“HIST “ORY OF HUMAN RIGHTS”

After the atrocities committed in World War II, the concept and
declaration of human rights was born as a common ideal for all
peoples and nations. These have been the background and the
greatest milestones in the history of human rights:

 539 BC | Conquest of Babylon : When Cyrus the Great

conquered Babylon, he let all the slaves go free, in turn
proclaiming religious freedom and becoming the first precursor of
human rights. His words were engraved on the “cylinder of
Cyrus.”

 1215 | Magna Carta : A thousand years later, the king of England

signs the first document that recognizes the rights of people.

 1776 | Independence of America : The declaration of

independence of the United States includes the concept of
natural rights and states that all human beings are equal and
have inalienable rights such as the right to life and liberty.

 1789 | French Revolution : Expands the rights established in the

declaration of independence of America, and emphasizes that
such rights are natural. The idea of human rights spreads
throughout Europe, but beyond this continent people are
colonized and their human rights are violated.

 1915 | Mahatma Gandhi : Until Gandhi begins to spread that all

people in the world have rights, not only in Europe, through his
peaceful protests.

 1945 | Founding Charter of the United Nations and coining of the

term : June 26 of that year, in the charter of the United Nations
will be the first time that the term “human rights” appears. In the
founding letter it appears 7 times throughout the text.
 1948 | Universal Declaration of Human Rights : On December 10,
1948 it was proclaimed in the UN
Assemblyhttps://eacnur.org/es/actualidad/noticias/eventos/que-
es-la-onu-desde-su-creacion-hasta-nuestros-dias in Paris this
milestone in the history of human rights. It is the first time in
history that fundamental human rights have been established that
must be protected throughout the world.

 21st century | A long road ahead : Although all countries have

signed up to the Universal Declaration, it does not have the
weight of law and millions of people are denied their most basic
rights. Slavery is still present, millions of people are persecuted
and discriminated against for reasons of ethnicity or religion and
10 million people do not have a nationality, which in turn deprives
them of many of the most basic rights such as education,
marriage or equality.

 Today, ensuring that all men in the world enjoy human rights
continues to be a milestone to be achieved by governments and
organizations such as the United Nations and its component
agencies. UNHCR works to ensure that the human rights of
refugees and displaced people are respected, who are so often
violated after having to flee contexts of violence.