every human being can develop his personality to the fullest extent may be termed human rights.[i]
Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights describes it as: “Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status. We are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination. These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and indivisible.
Universal human rights are often expressed and guaranteed by law, in the forms of treaties, customary international law, general principles and other sources of international law. International human rights law lays down obligations of Governments to act in certain ways or to refrain from certain acts, in order to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms of individuals or groups.”[ii]
Therefore, Human Rights are those rights which belong to an individual as a consequence of being human as a means to human dignity. These are the rights which all men everywhere at all times ought to have, something of which no one may be deprived without a grave affront of justice.
UDHR: Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Owing to its creation Atlantic Charter (1941) and the Declaration of the United Nations (1942), UDHR was prepared by the Drafting Committee appointed by the Commission on Human Rights (1947) under Economic and Social Council. The Declaration was adopted by the General Assembly by a vote of 48 to zero with eight abstentions on 10th December 1948.
The Declaration contains 30 Articles enumerating the basic postulates and principles of human rights quite comprehensively. 21 Articles enumerate civil and political rights while 6 Articles observe the principles of economic and social rights.
Effect of the Declaration:
Often described as the contemporary Magna Carta, the Declaration was not to create legal obligations, as it was merely a recommendation to member states. But over the years the Declaration has acquired the status of customary international law because most states treat it as though it were law. However, governments have not applied this customary law equally. Various Conventions have been influenced & inspired by the UDHR and created the binding obligations. E.g. Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and the Exploitation of Prostitution of others (1949), Convention on the Status of Refugees (1951), Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide (1951), Convention on the Forced labour (1957), etc.
Human Rights Day:
The day was observed as Human Rights Day for the first time at the 317th Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on 4 December 1950, when the General Assembly declared resolution 423(V), inviting all member states and any other interested organizations to celebrate the day(10 December) of each year. Human rights day is celebrated by the people all across the world to get the real rights for the human beings & to improve the physical, social, cultural and spiritual well being and welfare of the vulnerable group of people globally. Some of the important reasons to celebrate the Day are:
- To promote the awareness about human rights among the people all around the world.
- To emphasize the endeavours of the United Nations General Assembly in order to progress the overall human rights conditions.
- To get together and celebrate in cooperation to discuss and highlight the specific issues of the human rights.
- To encourage the vulnerable group of people like women, minorities, youth, poor, disabled person, indigenous people and etc to take part in this event celebration and political decision-making.
“Next year – on 10 December 2018 – world will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and this year’s Human Rights Day on Sunday marks the beginning of a year-long 70th-anniversary commemoration.” In this year’s event, On Sunday 10 December, the High Commissioner will mark Human Rights Day and the launch of the 70th anniversary campaign alongside the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris — the historic site of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the General Assembly on 10 December 1948. The themes of previous years were:
- The theme of 2012: “Inclusion and the right to participate in public life” and “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”.
- The theme of 2013: “20 Years: Working for Your Rights”.
- The theme of 2014: “Celebrating 20 years of changing lives through Human Rights”.
Human Rights Issues in India:
Some of the Human Rights issues in India which need to be resolved in quick time are:
- Abolition of bonded labour,
- Combating sexual harassment of women at workplace,
- Right to food,
- Dalits issues including atrocities perpetrated on them,
- Problems faced by denotified and nomadic tribes,
- Rights of the disabled,
- Abolition of child labour,
- Population control, etc.
Be it Supreme Court of India or the National Commission of India, the Human Rights issues have been taken seriously since last few decades. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights empowers us all. The principles enshrined in the Declaration are as relevant today as they were in 1948. We need to stand up for our own rights and those of others. We can take action in our own daily lives, to uphold the rights that protect us all and thereby promote the kinship of all human beings.
[i] Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India, A.I.R. 1978 SC 597
http: //www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Pages/WhatareHumanRights.aspx
