International Perspectives on Human Rights & Governing Documents

Key Visual & Socio-Political Triggers

• Page-2 collage of slogans, posters, and media headlines signals current flash-points driving the re-examination of human-rights today:
  • “LET THEM Rot / THEY SHOULD BE LOCKED UP / OFFSHORE DETENTION ENTERS SEVENTH YEAR” → refugee & asylum-seeker detention
  • “BLACK LIVES MATTER / PROBABLY DESERVES it…” → systemic racism & police violence
  • “RAISE THE AGE” → juvenile justice reform
  • “CALL THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION!” → domestic complaint mechanisms
  • “MASKS MUST BE WORN IN THIS STORE” → public-health orders vs civil liberties
• Serves as a reminder that international norms translate into very concrete, highly-contested national debates.

Basic Vocabulary: Rights, Human Rights & Religious Rights

• Rights = legal, social or moral entitlements people are owed.
  • Involve permissions to do / have or not do / not have something.
  • Function as normative rules; differ across cultures & states.
• Human Rights (HR) = baseline rights owed to all humans simply for being human.
  • Treated as inherent, inalienable, and indivisible.
• Religious Rights = sub-set of HR dealing with freedom to hold, change, & practise religion without fear of reprisal.
  • First explicitly safeguarded in Article $18$ of the UDHR.

Illustrative List of Fundamental HR

• Civil & Political Rights (CPR): right to life, freedom & safety, freedom of expression, equality before the law.
• Many codified by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR, $1948$).

Eight Defining Features of Human Rights

1. They are rights → have right-holders, duty-bearers & an object (freedom/protection/benefit).
2. Universal → apply to every person (race, sex, etc. irrelevant).
3. High-priority norms → not absolute, but usually trump competing interests; grounded in human dignity & global peace.
4. Exist independent of recognition → appear as domestic & international law and moral principle.
5. Provide international standards of evaluation → cross border critique legitimate.
6. Primarily political norms → direct governments to avoid & prevent discrimination (public + private actors).
7. Numerous & specific → long enumerations (see UDHR $30$ articles).
8. Set minimum standards, not utopias.

Five Critical Governing Documents (Chronology)

• $1948$ – Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
• $1959$ – Arcot Krishnaswami Study
• $1966$ – Two International Covenants on HR (ICCPR & ICESCR)
• $1981$ – UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance & of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief (aka “$1981$ Declaration on Religion”)
• $1990$ – Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam (CDHRI)

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR $1948$)

• Drafted post-WWII; cornerstone of modern HR framework.
• Voting abstentions: Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Soviet-bloc states.
  • Saudi Arabia’s explicit objections:
  • Article $16$ → equal marriage rights for men & women; clashes with local gender norms.
  • Article $18$ → freedom to change religion conflicts with Islamic prohibition of apostasy.

From Declaration to Binding Law – $18$-Year Gap

• Member states debated enforceability; outcome = Two International Covenants on Human Rights ($1966$):
  • ICCPR – Civil & Political
  • ICESCR – Economic, Social & Cultural
• Together with the UDHR they form the International Bill of Human Rights.

Quick Map – “International Bill of Human Rights”

• UDHR (soft law, $1948$)
• ICCPR (hard law treaty, $1966$)
• ICESCR (hard law treaty, $1966$)

International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights (ICCPR $1966$)

• Treaty status: binding; $165$ ratifications.
• Re-affirms religious liberty; key liberties: freedom from arbitrary arrest, freedom of expression, right to vote.
• Article $18$ (full text)
  1. Universal right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion → includes adopting & manifesting belief individually or communally, publicly or privately.
  2. Bars coercion impairing free religious choice.
  3. Allowed limitations = only those prescribed by law & necessary for public safety/order/health/morals or others’ fundamental rights.
  4. Parental liberty over children’s religious & moral education, respecting parental convictions.

International Covenant on Economic, Social & Cultural Rights (ICESCR $1966$)

• Core rights:
  • Adequate food, clothing, housing.
  • Education.
  • Just & favourable work conditions.

$1981$ Declaration on the Elimination of Intolerance & Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief

• Trigger: resurgence of anti-Semitism; fear of neo-Nazism.
• Debate over term “religion”: Communist bloc wanted atheism included ⇒ word “whatever” inserted before “belief” in Preamble to broaden scope.
• Status: UNGA Declaration (soft law) → not legally binding but carries political & moral weight.
• Expands ICCPR protections, detailing State duties and individual freedoms.
• Selected Articles:
  • Article $2$ → prohibits any religious discrimination by State or non-State actors.
  • Article $5$ → affirms children’s religious rights; parental guidance cannot harm child’s health or full development.
  • Article $6$ → non-exhaustive list of liberties (worship, charitable institutions, religious publications, religious leadership succession, rest days, holiday observance, international contact, etc.).

Arcot Krishnaswami Study ($1959$)

• Commissioned by UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination & Protection of Minorities.
• Surveyed $82$ countries → revealed incomplete implementation of UDHR religious-freedom principles.
• Produced a comprehensive typology of manifestations of religion needing protection (language, teaching, worship, observance).
• Also flagged acceptable limitations (e.g. bans on human sacrifice, self-immolation, polygamy, slavery).
• Outlined $16$ draft rules → became foundation for later Draft Principles on Freedom & Non-Discrimination in Religious Rights & Practices.
• Four analytic sections:
  1. Nature of freedom of thought/conscience/religion.
  2. Freedom to maintain/change belief.
  3. Freedom to manifest.
  4. Status of religion vis-à-vis the State.

Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam (CDHRI $1990$)

• Crafted by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) → represents $1.8$ billion Muslims & $53$ states; $45$ foreign ministers formally adopted CDHRI.
• Historical backdrop: Saudi & Yemen abstention in $1948$ over UDHR Article $18$ (apostasy concern).
• Key Attributes:
  • Frames HR through Sharia → Article $24$: “All rights and freedoms … subject to Islamic Sharia.”
  • Article $19$: no crime/punishment except as provided in Sharia.
  • No stand-alone article on religious freedom, yet lists religion among prohibited bases for discrimination.
  • Links religion with race/gender etc., influencing later OIC positions within UN.
• Criticisms:
  • Seen as attempt to legitimise HR restrictions: corporal punishment, gender inequality, limits on free speech & apostasy.
  • Described as “manipulation & hypocrisy,” a dilution of established civil & political rights.
  • $1992$: Presented to UN Commission on HR → strongly condemned.
  • $2008$: OIC’s revised charter dropped explicit reference to the CDHRI, but still omitted any endorsement of UDHR.

Comparative Snapshot: UDHR vs CDHRI (“Myth of Universal HR”)

• UDHR: universalist, gender equality, unrestricted free speech & religious change.
• CDHRI: conditional on Sharia; critics note continued inequality & curtailed expression.
• Visual infographic (Page $36$) juxtaposes the two, listing signatories & highlighting incompatible clauses.

Philosophical & Practical Take-Aways

• Universality vs Cultural Relativism: CDHRI illustrates challenge to a one-size-fits-all HR model.
• Priority Norm Conflicts: Article $18$ (freedom of religion/change of belief) collides with anti-apostasy laws.
• Soft-law → Hard-law Pathway: UDHR (declaration) → ICCPR/ICESCR (treaties) shows how moral claims harden into enforceable norms.
• State Duties & Legitimate Limitations: ICCPR & $1981$ Declaration both permit restrictions only when necessary & lawful for public interests or others’ rights.
• Modern Relevance: Headlines on detention, racism, public health show HR remains a living, contested field requiring constant reference back to these governing texts.