FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Human-relating to or characteristic of people or human beings.

Rights- are the common claims of people which every civilized society
recognizes as essential claims for their development, and which are therefore
enforced by the state.

The human being and his right

Human rights denote the rights of man, as human (Donnelly, 2013). This
definition literally reflects on the basic essence of the two words that came
together to form the term. Thus, human refers to everyone on earth irrespective
of their age, ethnicity, nationality, ideology, orientation, sex or creed. Rights, on
the other hand, refer to privileges that one compulsorily deserves irrespective of
his or her age, ethnicity, nationality, ideology, orientation, sex or creed. Human
rights are therefore privileges and opportunities which a person is entitled to by
the simple virtue of the fact that he is a human being.

However, the definition of human rights is more technical and to take the
meaning of human rights for granted, or simply to refer to formulas denoting
rights that we have by virtue of being human, would ignore the controversy
surrounding their foundations and validity. (Bantekas and Oette, 2016, 2nd edn).

Human rights are derived from the inherent dignity and worth of the human
person and they are universal, inalienable and equal. This means that they are
inherent in every human being; they cannot be taken away from or surrendered
by any person, and everyone has human rights in the same measure – regardless
of race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social
origin, property, birth or other status.

Human rights are moral principles or norms that describe certain standards
of human behavior, and are regularly protected as legal rights in local and
international law. In fact, everyone born in this world have human rights that
must be protected by the law.

According to the United Nations human rights are rights inherent to all
human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or
any other status. These human rights are all interrelated, interdependent,
indivisible, and equally important. The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human
Rights made it clear that human rights of all kinds —economic, political, civil,
cultural and social — are of equal validity and importance.

Rights, therefore, are those essential conditions of social life without which
no person can generally realize his best self. These are the essential conditions
for health of both the individual and his society. It is only when people get and
enjoy rights that they can develop their personalities and contributes their best
services to the society.
 In simple words, rights are the common claims of people which every
civilized society recognizes as essential claims for their development, and which
are therefore enforced by the state. As such, rights are common and recognized
claims of the people which are essential for their development as human beings.

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFINITION

United Nations’ Definition

Human rights are generally defined as those rights, which are inherent in our
nature, and without which, we cannot live as human beings.

From a legal standpoint

Human rights are the sum of individual and collective rights that the state
has recognized through national legislation and the international community
through international human rights norm. All individuals, who are considered
rights-holders, states and duty bearers, are obligated to protect, respect and
fulfill human rights law.

United Nation’s Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) – The Declaration

recognizes that the inherent dignity of all human beings is the foundation for the
world to achieve freedom, justice and peace.

Philippine Commission on Human Rights’ Definition

Human Rights are supreme, inherent and inalienable rights to life, dignity
and self-development. It is the essence of these rights that makes man human.

HUMAN RIGHTS LAW

- Laws that legally guarantee human rights to each and every individual.

Characteristics of Human Rights

1. Inherent- because they are not granted by any person or authority. They do
need an event for their existence. Some examples of these rights are the right to
life and the right to dignity as a human being.

2. Fundamental
- without them, the life and dignity of man will be meaningless.

3. Inalienable/Irrevocable
- cannot be rightfully taken away from a free individual. Cannot be given away or
forfeited.
-they cannot be taken away by any power or authority because these rights
originate with the social nature of man in the society of human beings and they
belong to a person simply because he is a human being.

4. Imprescriptible
- cannot be lost even if man fails to use or assert them, even by a long passage of
time.
- a man does not lose these rights if he simply fails to use or assert them.

5. Indivisible/Inter-related/Interdependent
– not capable of being divided. Cannot be denied even when the other rights have
already been enjoyed.
- the fulfillment or exercise of one cannot be had without the realization of the
other.

6. Universal/Equal
- It applies irrespective of one’s origin, status, or condition or place where one
lives. Human rights are not a domination of any privileged class of people.
Rights can be enforced without national border.

7. Interdependent
- because the fulfillment or exercise of one cannot be had without the realization
of another.
- an example is the right to life and existence as a person, these cannot be
realized without the right to work in order to maintain a good standard of living.

Classification of Rights

1. According to source

a. Natural rights
-these are God-given rights, acknowledged by everybody to be morally good.
They are unwritten but prevail as norms in the society. Examples: Right to life,
dignity and self-development.

b. Constitutional rights
-those rights which are conferred and protected by the Constitution.

c. Statutory rights
- those rights which are provided by law promulgated by the law-making body
and, consequently may be abolished by the same body.

