Human Rights

Human Rights

Human rights is a concept that is both celebrated as it is contested. It is celebrated because it attests to the universal and common desire by men and women to live dignified lives and ones that are recognised by others as such. It is contested because some do not share in the cultural, ideological and historical context and particulars within which the concept was born. In other cases, the concept is contested because it questions the legal and moral authority and actions of those whose interests would better be served in a context where human rights do not exist. In this short essay, I shall discuss the concept of human rights. But rather than simply talking about human rights at a generic level, I shall focus on the tension that exists in their understanding, and argue that these tensions should not be seen as dichotomies engraved in stone.

While human rights where recognised as universally binding for all people and countries in 1948 through the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the concept itself is perhaps as old as human history in so far as proto-ideas about liberty, freedoms, entitlements and duties existed in different societies. Indeed, if one considers human rights to be inherent to all human beings, one can argue that human rights have always existed. It is only their universal and particular legal and ethical recognition that has seen historical development. The nature of their understanding has also experienced developed over time and across societies. The current understanding of human rights is however drawn from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the various covenants, conventions and protocols that developed after the Declaration to make human rights legally binding.

Human rights are generally understood as rights that a person is entitled to by virtue of being human. They are entitlements that are inherent to all human beings regardless of race, ethnicity, sex, nationality or any other qualities and...