Tag Archives: Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a charter accepted and adopted by the United Nations. Officially, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is part of the International Bill of Human Rights which is an informal title given to two treaties created by the United Nations. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights came into being after WWII and it is representative of the first time in history where the world was mobilized to establish rights that all human beings are innately born with. After the atrocities committed in Nazi Germany, there was a need for something of this nature as one of the United Nation’s main goals was to reiterate fundamental human rights for all. Several people were involved in drafting the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the forerunner being John Peters Humphrey. At the time of the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights he was the Director of the Division of Human Rights within the United Nations Secretariat. The Commission on Human Rights was commissioned to take on this project after Humphrey provided them with the initial draft. The United Nations wanted the members of this commission to be representative of the world … Continue reading

Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Founded under the name Helsinki Watch in 1978, the Human Rights Watch, was to ensure the former Soviet Union’s observance of the Helsinki Accords. As Helsinki Watch grew, it created various other “watch committees” to cover other regions of the world. In 1988, all other committees were united under one umbrella to form Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch is a strong defender of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and it opposes violations of basic human rights which include capital punishment, and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Human Rights Watch also speaks for fundamental human rights such as freedom of religion and the press. One of Human Rights Watch’s primary activities is the production of research reports regarding violations of international human rights norms as set out by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and what it represents. Human Rights Watch researches conduct fact finding missions to investigate certain fishy situations and generate media coverage in local and international media. Issues that have been raised by Human Rights Watch in the past include gender discrimination, torture, … Continue reading

Human rights refer to basic rights and freedoms that all humans are inherently entitled to regardless of sex, creed, color, or anything else. Example of basic human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom of expression, equality before the law, social/cultural/economic rights, the right to food, the right to work, and the right to education. The protection of human rights has been an age old idea and there is evidence in old Persian texts and as recently as the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. However, the international recognition of human rights is fairly recent. The main international norms in regards to human rights are International Humanitarian Law and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. International Humanitarian Law came into being at the Geneva conventions and was meant to reduce war crimes. International humanitarian law, guaranteed basic human rights to prisoners of war or civilians in areas of combat. International humanitarian law protects human rights, and is upheld in the International Court of Justice. The next universally accepted norm in the field of human rights is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which was composed after the creation of the United Nations. After the atrocities committed … Continue reading