2. According to recipient
a. Individual Rights
-rights being accorded to individuals

b. Collective Rights
- “ People’s Rights” or “Solidarity Rights” are rights of the society, those that can
be enjoyed only in the company of others. Examples: Right to peaceful assembly,
Right to environment

3. According to aspect of life

a. Civil Rights- are those rights which the law will enforce at the instance of
private individuals for the purpose of securing them the enjoyment of their
means of happiness. Examples: Freedom from involuntary servitude, freedom of
speech, of expression etc.

 They partake the nature of political rights when they are utilized as a
means to participate in the government.

b. Political Rights- are rights which enables us to participate in running the

affairs of the government either directly or indirectly. Example: Right to vote,
right to information on matters of public concern.

c. Economic and Social Rights- are those which the law confers upon to people to
enable them to achieve social and economic development, thereby ensuring
them their well-being, happiness and financial security. Example: Right to
property, Right to education

d. Cultural Rights- those which ensure the well-being of the individual and foster
the preservation, enrichment and dynamic evolution of national culture base on
the principle of unity and diversity.

4. According to struggle and recognition

a. First Generation of Human Rights

- covers civil and political rights which derives primarily from the 17 th and 18th
centuries reformist theories like Hobbes, Locke etc., and which are associated
with the English, American and French Revolution.
- Human rights are conceived in a negative way ( “freedoms from…”) rather than
positive (‘ rights to…”).

b. Second Generation of Human Rights

- covers economic, social and cultural rights which were variously promoted by
revolutionary struggles and welfare movements.
- Human Rights are conceived in a more positive ( “right to…”)

c. Third Generation of Human Rights

- covers collective rights

5. According to its derogability

a. Non-derogable or absolute rights

- those rights that cannot be suspended nor taken away, nor restricted even in
extreme emergency and even if the government invokes national security.
- Example: Right to be deprived of life arbitrarily

b. Derogable or relative rights

- those rights which may be suspended or restricted
- Example: Right to freely move
Types of Rights
1. Natural Rights – Faith in natural rights is strongly expressed by several
scholars. They hold that people inherit several rights from nature. Before they
came to live in society and state, they used to live in a state of nature. In it, they
enjoyed certain natural rights, like the right to life, right to liberty and right to
property. Natural rights are parts of human nature.

2. Moral Rights – Moral Rights are those rights which are based on human
consciousness. They are backed by moral force of human mind. These are based
on human sense of goodness and justice. Sense of goodness and public opinion
are the sanctions behind moral rights. Moral Rights include rules of good
conduct, courtesy and of moral behavior. These stand for moral perfection of the
people.

3.Legal Rights
Legal rights are those rights which are recognized and enforced by the state. Any
violation of any legal right is punished by law.
These rights can be enforced against individuals and also against the
government. In this way, legal rights are different from moral rights. Legal rights
are equally available to all the citizens. All citizens enjoy legal rights without any
discrimination.

Legal rights are of three classifications:

a. Civil Rights

Civil rights are those rights which provide opportunity to each person to lead a
civilized social life. These fulfill basic needs of human life in society. Right to life,
liberty and equality are civil rights. Civil rights are protected by the state.

b. Political rights
- are those rights by virtue of which citizens get a share in the political process.
These enable them to take an active part in the political process. These rights
include right to vote, right to get elected, right to hold public office and right to
criticize and oppose the government. Political rights are really available to the
people in a democratic state.

b. Economic rights

- are those rights which provide economic security to the people. These enable
all citizens to make proper use of their civil and political rights. The basic needs
of every person are related to his food, clothing, shelter, medical treatment etc.
Without the fulfillment of these no person can really enjoy his civil and political
rights. It is therefore essential, that every person must get the right to work, right
to adequate wages, right to leisure and rest, and right to social security in case of
illness, physical disability and old age.
 Categories of Human Rights

1. As Fundamental Freedom in Political Rights

2. As Democratic Rights
3. As Mobility Rights
4. As Right to Life, Liberty and Security of the Person
5. As Legal Rights
6. As Rights of Equality
7. As Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
8. As Worker’s Rights
9. As Aboriginal Rights
10. As Reproductive Rights
11. As Protective Rights of Persons in Armed Conflicts
12. As Right of Self-Determination
13. As Minority Group Rights

Theories of the Sources of Rights

1. Religious or Theological Approach

-Human rights exists because the divine source gives human beings a high value
of worth. Since rights come from a Divine source, they are inalienable and cannot
be denied by human beings.
2. The Natural Law Theory
- the conduct of men must always conform to the law of nature. Law of right
reason in accordance with the law of God ( Thomas Aquinas)
3. The Positivist or the Legal Theory
-All rights and authority come from the state and what officials have
promulgated.
4. The Sociological Approach
- Human Rights exists as a means of social control. It exists to serve the social
interests of the society.
5. Historical Theory of Human Rights
- Human Rights are the product of history, originating from customs that are
handed down through generations.

