Fundamental Human Rights & State Concepts

Human Rights (DH)

DH: Freedoms and basic rights that every person has by the mere fact of being human and having dignity.

Characteristics

• Inherent
• Individual
• Universal
• Irrevocable
• Inalienable
• Inviolable
• Preferential in certain contexts

Iusnaturalism and Legal Positivism

Iusnaturalism: Human rights are a consequence of the nature of the person.

Legal positivism: Rights are granted by the lawafter careful consideration of what is best for peaceful coexistence.

Welfare State

Welfare state: Recognition of economic, social, and cultural rights in fundamental law.

Death Penalty and Abortion

Death penalty: Execution of a convicted person by the state as punishment for an offense specified in the legislation.

Abortion: An attempt on the life of the unborn.

Attacks on Rights and Forms of Detention

Arbitrary Detentions

Attacks / Arbitrary detentions: Detentions conducted without legal basis or a fair trial.

Prisoner of Conscience

Prisoner of conscience: A person whose cause of detention is not a conviction crime but political or religious in nature.

Enforced Disappearances

Enforced disappearances: Persons deprived of liberty by state agents when the state refuses to acknowledge their detention or to disclose their whereabouts.

Abduction

Abduction: Illegal deprivation of liberty for ransom or for media leverage to obtain the victim's freedom.

Refugees and Migrants

Refugees: People who have had to abandon their country for political or religious reasons.

Migrants: People who leave their country, often driven by poverty.

Feminism, Discrimination, and the State

Liberal Feminism

Liberal Feminism: The liberation of women is linked to control over reproduction, which was often seen as an obstacle. When women overcome submission to men, they achieve equality of opportunity.

Discrimination

Discrimination: Limitation of the exercise of fundamental rights and freedoms of a person or group on grounds such as sex, religion, or other characteristics.

Definition of the State

State: A set of institutions that govern and employ people who belong to a society.

Elements of the State

• Population
• Territory
• Sovereignty
• Legality
• The common good

Unitary States

Unitary states: Government decisions are taken by a central authority, which establishes administrative divisions tasked with ensuring those decisions are applied throughout the territory.

Decentralized States

Decentralized states: States that recognize some form of self-government for certain territories; these territories receive delegated powers exercised by autonomous governments and parliaments.

Democracy and Its Principles

Democracy: A political system that requires certain principles to ensure its functioning and development.

Principles of Democracy

• Individual rights
• Equality before the law
• Sovereignty
• Universal suffrage
• Separation of powers
• Political pluralism