Human Rights
Hi Friends!
Welcome to Issue 50 of our newsletter. This week’s topic is: What Are Human Rights? You probably know by now that I’m pursuing a masters degree from Columbia University in Human Rights Studies from the Institute for the Study of Human Rights. You might be wondering what that means. For a lot of us, we think of human rights as an umbrella term, a vague topic that covers a lot of different things. Racism, discrimination, homophobia, poverty, addiction, mental illness, refugee status — these might be some topics that pop into our heads when we think of human rights. But what exactly are capital H, capital R, Human Rights? It’s actually a very specific area of study, let’s get into it!
Key Terms
Human Rights: Human rights are rights we have simply because we exist as human beings - they are not granted by any state. These universal rights are inherent to us all, regardless of nationality, sex, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language, or any other status. They range from the most fundamental - the right to life - to those that make life worth living, such as the rights to food, education, work, health, and liberty.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR): Adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948, was the first legal document to set out the fundamental human rights to be universally protected. The UDHR, which turned 74 in 2022, continues to be the foundation of all international human rights law. Its 30 articles provide the principles and building blocks of current and future human rights conventions, treaties and other legal instruments. The UDHR, together with the 2 covenants - the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights - make up the International Bill of Rights.
Respect, Protect and Fulfill: All countries in the world should seek to respect, protect and fulfill the rights of its citizens. The obligation to respect means that States must refrain from interfering with or curtailing the enjoyment of human rights. The obligation to protect requires States to protect individuals and groups against human rights abuses. The obligation to fulfill means that States must take positive action to facilitate the enjoyment of basic human rights.
United Nations: The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945. Currently made up of 193 Member States, the UN and its work are guided by the purposes and principles contained in its founding Charter. The UN has evolved over the years to keep pace with a rapidly changing world.
Let’s Get Into It
Universal Declaration Of Human Rights (UDHR)
The UDHR codified the meaning of human rights. It’s comprised of 30 articles and these articles tell the world — these are your rights, no one has to give them to you, you get them just for being a human being, and when we talk about Human Rights, these are the exact things we are talking about! Some of the most important rights included in this document are:
Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
Article 2: Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, etc.
Article 3: Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security.
Article 4: No one shall be held in slavery or servitude.
Article 4: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 7: All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law.
Article 11: Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty.
Article 13: Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.
Article 16: Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family.
Article 18: Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
Article 19: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
Article 23: Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
Article 24: Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
Article 25: Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family.
Article 26: Everyone has the right to education.
Now, if you’re anything like me, you read this and feel a little confused. How can the whole world be entitled to these things? How can the intent of this document be to impact every human being, when so many are clearly, openly and actively being denied these human rights? I am especially struck by Article 4 and it’s direct contradiction to the United States prison system. I am struck by Article 24 and the ways in which so many Americans live paycheck to paycheck without any sort of safetynet or compassion, without any true access to rest or leisure and absolutely without “reasonable limitation of working hours.” Let’s continue to discuss the ways in which America falls short when discussing Human Rights.
Human Rights In The United States
The United Nations’ Universal Human Rights Index is “a repository of recommendations and observations issued by bodies of the United Nations human rights monitoring system” — meaning, various countries will share recommendations for one another and this is where all of those recommendations are logged. When we look at the United States, we see the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has made the most recommendations, with 187 recommendations listed. There are even recommendations around these topics under the general Human Rights Committee, with 105 recommendations, many including discrimination and concerns around the prison system. This is no surprise. The rest of the world looks at the United States and sees racism and discrimination as one of — if not THE — key concern. According to Pew Research: “Between 82% and 95% in every public outside of the U.S. believe this kind of discrimination is at least a somewhat serious problem, and more than four-in-ten call it very serious..”
Other top concerns in the United States around human rights violations are: child prostitution, the carceral system, gender discrimination, adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, the human rights of migrant and safe drinking water.
While there is so much more to share around Human Rights and the issues that impact the lives of Americans, I felt like this was a helpful introduction. Something I took away from some of my early discussions at school is that the UDHR clearly spells out what the basis for human rights violations are. In this way, while some things might feel bad, they may not truly be a violation of our human rights. Crimes and human rights violations can intersect, but they can also be different. As I continue to learn more about human rights through my school and eventual research and thesis, I’ll be sure to bring you along. See ya next time!