Philosophical Foundation of Human Rights

Aristotle
The notion of the state originates within the family. He therefore determines
that rights naturally are established with a government and state because all
people should be free within a state. The freedom is only guaranteed if there are
rights to protect this freedom.

Thomas Hobbes
From his conception of man in a state of nature, argued that the essential
natural (human) right was to use his own power, as he will himself, for the
preservation of his own nature.

John Locke
 He was another prominent western philosopher who conceptualized rights
as natural and inalienable. Like Hobbes, Locke believed in a natural right to life,
liberty, and property. Locke in his central political philosophy believes in a
government that provides what he claims to be basic and natural given rights for
its citizens.
These being the right to life, liberty, and property.

Thomas Paine
In his influential work ‘Rights of Man’ emphasizing that rights cannot be
granted by any charter because this would legally imply they can also be revoked
and under such circumstances they would be reduced to privileges.

Kant’s Doctrine of Right

Any action is right if it can coexist with everyone else’s freedom in
accordance with a universal law.

Laski
Rights are those conditions of social life without which no man can seek in
general, to be himself at his best. It emphasizes on the relation between right and
duty. He stated that Rights are correlative to functions.
T. H. Green explained that rights are powers necessary for the fulfillment of
man’s vocation as a moral being.

Beni Prasad
Stated that rights are nothing more nor less than those social conditions
which are necessary or favorable to the development of personality.

History of Human Rights

Human Rights Time Line (Open and Watch the Video link I send on your group
chat)

The Code of Hammurabi - c. 1750 B.CE.

Hammurabi was a ruler of Babylonia--one of several rival Mesopotamian

kingdoms--whose reign marked a golden age of Semitic culture. Hammurabi
eventually conquered the other Mesopotamian kingdoms, and issued a law code
"to establish justice throughout Mesopotamia."

Clay tablet records show that Hammurabi was a scrupulous, able

administrator. His code--one of the earliest legal documents--influenced Near
Eastern civilization for centuries. It consolidated earlier regulations (of the
formal rival kingdoms Akkad and Sumer) on practical aspects of trade, labor,
property, family, slavery, trade, and the "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth"
punishment. The Code of Hammurabi survives in a stone column discovered in
Iran in 1901 (now in Paris), and in clay tablet versions, probably originally
posted to inform literate citizens of their rights.
Old Testament - c. 1200 - c. 300 B.C.E.

Unlike most ancient peoples, who worshiped many gods, ancient Israelites
worshiped one universal God. They saw history as an interaction between God
and humanity, whose course depended on obedience to God's laws. The Hebrew
Scriptures--39 books by many authors--recorded the law the Israelites believed
their God gave them. Christians and Muslims also founded their ethics on the
Hebrew Scriptures. Christians know it as the Old Testament. Muslims regard the
first five books, the Torah, as divine scripture.

The Torah contains laws God is said to have given to the Hebrew prophets,
beginning with the mosaic laws--the Ten Commandments--given to Moses on
Mount Sinai. The mosaic laws commanded respect for life and the property of
strangers as well as neighbors by establishing rights in terms of duties (the right
to life, for example, was expressed in the commandment not to kill). The asylum
tradition in churches and synagogues and the principle that one is innocent until
proven guilty also originate in Jewish law.

Confucius - c. 551 - c. 479 B.C.E.

Living in politically and socially turbulent times, Confucius was a philosopher

who taught government and social reform. His philosophical teachings revolved
around "jen" or benevolence, which he expressed in twin sayings: "Do not do to
others what you would not like yourself" and "Do unto others what you wish to
do unto yourself". He believed that people should practice jen towards those
below them in a social or spiritual hierarchy and that government should
practice jen rather than use force. His own employment in government was
troubled by disagreements with his superiors.

Confucius' teachings, collected in his Analects and spread by 3000 disciples,

became a code of conduct and the basis of a traditional way of life that made him
the most influential philosopher in Chinese history. Confucian teachings
emphasizing the individual's responsibilities to the community remain
influential to this day in China and other Asian countries.

