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Human Rights

Overview

Perhaps no issue is so easily identified as a common, fundamental international concern than "human rights," to the point where the age-old sovereignty doctrine of non-interference has been thrown out in favor of protecting human rights. However, the nebulous definition of human rights carries with it debate over what are the most fundamental rights.

Background

Human rights help form the genesis of the United Nations, a concept that suggests there are universal principles that ought to be shared by all people -- principally the right to life that was denied for millions during the two world wars. Even more fundamental, and specified in numerous treaties -- particularly the Geneva Accords -- is right to life as denied through genocide or its euphemism, "ethnic cleansing." It is this diabolic practice that garners the most vehement response as an obvious violation of human rights.

In an attempt to clarify what human rights fully entail, the UN General Assembly issued the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. The declaration has 30 articles, which include a number of equally nebulous rights such as the right to work and the right to leisure. Despite its downfalls, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights serves as the greatest delineation of basic rights and definition of the concept in totality.

The former Human Rights Commission was created by and under the General Assembly in an attempt to tackle human rights issues more appropriately. However, the commission was stacked with the worst human rights abusers in the world in an attempt to stay above the radar of UN scrutiny. The commission was disbanded and replaced with the current Human Rights Council. However, it shows signs of performing just as well as the previous commission.

As a central issue in the critique of globalization, human rights becomes an essential focus of attempts at global governance, however international standards, or regimes, principally are concerned with specific rights -- freedom of thought, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, democracy, etc.

Links/Contact

- Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- UN Human Rights Council
- Human Rights Watch
- Freedom House
- Council on Foreign Relations

- Contact the US Mission to the UN
- Contact the US Department of State
- Find and contact your representative

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