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Human rights
• "fundamental rights to which a person is inherently
entitled simply because she or he is a human being."
- universal (applicable everywhere),
- egalitarian (the same for everyone)
- natural / legal
- in national / international law
Human rights
• Are guaranteed by international standards;
• Are legally protected;
• Focus on the dignity of the human being;
• Protect individuals and groups;
• Oblige states and state actors;
• Cannot be waived or taken away;
• Are interdependent and interrelated;
• Are universal.
Human rights
• Human rights movement developed in the aftermath
of the Second World War and the atrocities of The
Holocaust, culminating in the adoption of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
• The ancient world did not possess the concept of
universal human rights ("elaborate systems of duties,
conceptions of justice, political legitimacy, and
human flourishing that sought to realize human
dignity, or well-being entirely independent of human
rights“).
History of concept
• In 539 B.C., the armies of Cyrus the Great,
the first king of ancient Persia:
- conquered the city of Babylon
- he freed the slaves, declared that all people had the
right to choose their own religion, and established
racial equality,
- recorded these on a baked-clay cylinder in the
Akkadian language - has now been recognized as
the world’s first charter of human rights,
- UN!
History of concept
• The modern concept - developed during the early
Modern period.
• Can be traced to Renaissance Europe and the
Protestant Reformation (alongside the
disappearance of the feudal authoritarianism and
religious conservativism).
• The most commonly held view:
- concept of human rights evolved in the West, and
- while earlier cultures had important ethical concepts,
they generally lacked a concept of human rights (no
word for "right" in any language before 1400).
MEDIEVAL PERIOD
Magna Carta (Magna Carta Libertatum or The Great
Charter of the Liberties of England)
• not charter of human rights,
foundation constituted a form of
limited political and legal agreement
to address specific political
circumstances
• originally issued in Latin in
1215, translated into French in
1219, and reissued later in the 13th century in modified
versions
Magna Carta (Magna Carta Libertatum or The Great Charter of
the Liberties of England)
• required King John of England to proclaim certain
liberties (e.g., the right of the church to be free from
governmental interference, the rights of all free
citizens to own and inherit property and to be
protected from excessive taxes)
• led to the rule of constitutional law in the English
speaking world
• was important in the colonization of American
colonies and used as England's legal system
Statute of Kalisz
• One of the oldest records
of human rights (1264)
• Gave privileges to the Jewish
minority in the Kingdom of Poland
such as protection from
discrimination and hate speech.
MODERN PERIOD
• The basis of most modern legal interpretations of
human rights: recent European history
The Twelve Articles (1525)
• were part of the peasants' demands
of the Swabian League during
the German Peasants War
• considered to be the first
record of human rights in Europe
Petition of Right, 1628
• English Parliament sent to Charles I
a statement of civil liberties
• was based upon earlier statutes and charters and
asserted four principles:
(1) No taxes may be levied without consent of
Parliament,
(2) No subject may be imprisoned without cause shown
(reaffirmation of the right of habeas corpus),
(3) No soldiers may be quartered upon the citizenry,
and
(4) Martial law may not be used in time of peace.
History of concept
• Two major revolutions occurred during the 18th
century:
- in the United States (1776), leading to the adoption of
the United States Declaration of Independence and
- in France (1789), leading to the adoption of the
French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the
Citizen,
both of which established certain legal rights.
United States
Declaration of Independence, 1776
• Its primary author, Thomas Jefferson, wrote the
Declaration as a formal explanation of why Congress
had voted to declare independence from Great
Britain, and as a statement announcing that the
thirteen American Colonies were no longer a part of
the British Empire.
• Philosophically, the Declaration stressed two themes:
individual rights and the right of revolution.
The Constitution of the United States of America
(1787) and Bill of Rights (1791)
• Constitution of the United States of America is the
fundamental law of the US federal system of
government and the landmark document of the
Western world. It is the oldest written national
constitution in use.
• The first ten amendments to the Constitution—the Bill
of Rights—limited the powers of the federal
government and protected the rights of all citizens,
residents and visitors in American territory.
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the
Citizen (1789)
• 6 weeks after the storming of the Bastille, and 3
weeks after the abolition of feudalism, the
Declaration was adopted by the National Constituent
Assembly as the first step toward writing a
constitution for the Republic of France.
• proclaims that all citizens are to be guaranteed the
rights of “liberty, property, security, and resistance to
oppression.”