New Testament - c. 40 - 100 C.E.

Jesus' followers, scattered around the Roman Empire, wrote letters and
accounts of his life, which were circulated among early Christian churches. These
became the New Testament, in which Jesus is reported to have quoted the Old
Testament: "The Spirit of the Lord is in me...to preach good news to the poor. He
has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight to the
blind, to release the oppressed, to [invite all to God's kingdom]." He then claimed
he fulfilled those words.

The New Testament says Jesus angered religious leaders by denouncing

hypocrisy, healing the sick, and treating women, foreigners, and the poor with
dignity. The Apostle Paul, who wrote some New Testament books in prison, said
that among Jesus' followers, "there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male
nor female." The New Testament also says that Jesus taught that rights come
together with responsibilities. He urged his followers to feed the hungry, clothe
the naked, and forgive their enemies.

Magna Carta - 1215

English nobles and clergy rallied against King John I's abuse of power--heavy
taxation to finance expensive, unsuccessful wars, and his refusal to accept papal
authority, which effectively kept churches closed for years. They subjected the
King to the rule of law by enacting from him a "great charter" of liberties.

Though King John I soon violated it, the Magna Carta eventually came to be
cited widely, in defense of many liberties. The U.S. national and state
constitutions contain ideas and even phrases directly traceable to it--for
example, the concept of no taxation without representation. Clause 39, which
stated that "no free man shall be arrested or imprisoned...[or dispossessed]
except by...lawful judgement," became known as the right of habeas corpus, or
due process of law.

Treaty of Westphalia - 1648

For centuries after Augustine, the Roman Catholic Church was the unique
Christian authority in Europe. However, the church became plagued by depravity
and an inability to satisfy its followers' spiritual needs, and in the 1500's, a
reform movement spread. This reformation and a Catholic Counter-Reformation,
along with sovereignty disputes, racked most of Europe for a century.

These wars were finally ended by the Treaty of Westphalia (named for the
region of Germany where it was signed). The Treaty led to the modern notion of
national sovereignty by freeing state rulers from Catholic church jurisdiction. It
allowed rulers to choose their subjects' religion, but put an end to the
Reformation and the Counter-Reformation by specifying that rulers would forfeit
their lands if they changed religions. The Treaty also took a step toward religious
toleration by allowing Catholic or Protestant minorities in some states rights to
private worship, liberty of conscience, and emigration.

English Bill of Rights - 1689

James II, like several kings before him, thought the law inconvenient and often
dispensed with it. For this his subjects overthrew him in 1688, and when Mary II
and William III took the throne in 1689, Parliament passed a bill declaring that it
would no longer tolerate royal interference in its affairs. The bill became part of
the foundation of the English constitution, and in the following century, most
English took pride in the freedom its provisions gave them from arbitrary
government.

The bill forbade royalty to suspend law without Parliament's consent,

specified free elections for members of Parliament, and declared that freedom of
speech in Parliament was not to be questioned, in the courts or elsewhere. The
bill also prohibited taxation or maintenance of an army in peacetime without
Parliament's consent, excessive bail or fines, and cruel and unusual punishment.

United States Declaration of Independence - 1776

Calling themselves the Continental Congress, representatives of Britain's 13

colonies first convened in 1774 to protest British policies. When they convened
again after the American Revolution had begun, they voted for independence
from Britain and adopted the Declaration of Independence, becoming the first
government of the 13 United States. The Declaration had far- reaching and
lasting influence on individual rights in Western civilization, inspiring rebellion
against Spanish rule in South America and against monarchy in France.

Because of his literary skill, Thomas Jefferson was chosen to write the
Declaration. Based largely on Locke's and Montesquieu's "natural rights"
theories, it listed the colonists' grievances against King George, accusing him of
systematic tyranny; announced the colonies' separation from Great Britain;
proclaimed the creation of the United States; and justified the revolution. The
Congress rejected two passages, in which Jefferson searingly denounced the
slave trade and defamed the English people.

United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights - 1787, 1791

Faced with teetering economies and armed revolt, 12 of the new states sent
delegates to rethink the 1781 constitution. At the convention, the delegates (in
their 20's or 30's, but led by veterans James Madison and George Washington)
centralized and strengthened the government while aiming to limit its power
enough to guarantee individual liberty.

