HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION (HRE)

declares a commitment to those human rights expressed in the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, the UN Covenants, and the United
States Bill of Rights.
defined as training, dissemination, and information efforts aimed at building
a universal culture of human rights by imparting knowledge and skills, and
molding attitudes.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights turns 70 years old and continues to be the “international
Magna Carta for all men everywhere”, as Eleanor Roosevelt, chair of the United Nations Human
Rights Commission, once defined it.

The United Nations pinpoint the origin of Human Rights to the year 539 BC. When the troops of
Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon, Cyrus freed the slaves, declared These and other precepts were
recorded on a baked-clay cylinder known as the Cyrus Cylinder

United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945.The mission and work of the United
Nations are guided by the purposes and principle contained in its founding Charter. There are 195
countries in the world today. This total comprises 193 countries that are member states of the
United Nations and 2 countries that are non-member observer states: The Holy See and the State of
Palestine.

THE UN CHARTER

The closest to Constitution that basically governs the relations of international persons. Technically,
it is a TREATY, a contract which the parties must respect under the doctrine of “pacta sunt
servanda”. “pacta sunt servanda”- translates literally as “agreements must be kept” and forms the
basis of the common law of contracts. When two parties willingly and knowingly enter into a
contract, the terms of that contract should be upheld by both parties.

United Nations

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)

- is an international document that states basic rights and fundamental freedoms to which all human
beings are entitled.

- UDHR have the character of jus cogens (a peremptory norm, which states are not allowed to
derogate from; a rule which is considered universally valid).

Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General. Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948
(General Assembly resolution 217 A) as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all
nations. It sets out, for the first time, for fundamental human rights to be universally protected and
it has been translated into over 500 languages.

United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was a functional commission within the
overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United Nations
Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in 2006.

Human rights are commonly understood as being those rights that are inherent in the mere fact of
being human.
HUMAN RIGHTS HAVE BEEN DIVIDED INTO SEVERAL CATEGORIES: civil, cultural, economic, political,
and social rights.

Human rights can be found in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (adopted in 1948) and were
laid down in two legally binding international instruments, the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR, adopted in 1966) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights (ICESCR, adopted in 1966), to point out the different character of these rights,
particularly with regard to their means of implementation.

The ICCPR enumerates a number of civil and political rights or ‘classic freedom rights’, for example
the right to life.

The ICESCR contains economic, social and cultural rights, ‘social freedom rights’ for example the
right to work.

‘Classic’ rights’ are often seen to require the non-intervention of the state (negative obligation), and
‘social rights’ as requiring active intervention on the part of the state (positive obligations).

ATTRIBUTES OF HUMAN RIGHTS

1. Universal – human rights apply to all humans, regardless of race, culture, age, sex, or creed.

2. Inherent – all human beings are born with these rights; these are not conferred by any authority.

3. Equal – every human being has the same set of rights as any other. Article 1 of the Universal
declaration of Human rights states that, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and
rights”.

4. Inalienable – Human rights cannot be taken from or given away by any human. While its exercise
may be regulated or restricted by law, its substance cannot be taken away.