The purpose of human rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The purpose of human rights - Essay Example The two are different despite the fact that they relate to one another2. Human rights are the freedoms and rights that all human beings have an entitlement to enjoy during their lifetime. They are the rights that the state has an obligation to provide to the citizens. They include the right to liberty, life, expression and thought, and equal treatment before the law. These rights express the various responsibilities that the government should provide to individuals and, responsibilities of the government authorities to groups or individuals3. The state bears the role of ensuring that all the citizens enjoy their rights. They are fundamental inalienable rights, which all people in the state have an entitlement to as human beings. The rights exist as legal or natural rights in both international and national law. Human rights are an international practice that prevails in policies of different states and, and in various activities organizations that are nongovernmental4. Human rights a re norms that protect people from legal, social, and political abuses. The source of conception of these rights is the treaties, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the human rights documents that people followed in international organizations. The Declaration of the rights clearly illustrates many human rights that all countries have a responsibility to protect and respect5. The rights fall into six key families, which include Security rights that protect all the people against crimes like murder, torture, rape, and massacre. Due process rights, which protect people against the abuse of legal system. The abuse includes imprisonment of individual without trial, excessive punishments, and secret trials6. Liberty rights protect individuals’ freedom in expression, belief, association, movement, and assembly. Political rights protect a person’s liberty to involve themselves in politics via various acts like assembly, communication, serving in public offices, and vot ing. Equality rights ensure equal citizenship, non-discrimination and equality before the law. Welfare rights ensure that an individual acquire quality education and that the government protects them from starvation and severe poverty. Group rights are also remarkably vital rights that the Universal Declaration leaves that protect the different ethnic groups from genocide. It also covers the ownership of various resources and territories by the groups7. The various ideas that led to the development of the human rights arose during the Second World War. In 1948, the United Nations made a remarkable step in adopting the Universal Declaration of Human rights. The societies that existed during the period had developed elaborate systems, political legitimacy, and conceptions of justice meant to realize human dignity. Another crucial issue that has contributed to the development of human rights is the secularization of the Judeo-Christian ethics by the Europeans. A human being gives birth to a baby who is equal in dignity to the mother8. Human beings have a conscience and reason that guides them to act to one another in the spirit of goodwill. Human rights form vocabularies that articulate the norms of various cultures that guide people to associate with one another effectively9. The widespread nature of agreements of international human rights provides the necessary support of the values that human widely share. Human rights norms are