The 1781 constitution replaced the almost powerless Continental Congress

with three branches of government and provided for checks and balances among
them. Twenty-six amendments to the Constitution have established specific
rights (the Bill of Rights, contributed by antifederalists including Jefferson,
contains the first 10). Adaptable, as one justice remarked, "to various crises of
human affairs" through judicial reinterpretation, the Constitution is now the
oldest in operation and one of the most influential documents in Western
history.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen - 1789

Since the 1730's, economic decline and the ideas of the Enlightenment had
been spreading in France simultaneously, and the success of the American
Revolution had infused French reformers with hope. The Estates General
(representatives of the clergy, nobility, and the commoners) wrote the
Declaration to exemplify the thoughts of Enlightenment figures such as Voltaire,
Montesquieu, the Encyclopedists, and Rousseau.
 Though the reform efforts failed and France tumbled into revolution, the
Declaration legacy eventually prevailed. It attacked the political and legal
systems of the monarchy and defined the natural rights of men as "liberty,
property, security, and the right to resist oppression." The Declaration replaced
the system of aristocratic privileges that had existed under the monarchy with
the principle of equality before the law.

Emancipation Proclamation - 1863

The Civil War started in 1861 as a Northern struggle to keep the United States
from breaking apart. Abolitionists were a minority; Abraham Lincoln did not
champion slaves' moral claims to freedom and could never have been elected
president on a platform of abolishing slavery. But once the Southern states
seceded, the political purpose of accommodating slavery disappeared, and as
deaths mounted and volunteering declined, pressure grew to enlist blacks. Just
two years later, when Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, the North
had transformed the war into a crusade to free Southern slaves.

Geneva Conventions - 1864, 1949

Brought into being by the newly created International Red Cross, the Geneva
Convention of 1864 was the first international law treaty governing the conduct
of nations in wartime, and so marks the origin of modern humanitarian and
human rights law. The Convention created provisions for the treatment of sick
and wounded soldiers.

The Convention was revised and amended several times, and the current
version, approved in 1949 after World War II, comprises four separate
conventions. The first and second deal with the care of the sick and wounded in
land and maritime warfare; the third deals with the treatment of prisoners of
war; and the fourth deals with the protection of civilians and noncombatants.
Together, the four Geneva Conventions aim to ensure that human dignity is
respected even during hostilities. Their provisions continue to be monitored and
enforced by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi - 1869 - 1948

Gandhi began his career in South Africa, where he practiced law and agitated
against racism directed at Indians. There he developed his tactics of non-violent
confrontation based on the principle of respect for life; he called his strategy
"satyagraha" (truth force). Later, in India, after a massacre by the British, Gandhi
led a series of satyagraha campaigns until India achieved independence in 1947.
Gandhi's campaigns alternated with imprisonment. His "constructive program"
consisted of movements against class discrimination and for Muslim-Hindu
unity, women's rights, and basic education.

Later called Mahatma (great soul), Gandhi was assassinated by a religious

fanatic. His influence has been felt around the world--notably in South Africa and
the United States, where major civil rights movements based on his ideas were
later carried out.

The United Nations Charter - 1945

The U.N. Charter was signed by 51 nations in the postwar climate of 1945. It
established an international organization dedicated to maintaining peace and
security and to cooperation in solving economic, social, cultural, and
humanitarian problems. Although it affirmed "faith in fundamental human
rights," its signatories disagreed on the nature of these human rights. The first
U.N. conference therefore rejected a proposal to include protection of human
rights as an article of the Charter.

The Charter gives the U.N. General Assembly and its Commission on Human
Rights primary responsibility for promoting human rights. The Commission was
instrumental in creating declarations and covenants on human rights, including
civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights. Although not legally
enforceable, these documents are used to interpret the human rights provisions
of the U.N. Charter.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights - 1948

Because representatives at the U.N. conference in 1945 wrestled with

reconciling their various conceptions of human rights, the clauses relating to
human rights that were finally included in the U.N. Charter were very ambiguous.
The U.N. assigned a Commission, with Eleanor Roosevelt as chairperson, to
clarify the Charter's references to human rights. The result was a statement of
universal goals concerning human rights and freedoms, which was adopted by
the U.N. General Assembly in 1948. The Declaration is not legally binding, but its
content has been incorporated into many national constitutions, and it has
become a standard measure of human rights.

Debates over the priority of individuals' political and civil rights versus social
and economic rights made drafting the Declaration a long and arduous process.
Socialist nations supported primacy of the latter. Many of the eastern-bloc
countries abstained from voting; Saudi Arabia objected to religious freedom; and
South Africa objected to racial equality.

