What Are Human Rights? Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status. Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, and many more. Everyone is entitled to these rights, without discrimination. International Human Rights Law International human rights law lays down the obligations of Governments to act in certain ways or to refrain from certain acts, in order to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms of individuals or groups. One of the great achievements of the United Nations is the creation of a comprehensive body of human rights law—a universal and internationally protected code to which all nations can subscribe and all people aspire. The United Nations has defined a broad range of internationally accepted rights, including civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights. It has also established mechanisms to promote and protect these rights and to assist states in carrying out their responsibilities. The foundations of this body of law are the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the General Assembly in 1945 and 1948, respectively. Since then, the United Nations has gradually expanded human rights law to encompass specific standards for women, children, persons with disabilities, minorities and other vulnerable groups, who now possess rights that protect them from discrimination that had long been common in many societies. Universal Declaration of Human Rights

1. SHAH SAUD TORU
PhD Scholar
Department of Sociology
Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

2. What is right?
 Without that rights, individuals are controlled by their master.
 It is more than demands, it is a value a person needs in order to
 protect himself so that he can keep his life and improve it as well
 as develop his personality (Hakim Stayton).
 ● Rights imply obligation of another individual and community
 not to inhibit actions of individuals and even need to help them.
 A person’s right to do something indicates that there are another
 person’s as well as society’s responsibilities to support what is
 being done by each of them

3. Examples:
 If one has a right to live, this means that others
 do not have the liberty to murder him.
 If one has a right within a society to a free
 education, this means that other members of
 that society have an obligation to pay taxes in
 order to pay the costs of that educational right.

4. The Definition of right.
 Donelly (1985) highlighted two (2) concepts of right:
politics and moral significations
a right is seen as a moral truth that “its is not a good thing to
do”
a right is also seen as appropriateness as in the demand ‘I
have the rights to ..
 Milne (1986) classified rights into three categories:
Law in society
Custom – woman rights on property in Negeri Sembilan
Moral- obligation to individual and community

5. Conti…
 The definition of right (A.C Kapur):
 2. Rights come from society and within society
 3. Every right has certain responsibility. Your rights is my
 obligation/duty.
 4. A right is not a claim. It is embedded socially.
 5. A right must be in line with public interest.
 6. A country does not build up rights → it only preserves and
 coordinates rights which are socially used.
 7. A right must be clear and precise, especially in defining it.
 8. A right tends to develop.

6. The definition of right (in Islam)
 The Arabic word, “haqq” means:
 ● “real fact” or “truth”
 ● in terms of shariah (hukm): “truth” or anything which is related
 to facts.
 Ahmad Jalal Hammad on the other hand saw “right” (haqq),
 “strength”, and “claim” as of other definitions that are more
 prominent than “haqq”.
 Mohd Imarah: human rights in Islam are not only propagated
 but must be implemented and protected in individual, society
 and government levels. It is a sin to violate them.

7. Conti…
 Haqq used in Quranic language has the same meaning
 with “obligation”.
 Al-Darini summarized the definition of “haqq” as:
 ● a specific reward or the enforcement of control over
 something or a claim to other party which allowed by
 the shariah whose objective is to get certain interest.
 ● the most important thing is that it must guarantee the
 interest and welfare of Muslims collectively

8. Religion: Islam→
 The Qur’an has defined it since the 7th century
 Donelly (1989) and western philosophers →
 There are no human rights in religions but they are
regarded as duties entitled to the ruler and every
individual.
 A religion plays the role to strengthen human rights

9. NATURAL THEORIES OF RIGHTS
 The exponents of this theory are :
 1. John Locke and (1632-1704)
 2. Thomas Paine
 It was also advocted by authors of social contract
 theory
 Hobbes and Rosseau.
 According to Theory

10. According to Theory :
 Rights comes from nature and are not created by any
 human agency.
 Rights are built on the laws of nature, which is
 universally accepted.
 Thomas Paine says that rights to 'liberty, property,
 security and resistance to oppression are based upon
 natural rights.
 John Locke the greatest champion of the theory states
 that nature has made all the men free and rational. It
 gives right to life, liberty and property.

11. Criticism of the Theory
 1. It is very vague and it is difficult to give precise meaning of term
natural.
 2. It is not correct to think that rights are independent of society. There
is no possibility for rights to exist without society.
 3. Ignores the importance of state as source of rights.
 4. The rights conflicts with each others.
 5. They are not static and keeps on changing with the social needs.
 6. They lays undue influence on state of nature and ignores nature of
rights.
 7. It is believed that natural rights are absolute in nature.
But practically, no right can be absolute.

12. SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORIES
 Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679): Argues in favor of absolute monarchy. He
published his book, the Leviathan, in 1651. In this book he gave a striking
exposition of the theory of Social Contract. His object was to defend the
absolute power of the monarch and he used the doctrine of the Social Contract
to support it.
 He Believed that life in the state of nature is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and
short. He Believed that humans are inherently bad because everyone is self-
interested. Hobbs felt it was best to submit to the will of a Sovereign without
question. Man entered into government for Safety.
 The main role of government is to protect its citizens. Rights and liberty always
come after safety and protection. Never overthrow the government because
doing so creates anarchy and then there is no safety.

13. Conti…
 Before society we were in the State of Nature. An
individual dictated what s/he could/could not do.
 Survival of the Fittest > Murder Example…
 When we came into contact with other people we
entered a Society. When we created State &
government we entered a Social Contract.

14. Key Concepts:
 The State of Nature: A pre-social condition.
 The Social Contract: An agreement between
 (a) members of the community or
 (b) members of the community and the
 Sovereign.
 The Sovereign: The legitimate head of state
 after the Social Contract: (a) a person or group
 of persons, such as a monarch or a
 government, or (b) the people representing
 themselves.

15. The Historical Theory of Rights
 Rights as Product of Historical Evolution
 The exponents of the Historical Theory of Rights
 say that rights are not created by the state, but
 are the products of historical evolution. While in
 the modern state rights are recognized and
 upheld by law, in ancient times rights were
 based on customs and usages.

16. Conti…
 In the course of a very long time, human beings
 in society evolved certain usages, tradition and
 customs for common good, and these in an
 unwritten form became the basis of law, which
 gave rights to the individual in an actual written
 form. As far as the primitive, man was
 concerned, custom was unwritten law.

17. Evaluation of Theory
 Merit :
 The theory is correct, when it says that several rights arose as a result of
historical evolution, and that customs provided a basis of written laws of the
state.
 Defects :
 1. All rights are not products of history. Only some rights are the results of
historical evolution.
 2. Certain rights are created by the laws of the state, and they do not have
history as source of their origin. The state has got rid of inequality in the Indian
caste system, which was the product of history and introduced equality
through a written constitution and law.

18. The Economic Theory of Rights
 Of recent origin is the Economic Theory of Rights and it finds its
inspiration in the teaching of Karl Marx. It rejects the concept of
natural and inalienable rights as also various other theories enunciated
from time to time as an explanation of the nature of rights.
 Marx’s thesis is simple and to a certain extent convincing too. He
regards the State as a coercive agency to uphold the particular type of
social organisation and law is a tool of the State that perpetuates and
safeguards the interests of the dominant group in the society.
 Marx explained that political, social, religious and other institutions of
any given historical era are determined by economic factors, which is
essentially the mode of production

19. Conti…
 To each stage of production in the development of
society corresponds as appropriate political form and
an appropriate class structure and every system of
production has given rise to two opposing classes, the
exploiters and the exploited, the owners and the toilers
free man and slave, patrician and plebian, baron and
serf, guild master and journeyman.

20. Conti…
 Laski, too, mainly agrees with Marx’s thesis and
maintains that the way the economic power is
distributed at any given time and place will shape the
character of legal imperatives which are imposed on
that time and place. The economically dominant group
in society controls and regulates the machinery of
government and occupies all the key positions of
power, authority and influence.

21. What Are

22. Human Right
 Human rights are the rights a person has
simply because s/he is a human being.

23. Conti…
 Human rights are held by all persons equally, universally, and
forever.
 Human rights are inalienable: you cannot lose these rights any
more than you can cease being a human being.
 Human rights are indivisible: you cannot be denied a right
because it is "less important" or "non-essential." Human rights
are interdependent: all human rights are part of a
complementary framework. For example, your ability to
participate in your government is directly affected by your right
to express yourself, to get an education, and even to obtain the
necessities of life.

24. Human Rights as Inspiration and Empowerment
 Human rights are both inspirational and practical. Human
rights principles hold up the vision of a free, just, and
peaceful world and set minimum standards for how
individuals and institutions everywhere should treat
people. Human rights also empower people with a
framework for action when those minimum standards are
not met, for people still have human rights even if the laws
or those in power do not recognize or protect them.

25. Conti…
 We experience our human rights every day in the Pakistan when
we worship according to our belief, or choose not to worship at
all; when we debate and criticize government policies; when we
join a student union; when we travel to other parts of the country
or overseas. Although we usually take these actions for granted,
people both here and in other countries do not enjoy all these
liberties equally. Human rights violations also occur everyday in
this country when a parent abuses a child, when a family is
homeless, when a school provides inadequate education, when
women are paid less than men, or when one person steals from
another.

