Principles of Human Rights

• a right - en entitlement to act or be treated in a particular way that has the highest priority

• a duty- an obligation to act, or refrain from acting, in a particular way to satisfy someone’s right

  • enforce rights

• human rights - universal and inalienable entitlements to act or be treated in a particular way

  • always have this bc human, no matter what

• human duty - a human obligation that the international community has to satisfy human rights

Types of Human Rights

1. Civil and Political Human Rights

   1. rights that entitle humans to participate in the civic and political life of their society without discrimination or repression from the state

   2. “negative rights”

   3. ex. free speech, right to vote, freedom of assembly, privacy

2. Economic and Social Human Rights

   1. rights that entitle humans to equal social and economic conditions without exploitation from the market

   2. “positive rights” bc govt has to protect??

   3. ex. healthcare, education, food and water, work

3. new wave of human rights

   1. indigenous rights

   2. LGBTQ+ rights

   3. digital rights

Declaration/Resolution a non-legally binding intl human rights doc

Convention/Covenant/Charter a legally binding intl human rights treaty that involves signatories and ratification

• US Congress has to ratify a treaty for it to be enforced

The International Bill of Human Rights

1. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)

   1. an intl declaration that affirms the civil, political, social, and economic rights of all human beings

2. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)

   1. an intl treaty that commits states to respect the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, electoral rights and rights to due process and a fair trail

   2. ex. US has ratify this but has statements so keep some own domestic laws (free speech (including hate speech); death penalty)

3. The International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)

   1. an intl treaty that commits states to respect labour rights, the right to health, the right to education, and the right to an adequate standard of living

   2. US hasn’t ratified

Universalism vs. Relativism

1. universalism

   1. the view that all humans possess an equal set of rights regardless of their culture

2. relativism

   1. the view that human rights are culturally relative and that there is no one-size-fits-all set of rights

   2. only applicable to people who endorse them

   3. Western Intervention

      1. justifications for imperialism based on real or perceived human rights violations

      2. ex. US’s ‘civilising’ mission trying to free Afghan women during the war

   4. Western Hypocrisy

      1. Western criticisms of human rights violations in the global south that the West is also guilty of

      2. ex. 9/11 unleashed human rights abuses: torture became standard “enhanced interrogation”

      3. conceptual damage: west continues to violate human rights and allows other opportunist countries to take advantage

         1. ex. China gain support as a ‘defender of the Muslim world’ as US doesn’t hold Israel accountable for actions against Palestinians

Relative Universalism - the incorporation of cultural relativism into a universal framework of human rights by distinguishing between concept, interpretation, and implementation

• Concept - an abstract and general statement of an orienting value for a human right

  • ex. Democracy isn’t a Western imposition, much of Africa want democracy, democracy is largely accepted universally

• Interpretation - varying explanations of the meaning of the concept’s limits as a human right

  • ex. global support for free speech, but opposition to some forms of speech such as hate speech

• Implementation - the legal forms in which the interpretation of human rights are expressed

  • ex. “lèse-majesté” ‘crime against the crown’, laws limiting speech criticizing or against person/ppl in power - Thailand violates human rights with heavy lése-majesté laws to restrict other political groups from gaining power