HUMAN RIGHTS

Philosophy of human rights

Nature and society we live in, do not only protect us but also threaten us. Each human being is very
vulnerable and therefore need protection against neglecting, wilfulness (svojvôľa) and violence.

Deep in the mind of human beings there is the conviction that each and every person has rights,
including a right to freedom from oppression, freedom to make reasonable choices, and freedom
from cruelty. Nearly everybody feels this way, instinctively, even if they do not believe such rights are
easy to obey.

Most societies throughout history granted rights only to the luck few ones.

Traditionally, all groups of humans have had notions of justice, fairness, dignity, and respect.
Nevertheless, the notion that all humans have certain rights they may use to protect themselves
against society and its rulers was a minority view in the era before 1500s.

NATURAL RIGHTS

The conception was formed in Renaissance. Erasmus of Rotterdam and Hugo Grotius were stressing
that reason and intelligence are the source of „natural law“. N. rights are the right to life, right to
equality, right to property etc.

The first person credited with a comprehensive theory of human rights was British philosopher John
Locke (1632-1704), who was a representative of the 17th century Enlightenment. He was the one of
the first to suggest that individuals should have „natural rights“ and that government should serve
the public good. Locke defined government as a social contract between rulers and citizens. He also
suggested that the government can only be legitimate when it systematically honours and protects
the humanrights of its citizens. However, his theory had some shortcomings- his focus was the
protection of the rights of European men who owned property, while women along with indigenous
people, servants, and wage labourers, were not recognized as full right-holders. But still, we can say
that his thinking (and others of his time) was an important breakthrough.

HUMAN RIGHTS

This term is derived from natural rights. It means that every human has them- regardless of a place
he lives, ethnic he belongs to, and colour of his skin, religion or political opinions. Natural rights are
universal to each human and they cannot be restricted by anybody. Natural rights are everlasting
and unchanging.

Today, a government that engages in a consistent pattern of gross human rights violation is widely
considered to be illegitimate. This was not always the case. How a government treated its own
citizens in its own territory was considered to be a domestic affair or a matter of its sovereignty= the
supreme power it had over its internal affairs. In fact, other states and the international community
were considered to be under an international obligation not to intervene in such matters.

Following the bloodshed of the WWII and the Holocaust, when Nazi Germany and its collaborators
systematically murdered millions – European Jews, Roma, homosexuals- including men, women and
children, the need for protection of human rights took on new urgency. Such brutality caused an
extraordinary intellectual change. The sense of responsibility for the Holocaust generated the
pledge that its cruelties should never be repeated.......................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Before the massacre of one´s citizens was not an established international legal offence. The
Nuremberg War Crimes Trials in 1945 changed the situation- high level Nazis were held to account
for their actions, and the idea of crimes against humanity was introduced. For the first time,
officials were held legally accountable to the international community for offences against
individual citizens. It was in the United Nations, however human rights really emerged as a subject of
international relations.

Human rights have a prominent place in the U.N. Charter adopted in 1945. On December 10th, 1948
the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of human Rights. This list of rights
declared that the way in which states treat their own citizens is a matter of legitimate international
concern and subject to international standards.

From that moment when“NATURAL LAW/ NATURAL RIGHTS“ derived from reason- became part of
international law documents and were ratified by required number of states we speak about
HUMAN RIGHTS.

Only human rights can guarantee meaningful life, protection from injustice and political power to
individuals. Human rights are necessary for a human to lead dignified life so they have to be
respected by political power. They are proportionally linked to a democratic system of a society. The
higher level of democracy in a society, the more guaranteed human rights are. State power in
legitimate- has the right to be recognized- only when respects human rights and freedoms.

In all civilised nations, attempts are made to define and buttress (podporiť, posilniť) human rights.
The core of the concept is the same everywhere:

HUMAN RIGHTS ARE THE RIGHTS THAT ONE HAS SIMPLY BECAUSE ONE IS A HUMAN. THEY ARE
UNIVERSAL AND EQUAL. HUMAN RIGHTS ARE ALSO INALIENABLE. They may be suspended, rightly or
wrongly, but the idea of inherent (neoddeliteľný) rights cannot be taken away. One can no more lose
these rights.

Human rights are selection of everlasting and unchanging rights. These rights are the rights of all
people without exception- human rights are indivisible (neodňateľné) and inalienable
(neodcudziteľné).