26. Development of HR: natural rights
 John Locke
 ● The first person to develop natural theory ( natural law)
 ● This theory is seen as the source of doctrine on HUMAN
RIGHTS:
 → every human being has natural right to live freely and to
own properties.
 Thomas Jefferson
 ● rejected the right to own properties
 ● focused on happiness

27. Natural rights of Locke and Hobbes
 Two (2) philosophies:
 Locke’s philosophies:
 ● Human rights are so effective.
 ● Every member of the society respects those rights.
 ● Example: France Revolution
 Hobbesian philosophies:
 ● Individual rights gain less respects
 ● They depend on the needs of individuals themselves
 ● They encourage monarchy system and statism

28. Development of HR: social contract
 Civil society has come up with a form of social contract between
 individuals and the state.
 A state can only be given the right to enforce the natural rights,
 not the state’s rights.
 The failure of the country to preserve the rights opens the door
 for people to start up revolution.
 ■ (Weston 1984: 258)
 Social contract→ two parties are supposed to complement each
 other with what was agreed upon and thus they need to respect
 it.
 Locke had introduced individualistic theories to challenge
 absolute power of the kings and the sovereignty of the
 Parliament.

29. Development of HR: individualism
 The individualism right concept has much influenced
 many events and philosophies.
 France Revolution: focused on three (3) things related
 to natural rights which are:
 1. Liberty
 2. Equality
 3. Fraternity
 American Revolution: every human being is created
 with equal gift from the Creator along with undeniable
 rights such as the rights to live, to have freedom and to
 be happy.

30. A Short History of Human Rights
 The belief that everyone, by virtue of her or his humanity, is entitled to certain
human rights is fairly new. Its roots, however, lie in earlier tradition and
documents of many cultures; it took the catalyst of World War II to propel
human rights onto the global stage and into the global conscience.
 Throughout much of history, people acquired rights and responsibilities
through their membership in a group – a family, indigenous nation, religion,
class, community, or state. Most societies have had traditions similar to the
"golden rule" of "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." The
Hindu Vedas, the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi, the Bible, the Quran
(Koran), and the Analects of Confucius are five of the oldest written sources
which address questions of people’s duties, rights, and responsibilities.

31. Precursors of 20th Century Human Rights Documents
 Documents asserting individual rights, such the Magna Carta (1215), the English Bill of Rights (1689),
the French Declaration on the Rights of Man and Citizen (1789), and the US Constitution and Bill of
Rights (1791) are the written precursors to many of today’s human rights documents. Yet many of
these documents, when originally translated into policy, excluded women, people of color, and
members of certain social, religious, economic, and political groups. Nevertheless, oppressed people
throughout the world have drawn on the principles these documents express to support revolutions
that assert the right to self-determination.
 Contemporary international human rights law and the establishment of the United Nations (UN)
have important historical antecedents. Efforts in the 19th century to prohibit the slave trade and to
limit the horrors of war are prime examples. In 1919, countries established the International Labor
Organization (ILO) to oversee treaties protecting workers with respect to their rights, including
their health and safety. Concern over the protection of certain minority groups was raised by the
League of Nations at the end of the First World War. However, this organization for international
peace and cooperation, created by the victorious European allies, never achieved its goals. The League
floundered because the United States refused to join and because the League failed to prevent Japan’s
invasion of China and Manchuria (1931) and Italy’s attack on Ethiopia (1935). It finally died with the
onset of the Second World War (1939).

32. The Birth of the United Nations
 The idea of human rights emerged stronger after World War II. The extermination by
Nazi Germany of over six million Jews, Sinti and Romani (gypsies), homosexuals, and
persons with disabilities horrified the world. Trials were held in Nuremberg and Tokyo
after World War II, and officials from the defeated countries were punished for
committing war crimes, "crimes against peace," and "crimes against humanity."
 Governments then committed themselves to establishing the United Nations, with the
primary goal of bolstering international peace and preventing conflict. People wanted to
ensure that never again would anyone be unjustly denied life, freedom, food, shelter, and
nationality. The essence of these emerging human rights principles was captured in
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union Address when he spoke of a
world founded on four essential freedoms: freedom of speech and religion and freedom
from want and fear (See Using Human Rights Here & Now). The calls came from across
the globe for human rights standards to protect citizens from abuses by their
governments, standards against which nations could be held accountable for the
treatment of those living within their borders. These voices played a critical role in the
San Francisco meeting that drafted the United Nations Charter in 1945.

33. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
 Rights for all members of the human family were first articulated
in third General Assembly in Paris on December 10, 1948 in the
United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
 None of the 56 members of the United Nations voted against the text, but South Africa, Saudi Arabia and the Soviet
Union abstained.
 Following the horrific experiences of the Holocaust and World War II,
and amid the grinding poverty of much of the world’s population,
many people sought to create a document that would capture the
hopes, aspirations, and protections to which every person in the world
was entitled and ensure that the future of humankind would be
different.
 See "Appendices," for the 30 articles of the UDHR.

