Human Rights are a basic requirement of any form of
social structure. They are the basic agreement amongst groups of people
as to the minimum standard of treatment any individual member of that group may expect from any other member, or group of members.
The exact nature of this minimum standard has of course changed over time. Changes which one would hope
would be recognised as an improved direction. Unfortunately
deteriorations have also occurred in different Cultures and Geographical
(Political) regions.
This Agreement is unfortunately almost always expressed in terms of explicit Rights, without direct specification of the corresponding implied Responsibilities. Human Rights could be better described as Human Responsibilities
as understanding the Responsibility implied by any “Right” actually
defines the case of and for that Right better than simply stating the
Right itself.
When looked at as a set of responsibilities, Human Rights can never
be considered to be contrary to any local or religious customs,
traditions or laws. The reverse, however may not be true – as those
laws, customs or practices would have to incorporate the responsibility
of both individuals and the society in question to respect the right of
the individual.
Of course there are many Societies, Specific
adherents to certain Religions and Governments that fall short – in some
cases dismally so – of even recognising, let alone meeting, their most
basic responsibilities in this respect.
I should state that my interest in this has been
roused over the last three years or so due the fact that in Britain,
which was often regarded as one of the key drivers behind what we could
described as Modern Human Rights, we are seeing an erosion of the implementation
of these rights in a way that most people of my age (born in 1964)
would not have believed possible in such a “developed” nation during
their lifetime!
We even have the current UK Government talking of
“Withdrawing from Human Rights Legislation”. Thus indicating that it
regards these Human Rights as an External and not Indigenous concept.
This is of course incorrect as most of the core of “Modern Human Rights”
has it’s origins within the UK. Certainly from the late 1700’s to the
very recent past, this was the case. Although the Magna Carta is often
mentioned as a major point in the history of Civil Rights, it
was perhaps not quite the great triumph for General Rights sometimes
ascribed to it, more a tiny little step in the right direction, for a
few but not the majority.
It is also worth bearing in mind that archaeology has
thrown up evidence suggesting that some of the earlier (Stone, Bronze
and Iron Age) social groups had reasonably agreeable levels of social
justice, so it’s not just a new thing – Nor is it a one-way journey!
It is with this in mind that I see the importance of
constant vigilance regarding human rights not simply as a bunch of
“Do-Gooders” from the EU or UN to try to coerce so-called developing
nations into adopting Western Ideologies. It is something more of a
constant fight between those who would try to evade their
responsibilities (usually in Governments and Corporations) and those who
would hold them to their responsibilities (a wide and varied band of
individuals and organisations acting both independently and in
co-operation).
It could be argued that “doing your bit” to uphold those responsibilities is the most fundamental Responsibility and Right of all.
The Declaration Of Human Rights and it’s relation to Law...
Read more...
