European Union Human Rights and Citizen Responsibilities

European Union Human Rights

The European Union has the European Court of Human Rights, to which citizens can appeal if national courts do not recognize their rights and even to sue their own state. It is located in Strasbourg, France.

Human Rights:

Human rights are a set of powers and institutions that, in each particular historical moment, demand human dignity and equal freedom, which must be recognized positively by national and international law.

Citizen Attitudes and Liability:

• Liability: It means to act knowingly, taking into account the consequences and duties to fulfill oneself and others.
• Solidarity: It's a feeling that binds us to others, recognizing the need for mutual aid and respect.
• Justice: A good citizen has to be fair, impartial, and objective in their judgments, striving to know what is just at every moment.
• Participation: The citizen must be participatory.

Compliance with Duties

Regardless of their religious beliefs, human beings need to direct their behavior in accordance with universal values. There are three kinds of duties:

• Those who lay down the law. If they are just laws, they require us because we are committed to them. Justice can force their compliance.
• Those who impose a promise. You have to comply because we are committed and not to cause injury to another person.
• The project we want to build. We know that if we do injustice, suffering and horror will continue. Therefore, we must recognize the rights, cooperate, fulfill our duties, and require others to meet theirs.

Characteristics of Human Rights

Human rights are basic requirements that any human being can raise to be recognized as a person. Because they are so necessary, they are said to be:

• Universal: We must recognize all human rights. Everyone has to be treated as a peer, as someone who has the same dignity as any other. But its implementation has not been fully achieved, which means that it is a universal requirement to know them.
• Preferred: It means that in conflict with other rights, they have a preference and should be protected as a priority.
• Inalienable: They cannot be lost and are valid for all at all times, but it does not mean they have no limit because it is necessary to set limits.

Ethical Basis of Human Rights

If we ask ourselves what are the reasons for everyone to recognize the same dignity and equal rights, several possibilities can be considered:

• Religious beliefs: From this point of view, human rights can be understood as a new way to express the idea that everyone is our neighbor and we have to treat each other fraternally.
• Philosophical views: Many philosophers throughout history have held the idea that every human being shares the same nature. From this point of view, human rights are a discovery in the process of adaptation and survival of the species. We must behave in a mutually respectful way, or we will disappear.
• Ability to think: Other philosophers have suggested that we can find a basis for affirming human rights in our own ability to think. When people recognize us as we argue, we exchange views on issues, we realize that we can find together, through open dialogue, these dialogue rules.

Action for Human Rights

Sometimes, we are the ones who violate the rights of persons, either by commission (committing wrongful acts) or omission (not doing what would be fair to do). And we must not forget that it is our duty to demand respect for the defense of human rights. Human rights are not only the state's task but a task for everyone. We are also beneficiaries of these human duties. We have not only to require the recognition of other rights but each requiring himself the fulfillment of the duties that allow us to enjoy our own rights.

In addition to fulfilling civic duties and being attentive to compliance, these are other tasks that can be done to promote human rights:

• Broadcast to everybody.
• Require compliance from authorities and individuals.
• Associate and get involved in voluntary organizations.