Human rights

Human rights are understood in international law and political thought as rights that attach to every person by virtue of being human. They apply without discrimination based on characteristics such as nationality, sex, ethnic origin, religion or language. They include civil and political protections—such as rights to life, liberty, expression and a fair hearing—and economic, social and cultural rights, including rights relating to work, education, health and participation in cultural life. The categories are useful for describing different guarantees, but the rights are interdependent: deprivation in one area can undermine the enjoyment of others.

Ideas about dignity, justice and limits on authority have appeared in many historical traditions, and modern human-rights frameworks developed through political and social movements as well as international agreements. After the Second World War, governments sought a shared international statement of fundamental rights. On 10 December 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), setting out 30 articles as a common standard for all peoples and nations. The Declaration helped shape later treaties and national legal instruments.

The UDHR is a declaration, not a treaty requiring ratification. Alongside it, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights form what the United Nations calls the International Bill of Human Rights. The General Assembly adopted both Covenants in 1966; they entered into force in 1976. States that ratify a treaty accept its legal obligations, while the Declaration has had wide influence as a shared standard and source for later law. Regional agreements and domestic constitutions and statutes add further protections, with their precise rules depending on the legal instrument and jurisdiction.

International human-rights law places duties primarily on states. The obligations to respect, protect and fulfil rights mean, respectively, that governments should not unlawfully interfere with rights, should take measures against abuses by others, and should take appropriate steps to make rights effective. UN treaty bodies made up of independent experts monitor how states implement the treaties they have accepted. Courts, national human-rights institutions, civil society and international bodies can also contribute to scrutiny and remedies, though the authority and reach of each mechanism differ. Recognition in a text does not by itself guarantee that people can exercise a right in practice.

Universality, equality and non-discrimination are central principles of the international framework. Human rights are also commonly described as indivisible and interdependent, meaning that civil and political rights cannot be treated as wholly separate from economic, social and cultural rights. Disagreements continue about how particular rights should be interpreted, how duties apply in specific circumstances and how to reconcile competing claims. International instruments allow certain rights to be limited in specified circumstances, subject to legal safeguards; such provisions do not give governments an unrestricted power to set rights aside.