The Basic Function of Rights

In the writing of Alec D. Walen, he claims that the basic function of rights is to
provide a normative space in which we can each pursue our own ends while
treating each other as free but responsible, equal fellow agents whose welfare
morally matters. Accordingly, the space of rights rests on three principles:

1) Autonomy principle – we all have our own lives to lead; the space of
rights must give us substantial freedom to do so, while also holding us
accountable for our choices.
 2) Equality principle – we are all fundamentally equal as members or
citizens of the space of rights.

3) Welfare principle – our welfare matters, and that value affects the
rights we have.

Human Rights Education: Its Role and Importance

There is no single-agreed definition of what human right education is all about.

To put it simply, however, human rights education is all learning that develops
the knowledge, skills, and values of human rights.

The United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education (1995-2004) has
defined Human Rights Education as training, dissemination, and information
efforts aimed at the building of a universal culture of human rights through the
imparting of knowledge and skills and the molding of attitudes which are
directed to:
1) The strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental
freedoms;

2) The full development of the human personality and the sense of its
dignity;

3) The promotion of understanding, respect, gender equality, and friendship

among all nations, indigenous peoples and racial, national, ethnic,
religious and linguistic groups;

4) The enabling of all persons to participate effectively in a free society; and

5) The furtherance of the activities of the United Nations for the

maintenance of peace.

Human Rights Education as a Human Right

Education in human rights is itself a fundamental human right and also a

responsibility: the Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(UDHR) exhorts every individual and every organ of society to strive by teaching
and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms. The
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) declares that a
government "may not stand in the way of people learning about their rights.

People who do not know their rights are more vulnerable to having them abused
and often lack the language and conceptual framework to effectively advocate for
them. Growing consensus around the world recognizes education for and about
human rights as essential. It can contribute to the building of free, just, and
peaceful societies. Human rights education is also increasingly recognized as an
effective strategy to prevent human rights abuses.
Integral to learning about one’s human rights is learning about the
responsibilities that accompany all rights. Just as human rights belong to both
individuals and society as a whole, the responsibility to respect, defend, and
promote human rights is both individual and collective. The Preamble of the
UDHR, for example, calls not only on governments to promote human rights, but
also on "every individual and every organ of society." Human rights education
provides the knowledge and awareness needed to meet this responsibility.

The responsibilities of all citizens in a democratic society are inseparable from

the responsibility to promote human rights. To flourish, both democracy and
human rights require people’s active participation. Human rights education
includes learning the skills of advocacy – to speak and act every day in the name
of human rights.

Human rights education also provides a basis for conflict resolution and the
promotion of social order. Rights themselves often clash, such as when one
person’s commitment to public safety conflicts with another’s freedom of
expression. As a value system based on respect and the equality and dignity of all
people, human rights can create a framework for analyzing and resolving such
differences. Human rights education also teaches the skills of negotiation,
mediation, and consensus building.

The Goals of Human Rights Education

Human rights education teaches both about human rights and for human rights.
Its goal is to help people understand human rights, value human rights, and take
responsibility for respecting, defending, and promoting human rights. An
important outcome of human rights education is empowerment, a process
through which people and communities increase their control of their own lives
and the decisions that affect them. The ultimate goal of human rights education is
people working together to bring about human rights, justice, and dignity for all.

Education about human rights provides people with information about human
rights. It includes learning about the inherent dignity of all people and their right
to be treated with respect about human rights principles, such as the
universality, indivisibility, and interdependence of human rights, and so on.

Education for human rights helps people feel the importance of human rights,
internalize human rights values, and integrate them into the way they live. These
human rights values and attitudes include strengthening respect for human
rights and fundamental freedoms, nurturing respect for others, self-esteem, and
hope understanding the nature of human dignity and respecting the dignity of
others empathizing with those whose rights are violated and feeling a sense of
solidarity with them recognizing that the enjoyment of human rights by all
citizens is a precondition to a just and humane society.

Education for human rights also gives people a sense of responsibility for
respecting and defending human rights and empowers them through skills to
take appropriate action. These skills for action include recognizing that human
rights may be promoted and defended on an individual, collective, and
institutional level developing critical understanding of life situations, analyzing
situations in moral terms, realizing that unjust situations can be improved,
recognizing a personal and social stake in the defense of human rights, analyzing
factors that cause human rights violations, knowing about and being able to use
global, regional, national, and local human rights instruments and mechanisms
for the protection of human rights, strategizing appropriate responses to
injustice, acting to promote and defend human rights, etc.