Human Rights

Author: Subhadarsini Patra, Jeypore Law College

 Human Rights are the basic rights provided to human beings. These are the basic rights for them and it is very necessary for them to live freely with dignity. The main purpose of this right is to provide a free, fearless life . Human rights are for all human beings but it has been seen that many people are not even aware of this right so it is very important to create awareness. The main aim of the methodology is to create awareness and to make them aware about their rights. Human rights are those rights which are given to all people regardless of caste, sex, religion. Human rights are common to all, these are applicable to everyone. There are various types of human rights and these rights are political rights, economic rights, social rights, and civil rights.

Keywords :Human Rights, International Treaties, International Covenants, Civil Rights, Political Rights, Indian constitution, economic rights, state human rights commission.

Because of various legal and religious traditions it is very complicated for the evolution of human rights. If we look into the historical development then we can understand how modern structure has placed an important position for the creation of this. The best example to understand about human right is the principle of ahimsa in the Jainism and the principle of Dharma in the Hinduism. In our India during the medieval period under the Islamic law there were two things contributed for the human rights tradition and these were principle of justice and  for the protection of individual rights. In the 19th and the 20th century.  Abolition of slavery was the greatest example that took place for the protection of human rights. The main purpose for the establishment of a united nation is to take a step towards this goal and achieve this. The UN charter declared the main focus of this is to promote human rights. 

Human rights are basic rights for all human beings. These are provided for their better living. There are various examples of human rights and these are right to equality, right to life, right to liberty, right to education and right to religion. These rights are every individual without any distinction. These are the basic rights but it is very essential for everybody. They get all these rights from their birth. These rights are provided to us by our constitution. Nobody can take these rights from us.

Sources of Human Rights-

• International treaties are the greatest sources of human rights. There are various treaties there to bind the states .

• International traditions are known as the other sources of human rights .Among these are the parts of the traditional international law.

Types of Human Rights-

• Natural rights- Human rights is also known as the natural rights because these rights are for all. Everyone can enjoy these rights.

• Moral rights- Moral rights are also called moral rights because these rights are providing us various values just like to respect others, it promotes peace and provides protection of life to all .

• Social and cultural rights- These are the other kinds of human rights.it gives importance to various grounds like education, right to work, social security and all.

 Human rights are those rights that every individual can enjoy from their birth. These rights are for everyone. There are various forms of human rights. It is a very necessary right for all to protect them against any kind of violations. All these rights help them to protect their dignity, respect, freedom against any kind of violation. The main purpose of this is to protect them against any kind of violations. The term Human rights suggests every human being is born with their rights. The Human rights gives importance that everyone should be treated fairly and equally without the discrimination of caste, race, religion. It is the duty of the state to protect people’s rights so to secure these rights it is essential for them to create some guidelines to protect these rights. In addition to that, communities also play a very vital role to create awareness among people about this. The role of Human rights is very necessary in order to build a civilized society.

According to the special report of the United Nation Everyone has a right to enjoy reasonable standards of health facilities and for that to create various laws and policies. As per his research his research viewed the relation of human rights with the freedom of movement with regard to economic characteristics. According to the zafirovski research these rights are those types of rights that everyone must protect  through the state. The right to opinion has been provided by the state so that everyone can give their opinion and express their views in the various matters and apart from this they can also participate in the decision making process. Many of the researches opinionated that it is not a separate right. It comes under the fundamental rights that is granted to the constitution of India. With that they debate that Human rights have been created by the national and international legal systems. According to Taylor & Elphick all human rights are fundamental rights and fundamental rights are enjoyed by all human beings from their birth.

The human rights based approach theoretical structure for the reasonable development based on international human rights and to protect the human rights. Under this various rules and regulations are created in addition to that under this research to guide an development cooperation it is very essential to create various human rights rules. The universal declaration of human rights says that everybody has a right to live and enjoy a reasonable standard of health and other facilities for not only for him but also for his family.

International covenants on human rights

Besides from the various declarations, the committee has also been established with the aim to draft two covenants and these two covenants are the international covenant on civil and political rights and the international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights.

• International covenant on civil and political rights-

This covenant includes civil and political rights. Under this covenants general provisions, preamble ,right in emergency and interpretation are also included. There are various rights come under this but all rights are not absolute there are various restrictions are there like public health, public order.

• International covenant on economic, social and cultural rights-

There are many things that come under this covenant and these are preamble, general provisions, substantive rights .The main focus of this covenant is to recognize dignity and to provide basic rights to human beings. There are various rights that come under this covenant and these are the right to work ,the right to physical and mental health.

In India it is not a new concept. India is a secular country so here there is no restriction over any particular religion. India is also known for its diversity, multiple languages and multiple religions. Not only in our constitution but also in our scriptures are also given importance to human rights. For example in the Bhagavad Gita it says the value of humanity, truth, non violence. At the ancient time emperor Ashok also safeguarded people’s human rights and these were the right to equality, right to liberty and so on. But during the British period, human rights were ignored. At this time people were not able to get their basic rights. But at that time Lokmanya Tilak expressed that for every individual freedom is the birth right. So after many years the Sapru Committee gave importance to the requirement of a written code of rights because of that by the constitution assembly all these were added in our constitution.

Human rights is based on the principle that everyone has a right to enjoy their basic rights. These rights are those kinds of rights that everyone can enjoy. According to the Universal Declarations human rights are basic rights for all human beings without the discrimination of caste, color, religion.