“...the exercise of the natural rights of each man has only those
borders which assure other members of the society the
enjoyment of these same rights.”
The First Geneva Convention (1864)
• provided for care to wounded soldiers
• sixteen European countries and several American
states attended a conference in Geneva, at the
invitation of the Swiss Federal Council
• main principles provided for the obligation to extend
care without discrimination to wounded and sick
military personnel and respect for and marking of
medical personnel transports and equipment with the
distinctive sign of the red cross
on a white background
History of concept
• In the 19th century, human rights became a central
concern over the issue of slavery
• The abolition of slavery was achieved in the British
Empire by the Slave Trade Act 1807 and the Slavery
Abolition Act 1833
History of concept
• In the United States, all the northern states had
abolished the institution of slavery between 1777 and
1804
• one of the reasons for the southern states‘ secession
and the American Civil War. During the period
immediately following the war, several amendments
to the United States Constitution were made: 13th -
banning slavery, 14th - assuring full citizenship and
civil rights to all people born in the United States, and
15th – guaranteeing African Americans the right to
vote.
History of concept
• 20th century in Europe and North America:
- labour unions brought about laws granting workers
the right to strike, establishing minimum work
conditions and forbidding or regulating child labor
- women's rights movement succeeded in gaining for
many women the right to vote
History of concept
- national liberation movements in many countries
succeeded in driving out colonial powers
- one of the most influential was
Mahatma Gandhi’s movement
to free his native India from
British rule
- Movements by long-oppressed racial and religious
minorities succeeded in many parts of the world,
among them the African American Civil Rights
Movement.
History of concept
• The establishment of the International Committee
of the Red Cross, the 1864 Lieber Code
and the first of the Geneva Conventions
in 1864 laid the foundations of
International humanitarian law,
to be further developed following
the two World wars.
MODERN HUMAN RIGHTS
INSTRUMENTS
• The League of Nations, 1919
- negotiations over the Treaty of Versailles following the
end of World War I (goals: disarmament, preventing
war through collective security, settling disputes
between countries through negotiation and
diplomacy, and improving global welfare...)
• At the 1945 Yalta Conference, the Allied Powers
agreed to create a new body to supplant the
League's role; this was to be the United Nations..
Classification of human rights
1. Civil and political rights /1st generation/
- Universal Declaration of Human rights (UDHR, art. 3-21)
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
/Western cultures/
2. Economic, social and cultural rights /2nd generation/
- Universal Declaration of Human rights (UDHR, art. 22-28)
- International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights
(ICESCR)
/ex Soviet block and Asian countries/
3. Right to piece, clean environment... /3rd generation/
The UDHR included both economic, social and
cultural rights and civil and political rights
because it was based on the principle that the
different rights could only successfully exist in
combination.
In the aftermath of the atrocities of World War II,
there was increased concern for the social and
legal protection of human rights as fundamental
freedoms.
United Nations Charter provided a basis for a
comprehensive system of international law and
practice for the protection of human rights. Since
then, international human rights law has been
characterized by a linked system of conventions,
treaties, organizations, and political bodies, rather
than any single entity or set of laws.
International protection
United Nations Charter
Article 1(3) states
that one of the purposes of the UN is:
"to achieve international cooperation in solving
international problems of an economic, social,
cultural, or humanitarian character, and in
promoting and encouraging respect for human
rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without
distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion".
The rights espoused in the UN charter - codified:
International Bill of Human Rights
Universal
Declaration of
Human Rights
International
Covenant on
Civil and Political
Rights
International
Covenant on
Social,
Economic, and
Cultural Rights
International protection
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- was adopted by the United Nations General
Assembly in 1948 (10 Dec)
- was a non-binding resolution; now considered to
have acquired the force of international customary
law which may be invoked in appropriate
circumstances by national and other judiciaries
- art. 1-2: principles of dignity, liberty, equality and brotherhood
- art. 3-11: rights of the individual (e.g., the right to life and the
prohibition of slavery)
- art. 12-17: rights of the individual in civil and political society
- art. 18-21: spiritual, public and political freedoms (e.g., freedom
of religion and freedom of association)
- art. 22-27: social, economic and cultural rights
Five categories of Human Rights: Civil Political
Economic
Social
Cultural Civil and political rights are a class of rights
that protect individuals' freedom from
infringement by governments, social
organizations, and private individuals, and which
ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and
political life of the society and state without
discrimination or repression.
