Human Rights: Concept, Features, and Universal Principles

Human Rights

Concept

The powers of the people that are acquired by the mere fact of their birth and which correspond to all individuals equally and cannot be altered or deleted by other persons or the state.

Features

1. Natural: Because they belong to the person, by the mere fact of their birth, without being recognized by law or by the state.
2. Universal: Because they pertain to all individuals equally, regardless of race, sex, religion, etc.
3. Mandatory: Because they must be complied with and respected by all.
4. Inviolable: Because they cannot be disturbed or altered by anyone.
5. Inalienable: Because they cannot be traded or waived by anyone. Example: the right to physical integrity.
6. Indivisible: For altering one of them puts at risk or alters any other.

Rationale

1. Philosophical: They arise from the consideration of men as beings equal in dignity and rights, in their capacity as creatures endowed with reason and conscience.
2. Sociological: Analysis of societies that give effect to human rights in them reveal that living conditions are far superior to those societies that do not respect them.
3. Historical: The recognition of human rights reveals a growing trend of consciousness to secure their universal and effective recognition.

Advocacy

The State has the obligation to respect and enforce human rights. It also has a responsibility to promote them so that citizens know their rights in order to be able to demand respect for them. In addition, the state must make them available to everyone.

Universal Principles

The international community became aware of the importance of respect and observance of human rights at the conclusion of the 2nd World War and learned about the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime.

1. It proclaims that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, and that these rights belong to them without distinction.
2. It enshrines civil and political rights in all human beings (life, liberty, etc.).
3. It refers to economic, social, and cultural rights.
4. It means that everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which human rights can be fully realized and also that every person has duties and responsibilities to the community in which they live.

Conditioning Factors

1. Political Factors: The validity of human rights requires the existence of a democratic society that respects political pluralism, political freedom, and minority rights. It is also necessary that the democratic system functions normally and regularly because disruptions to democratic regimes often lead to human rights violations.
2. Cultural Factors: To ensure the validity of human rights, it is necessary that these are known and available to the whole society so that all know and assimilate its contents in order to demand that they are respected.
3. Material Factors: The ability of a state to guarantee the validity of human rights many times depends on the geographic location, the homogeneity or heterogeneity of the population, or the density of the same, or their ability to generate wealth and distribute it fairly. Therefore, poverty, illiteracy, and marginalization are factors that undermine the validity of human rights.

Classification

1st Generation Rights:

These are those that relate to the person's individual character.