There are various universal human rights and these are the right to education, the right to social security. There are various rights that come under this category and these are right to equality, right to freedom, right to life, right to education, right to work , right to health, right to religion.

Protection of Human Rights Act,1993

After receiving the advice from the UN and by following their various suggestions in India the National Human Rights Commission has been established. The main objective of this act is to provide for the National and State Human Rights Commission in various states. The purpose of this act is to provide protection of human rights. As per Section 3 this commission includes the various members like the chief justice of India or the judges of the Supreme Court as a chairperson, one member as a judge of the Supreme Court, 3 members out of these there members there shall be a woman with the knowledge of the matters related to the Human Rights.

Functions of the National Human Rights Commission

The  commission has been established with the aim to perform various duties. Under this act according to Section 12 there are various duties come under this-

If any complaint has been received in matters relating to the violation of the human rights then in this matter it is very necessary to conduct proper inquiry either Suo motu or by an application.

They can also visit the jail and other institutions under the state government where people have been confined for treatment.

In our country for the proper execution of Human Rights it is very essential to analyze all the guidelines relating to this.

With all these duties it is also very important to create awareness among the people regarding Human Rights and to protect these rights.

It is very important to promote various research regarding this matter. In order to create awareness among the people NGOs and other institutions play a very important role and we need to support them in their work.

Functions of the State Human Rights Commission

There are various functions of the state human rights commission. They perform their duties under the state level and they also inquire into the matters relating to the violation of human rights. This commission includes -

• Judge of the chief justice of the High Court as a chairperson.

• Judge of the High Court or the District Court within  seven years of experience as a member.

• One member is to be appointed as a member of this commission with the knowledge related to the matters of Human Rights.

• One  member is to be appointed as a secretary to be a chief executive officer .

The  International bill of Human Rights

In  the year 1948 various countries agreed on a complete list of basic human rights. In that year. In the month of December the United Nations General Assembly approved the Universal declaration of Human Rights. In the month of December the UN General Assembly approved two  international treaties and these two international treaties are  international convention on social, cultural and economic rights and the other one is the international convention on civil and political rights.

Treaties related to Human Rights

• International Humanitarian law and international human rights law. international humanitarian law is also called the law of war.

• Convention on the elimination of all kinds of discrimination against women.

• Convention against any kind of torture and inhumanity treatment and punishment.

Challenges in the Protection of Human Rights

There are various challenges for the protection of human rights and these challenges are

• Violation of Human Rights-

For the protection of Human Rights it is not only necessary to protect the human rights but also to stop the violation of the human rights, various treaties, policies, rules and regulations help to eradicate the violation of the human rights.

• Poverty -

Human Rights are the basic rights. It is those rights provided for everyone. Everybody can enjoy these rights without the discrimination.

• Education -

Education  plays a very important role in everybody's life. If anyone gets education he is able to know about his rights and duties because when one gets to know his rights he can protect and promote his rights.

• Women empowerment -

For the development of the country the role of the women is very important. They lead a very important position. So to empower women they can also contribute for the protection of human rights.

There are various case laws related to the human rights and these are-

D.K Basu v.State of West Bengal (1997)

In this case the basic human right of an arrested person is violated . This is a custodial death case, in this case the honorable Supreme Court provided the regulations relating to arrest and detention and all these would work as precautionary measures.

Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala (1973)

This case plays a very vital role in this because it also includes fundamental rights which are the parts of the human rights. If in any case they face any kind of violation they can seek any remedies for their violation of human rights.

People’s union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India (1997)

In this case about  the freedom of expression was discussed. It is a fundamental right and in this case the freedom of expression was explained. In this case their right to freedom was violated because of trapping the telephone by the central bureau of investigation. In this case the honourable Supreme Court executed the Right to privacy in relation to the right of freedom of speech and expression.

Chairman of Railway Board v. Chandrima Das (2000)

In this case an employee of the Indian railway was raped a foreign women. In this case the honorable Court awarded compensation to this victim because here the victim’s rights are violated not only the human rights but also their fundamental rights. So in this case the Honorable Supreme Court executed an important branch of law and permitted the essential of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in its analysis.

The  main purpose of the human right commission is to protect the human rights. To make it more effective and functional there are various suggestions are there and these are-                

• If they will make their decisions speed up, made enforceable by the government this will increase their strength. This will also help to save the time of the commission.

• Another suggestion is to give appointments to experienced staff with the understanding of the problems related to human rights.

• There  is also a need to appoint a separate agency to police related complaint matters in this matter they create another agency  especially assigned to this matter.

Human rights are the basic fundamental rights for all. Everyone can enjoy these rights because as a human being they have all the right to life, right to freedom, right to education, right to live with dignity and all. Our Indian constitution has provided fundamental rights to the citizens for their living. There are also various laws and policies that have been made for the protection of the human rights.there are also various thinkers acknowledge human rights as a natural rights.there are some rights are provided directly but at the same time some rights are provided indirectly by our Indian constitution. For example-right to privacy is a right but granted indirectly by our constitution. With the progress of time it is very important to adopt some measures and make it more accessible for the people.

Mehndiratta, M. (23ADd) Classification of Human Rights, ipleaders. Rachita Garg.

Aggarwal, S. (10ADb) Human Rights and Fundamental Rights, ipleaders. Available at: https://blog.ipleaders.in.

Pahalwi, MD.Rasikh.R. and Singh, V. (20ADc) Unveiling The Prominence Of Primordial Concept Of Human Rights :In The Light Of Human Rights In India, manupatra.