Know Your Rights
Aung Myo Min
HREIB
Development of Human Rights
Religious ideas
The Hindu, the
Bible, the
Koran, and the
Analects of
Confucius
address
questions of
people’s duties,
rights, and
responsibilities
the Code of
Hammurabi,
• Inca and Aztec
codes of
conduct and
justice
Written documents
asserting individual
rights,
- the Magna Carta
(1215),
- the English Bill of
Rights (1689),
-the French
Declaration on the
Rights of Man and
Citizen (1789),
-the US Constitution
and Bill of Rights
(1791)
Efforts in the 19th
century to prohibit
the slave trade and
to limit the horrors
of war are prime
examples.
In 1919,
International
Labor
Organization
(ILO) establishe
to protecting
workers
On December 10,
1948, the
Universal
Declaration of
Human Rights
(UDHR) was
adopted by the 56
members of the
United Nations.
United Nations definition of
human rights
Human Rights are universal legal
guarantees protecting individuals and
groups against actions which interfere
with fundamental freedoms and
human dignity.
Some of the most important
characteristics of human rights are the
following:
•
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They are internationally recognized
They are legally protected
They focus on the dignity of the human being
They protect individuals and groups
They obligate State and State actors
They cannot be waived/taken away
They are equal and interdependent
They are universal
Human rights are:
• Universal – everyone should enjoy human rights
without discrimination as to sex, age, language,
religion, or race
• Inviolable – human rights are an essential element of
one’s humanity. It cannot be violated unless determined
by law and solely for the purpose of securing due
recognition and respect for the rights of others and of
meeting the just requirements of the general welfare,
morality and public order in a democratic society
• Interdependent- certain rights cannot be sacrificed in
favor of other rights because taken together, these
rights make human beings whole.
What are the different groups of rights
According to nature:
• Civil rights- rights of individuals to be protected from
arbitrary interference by government in their life liberty and
security, freedom to travel, right to due process.
• Political rights- rights of individuals to interfere and
participate in the affairs of the governments e.g. right to vote,
stand for election, participate in state and social management,
freedom of speech, press, assembly
• Social, economic and cultural rights-progressive demands
of the people to improve their standard of living. e.g. right to
education, work, healthy and working environment, practice
of religion use of one’s language and enjoy one’s culture.
According to recipient
• Individual rights- Rights accorded to individuals such
as the rights to life, education, health, work.. rights to
suffrage: freedom of expression, freedom from
torture, right to speedy trial
• Collective/group rights – are rights given to a
specified vulnerable group which may be exercised
because of one’s membership to such community such
as women’s rights, children’s rights, indigenous people’s
rights
Who is responsible to implement
human rights?
The STATE has the primary responsibility to:
• Respect – required refraining from interfering with
the enjoyment of the right
• Protect – requires the prevention of violations of
such rights by other persons or third party
• Fulfill – requires States to take appropriate
legislative, administrative, budgetary, judicial and
other measure towards the full realization of such
rights.
Nature of human rights violation by
the state
• Omission – the non interference or inaction of the
state in any situation that requires action to respect,
protect or fulfill the human rights of its citizen
• Commission/ breach- any act by the government in
violation of any covenant or instrument on human
rights which the State is committed to uphold
• Arbitrary derogation – violation due to arbitrary
suspension of liberty ( emergency rule, martial rules,
authoritarian regime)
What are international human rights
standard? What is the UDHR?
• The UDHR is the minimum and common standard of
achievement for all peoples
• The UN General Assembly adopted it on December
10, 1948. (Human Rights Day)
• It has 30 Articles 3-21 present the civil and political
rights.
• Articles 22- 27 set forth for the economic, social and
cultural rights.
• Articles 28-30 set forth for the promotion, protection,
and fulfillment of the UDHR.
UDHR Articles
THE CORE INTERNATIONAL
HUMAN RIGHTS INSTRUMENTS
• ICERD International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination- 21 Dec 1965
• ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights - 16 Dec
1966
• ICESCR International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights - 16 Dec 1966
• CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women - 18 Dec 1979
• CAT Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment - 10 Dec 1984
• CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child - 20 Nov 1989C
• ICRMW International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of
All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families - 18 Dec 1990
• International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from
Enforced Disappearance - 20 Dec 2006
• CRPD Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities - 13 Dec
2006
• ICESCR – OP Optional Protocol of the Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights- 10 Dec 2008
• ICCPR-OP1 Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights - 16 Dec 1966
• ICCPR-OP2 Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death
penalty- 15 Dec 1989
• COP-CEDAW Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination
of Discrimination against Women - 10 Dec 1999
• OP-CRC- Optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the
Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict- 25 May 2000
• OP- CRC-Optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the
Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography 25 May 2000
• OP-CAT Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment -18 Dec
2002
• CRPD Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities - 12 Dec 2006
STATUS OF RATIFICATIONS http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/
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