34. The Role of Nongovernmental Organizations
 Globally the champions of human rights have most often been citizens,
not government officials. In particular, nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) have played a cardinal role in focusing the
international community on human rights issues. For example, NGO
activities surrounding the 1995 United Nations Fourth World
Conference on Women in Beijing, China, drew unprecedented
attention to serious violations of the human rights of women. NGOs
such as Amnesty International, the Antislavery Society, the
International Commission of Jurists, the International Working Group
on Indigenous Affairs, Human Rights Watch, Minnesota Advocates for
Human Rights, and Survivors International monitor the actions of
governments and pressure them to act according to human rights
principles

35. Collective rights
 are held by a group, rather than any one individual. They have typically been a focus of indigenous
peoples and other groups whose rights are threatened by an individualistic, capitalist system. For
example, much of the "Third World" (now Global South) organizing in the 1980s and 1990s focused
on collective rights and finding ways to enforce those rights in addition to the more widely-
recognized individual rights. Some examples include:
The right to speak one's native language and educate children in that language; the right to cultural
preservation
 The rights of indigenous peoples to land and resources held collectively, and the right to pass land
and resources down through the generations
 Environmental rights to clean air, water, and land
 The right to national self-determination
 The right to development
 The right to autonomous self-government for minority groups
 The right to restitution for lands stolen from the collective

36. Who are minorities under international law?

37. Conti…
 Adopted by consensus in 1992, the United
Nations Minorities Declaration in its article 1 refers
to minorities as based on national or ethnic, cultural,
religious and linguistic identity, and provides that
States should protect their existence

38. Conti…
 A minority is a group of people who differ from a major
group.
 a sociological category that is differentiated, defined,
and often discriminated against by those who hold the
majority of positions of social power.

39. Groups of minority
 Racial or ethnic minorities
 Religious minorities
 Gender and sexual minorities
 Disabled minorities

40. Who are minority
 a culturally, ethnically, or racially distinct group that
coexists with but is subordinate to a more dominant group.
As the term is used in the social sciences, this
subordinancy is the chief defining characteristic of a
minority group. As such, minority status does not
necessarily correlate to population.

41. No quantitative association
 Arnold Rose defines minority without any quantitive
association as a group of people differentiated from
others in the same society by race, nationality, religion
or language who think of themselves as differentiated
group and are thought of by others as differentiated
group with negative connotations. Further they are
relatively lacking in power and hence are subjected to
certain exclusions, discrimination and other
differential treatments.

42. Third world most affected
 The position of the developing societies or the Third
World is the same. Ethnic and communal riots are
chronic part of their politics. The Indian society is also
besieged with the minority issues and communal riots
have become recurring phenomenon in the country.

43. Universal declaration of human rights
 The sub commission on Prevention of Discrimination and
Protection of minorities set up under the Human Rights
Commission which drafted the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights has defined minority as only those non
“dominant groups in a population which possess or wish to
preserve stable, ethnic, religious or linguistic traditions or
characteristics markedly different from those of the most
of the population

44. Minority not only becoz of Size
 It is believed that population size is not the only
feature of minority status. If a group is discriminated
against on the basis of religion, race or culture it can be
considered a minority group.
 In some cases one or more so-called minority groups
may have a population many times the size of the
dominating group, as was the case in South Africa
under apartheid (c. 1950–91).

45. Freemason –are not minority
 The lack of significant distinguishing characteristics
keeps certain groups from being classified as
minorities. For instance, while Freemasons subscribe
to some beliefs that are different from those of other
groups, they lack external behaviours or other features
that would distinguish them from the general
population and thus cannot be considered a minority.

46. Now We can say
 A minority may disappear from a society via assimilation, a
process through which a minority group replaces its traditions
with those of the dominant culture. However, complete
assimilation is very rare. More frequent is the process
of acculturation, in which two or more groups exchange culture
traits. A society in which internal groups make a practice of
acculturation usually evolves through this inherent give and
take, causing the minority culture to become more like the
dominant group and the dominant culture to become
increasingly eclectic/free and accepting of difference.

48. Property rights
 Property rights are theoretical socially-enforced constructs
in economics for determining how a resource or economic good is used
and owned.[1] Resources can be owned by (and hence be
the property of) individuals, associations or governments.[2] Property
rights can be viewed as an attribute of an economic good. This attribute
has four broad components[3] and is often referred to as a bundle of
rights:[4]
 the right to use the good
 the right to earn income from the good
 the right to transfer the good to others
 the right to enforce property rights

49. Thank you
For your Tolerance