D R Bhagat
All humans are born with equal natural rights. These rights are inalienable and inherent in all human beings by virtue of their humanity alone. These rights are termed as human rights and are deserved by all the human beings on this planet irrespective of their caste, creed, colour or sex. It is a body of rules which ought to prevail in society. The concept of human rights is very old and the principle of equality in rights was long accepted in many societies. But the discrimination continued to exist due to ignorance, prejudice and fallacious doctrines which tried to justify inequality. Such doctrines have been used throughout history and unfortunately in the modern times also. The recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. Although the concept of human rights is old one, the earliest written document on human rights is the Magna Carta of England published in 1215AD. The Petition of Rights 1628 and Bill of Rights 1689 were also issued in England. French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizens of 1789 and the American Bill of Rights of 1791 were also based on human rights. The first ever convention of human rights was held in Geneva in 1864 in which the issue of human rights was discussed in length. But the much need of a universal law on human rights was felt in the decade of 1940 when there were large scale persecutions and executions of jews in the Nazi Germany and millions of people were killed in second world war. The UN Charter signed on 26 June 1945 also states the fundamental objective of the universal organization to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights in the dignity of human person and the equal rights for men and women. Article 1 of the Charter states that one of the aims of United Nations is to achieve international cooperation in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedom for all without distinction as race, sex, language or religion.
The Commission for Human Rights was formed in 1946 to draft a Universal Declaration on Human Rights. The draft of this Declaration was adopted by UN General Assembly on 10 December,1948. This Declaration contains common standard of achievements for all nations. This Universal Declaration contains two kinds of rights, civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights. The civil and political rights include the right to life, liberty, equality before law, protection against arbitrary arrest, freedom from slavery and torture, right to own property, freedom of thought and freedom of peaceful assembly. The economic, social and cultural rights relate to the right to work, equal pay for equal work, right to join trade unions, right to education and right to practice of own culture. The preamble to the Declaration recognizes the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family. There are further covenants and conventions held by the international community to make up the International Bill for Human Rights. In December 1966 the UN General Assembly adopted two covenants. These are the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, ICESCR and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ICCPR. In adopting these instruments, the international community agreed on content of each right set forth in the Universal Declaration and also measures for their implementation. Further in December 1989, the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR was adopted by the General Assembly which aimed at abolishing the death penalty. These covenants are legally binding treaties for the states which are parties to them. The Human Rights Committee monitors the implementation of the covenants.
Some other international instruments relating to human rights are those relating to life, the prevention of discrimination and the rights of persons belonging to minorities and victims of war and refugees , convention on women rights, the convention on the rights of child and the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination. The International Law on Human Rights now comprises more than 80 universal and regional conventions which have binding force on state parties. The world conference on women rights was held in 1985 which aimed at the achievement of a genuine equality of women in all spheres of life and the elimination of all forms of discrimination against them. The progress in the implementation of human rights depends on many factors including the knowledge of these rights and their procedure of implementation. The education for human rights has been recognized in many international instruments. UNESCO fulfils the responsibility of education for human rights. The first international congress on the teaching of Human Rights was held in Vienna in 1979 which underlined the human rights education must aim at fostering attitude of tolerance, respect and solidarity and providing knowledge about human rights. In the world conference on human rights held in Vienna in 1993 the importance of human rights education was felt and action plan was adopted by representative of 171 states. UNESCO has also provided the teaching materials on human rights for all levels of education and for the general public as well as for nongovernmental organizations working for the promotion of human rights. The ultimate goal of these actions is the creation of a culture the very core of which is adherence to the basic values of human rights.
In India the National Human Rights Commission was established under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1994. Besides other members nominated by the government, the chair persons of National Commission for Minorities, National Commission for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and the National Commission for Women are also the members of the NHRC. The commission is generally headed by the retired chief justice of India. The Commission can inquire suo motu or on a petition filed by a victim the violation of human rights. The commission has rendered a significant service for the cause of protection, promotion and observance of human rights in the field of civil liberties. Section 2 of the Human Rights Act defines human rights as the rights relating to the life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed by the constitution or embodied in the International Covenants and enforced by courts in India.
Despite the efforts of International Human Rights Commission and the National Human Rights Commission to safeguard the human rights, the protection and preservation of human rights is a challenge to the countries of the world. The cases of violence, murder, torture rapes, custodial deaths and child abuse are rampant in the society. Religious fundamentalism is a big challenge to the human society. The minorities in Iraq and syria have been persecuted and thousands of innocent people were murdered in the name of religion. The persecution of Shia minority and other minority communities in Pakistan has no end . Bomb blasting in the shia community mosques is common. Religious fundamentalism in Kashmir has also compelled the minority community to migrate and live as refugees in their own country. Caste discrimination is still prevailing in some parts of India. India being the largest democracy in the world should have greater role for maintenance of world peace to promote harmony and the spirit of universal brotherhood among the entire humanity. These are the ideals on which our democratic welfare state is founded.
The theme for human rights for 2024 is’ Our rights, our future, right now’ which signifies that the future of humanity is in the observance of human rights and such rights should not remain inscribed on papers but should be followed in letter and spirit.
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