Human Rights and the South African Bill of Rights

Flashcards covering the history, classification, and critiques of human rights with a specific focus on the South African context and the Right to Development (RTD).

What are human rights?

Basic rights and freedoms that belong to every person simply because they are human.

What does it mean for human rights to be universal?

They apply to everyone regardless of race, gender, age, religion, language, nationality, disability, or social status.

Why is the protection of human rights especially significant in South Africa?

Because of the country's history of colonialism and apartheid.

What happened to South Africa's legal and political system following the transition to democracy in $1994$?

South Africa adopted a new Constitution that placed human rights at its centre.

What are other names or phrases used interchangeably with human rights?

‘fundamental’ rights, ‘basic’ rights, ‘natural’ rights, or sometimes ‘common’ rights.

How are ‘fundamental’ or ‘basic’ rights defined in the notes?

Rights which must not be taken away by any legislation or act of the state and which are often set out in a constitution or bill of rights.

What is a general definition of human rights regarding human nature?

Those rights which are inherent in our nature and without which we cannot live as human beings.

What do First Generation Rights consist of?

Civil and political rights aimed at the protection of the citizen against arbitrary actions of the state.

Name several examples of First Generation Rights.

The right to life, the right to liberty and security, the right to privacy, the right to a fair trial, the right to equality, and the right to dignity.

When was the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) adopted?

16 December $1966$.

When did the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) enter into force?

23 March $1976$.

What thresholds of accessions or ratifications were required for the ICCPR and ICESCR to enter into force?

$35$ ratifications or accessions.

What do Second Generation Rights consist of?

Economic, social, and cultural rights.

List examples of Second Generation Rights.

The right to work, fair remuneration, collective bargaining, property, housing, education, health care, social security, and participation in cultural life.

On what date did the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) enter into force?

3 January $1976$.

What is another name for Third Generation Rights?

Solidarity rights.

What are examples of rights included in the Third Generation category?

The right to peace, the right to development, and the right to a clean environment.

Who is the French jurist and scholar credited with the idea of 'generations' of human rights?

Karel Vasak.

Upon which French Revolutionary values were Karel Vasak’s three generations of rights based?

Liberté, Égalité, and Fraternité.

What is the principle of universality of human rights?

The notion that all human rights apply uniformly and with equal force throughout the world to every individual simply by virtue of being human.

According to the principle of interdependence, how is the realization of a particular right achieved?

Full and meaningful enjoyment of a particular right is dependent on the possession of all other rights.

What does the principle of indivisibility state?

All human rights are equally important and cannot be denied or enjoyed in isolation from one another.

What problem arises from labeling rights with colors?

It tends to associate human rights with particular ideologies.

Associate the colors Blue, Red, and Green with their corresponding ideologies or priorities.

Blue with Western liberalism, Red with socialism or communism, and Green with third world nationalism/developmental priorities.

Regarding implementation, what differentiation did Western states make between civil and political rights versus socio-economic rights?

Civil/political rights were seen as immediately justiciable, while socio-economic rights depended upon progressive, programmatic implementation.

What does the ICESCR require of states regarding the realization of rights?

The progressive realisation of the rights to the maximum of the states’ available resources.

Which right is often debated as falling into more than one generation or category?

The right to self-determination.

Who brought the right to development to academia in $1972$?

Keba M’Baye.

How is the Right to Development (RTD) defined in Article $1(1)$ of the UN Declaration?

An inalienable human right by virtue of which every person and all peoples are entitled to participate in, contribute to, and enjoy development.

According to Serges Djoyou Kamga, who are the primary duty bearers for the realization of the RTD?

States (governments).