Civil rights include the ensuring of peoples'
physical and mental integrity, life and safety;
protection from discrimination and individual
rights such as privacy, the freedoms of thought
and conscience, speech and expression, religion,
the press, assembly and movement. Political rights include natural justice (procedural
fairness) in law, such as the rights of the accused,
including the right to a fair trial; due process; the
right to seek redress or a legal remedy; and rights
of participation in civil society and politics such as
freedom of association, the right to assemble, the
right to petition, the right of self-defense, and the
right to vote.
Economic, social and cultural rights are socio-economic human rights, such as: right to education, right to housing, right to adequate standard of living, right to health and the right to science and culture.
Member states have a legal obligation to respect,
protect and fulfil economic, social and cultural
rights and are expected to take "progressive
action" towards their fulfilment.
International human rights instruments - Treaties (pieces of legislation)
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment
Convention on the Rights of the Child
International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All
Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from
Enforced Disappearance
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
In addition:
Customary international law
may protect some human rights, such as the
prohibition of torture, genocide and slavery and the
principle of non-discrimination
In addition:
International humanitarian law
- regulates the conduct of armed conflict (jus in bello)
- branch of international law which seeks to limit the
effects of armed conflict by protecting persons who
are not or no longer participating in hostilities, and by
restricting and regulating the means and methods of
warfare available to combatants
- includes the Geneva Conventions and the Hague
Conventions, as well as subsequent treaties, case
law, and customary international law.
The Geneva Conventions
- came between 1864 and 1949 as a result of efforts
by Henry Dunant, the founder of the International
Committee of the Red Cross
- 1859 - aftermath of the Battle of Solferino
- he was horrified by the sight of thousands of wounded
soldiers lying helpless and abandoned with no one to care for
them
- experience led him to suggest the setting up of voluntary
relief societies who could be trained, during peacetime, to
care for the wounded in time of war
- called for an international agreement to be drawn up to
protect the wounded, and those who looked after them, from
further attack.
The Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the
Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in
the Field was adopted in 1864, revised and replaced by
the 1906 version, the 1929 version, and later the First
Geneva Convention of 1949.
The Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the
Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members
of Armed Forces at Sea was adopted in 1906, revised and
replaced by the Second Geneva Convention of 1949.
The Geneva Convention relative to Treatment of Prisoners
of War was adopted in 1929, revised and replaced by the
Third Geneva Convention of 1949.
The Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection
of Civilian Persons in Time of War was adopted in 1949.
Three additional amendment protocols to the Geneva
Convention:
Protocol I (1977): relating to the Protection of Victims of
International Armed Conflicts. As of 12 January 2007 it
had been ratified by 167 countries.
Protocol II (1977): relating to the Protection of Victims of
Non-International Armed Conflicts. As of 12 January 2007
it had been ratified by 163 countries.
Protocol III (2005): relating to the Adoption of an
Additional Distinctive Emblem. As of June 2007 it had
been ratified by seventeen countries and signed but not
yet ratified by an additional 68.
The Geneva Conventions establish the standards of
international law for the humanitarian treatment of the
victims of war.
The articles of the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949)
extensively defined the basic, wartime rights of prisoners
(civil and military); established protections for the
wounded; and established protections for the civilians in
and around a war zone.
In 2005, a third brief Protocol was added establishing an
additional protective sign for medical services, the Red
Crystal, as an alternative to the ubiquitous Red Cross and
Red Crescent emblems, for those countries that find them
objectionable.
United Nations system
Under the mandate of the UN charter,
UN, as an intergovernmental body, seeks
to apply international jurisdiction for universal
human-rights legislation.
Within the UN machinery, human-rights issues are
primarily the concern of the United Nations Security
Council and the United Nations Human Rights Council,
and there are numerous committees within the UN with
responsibilities for safeguarding different human-rights
treaties. The most senior body of the UN in the sphere of
human rights is the Office of the High Commissioner for
Human Rights.
United Nations system
United Nations Security Council: for
maintaining international peace and
security
United Nations Human Rights
Council: for investigation alleged
human rights abuses
United Nations General Assemby: for
initiating studies and makig
recommendations on human right
issues
United Nations system - treaty bodies
• International human rights treaties are
binding on governments that ratify them;
• Declarations are non-binding, although
many norms and standards enshrined
therein reflect principles which are binding
in customary international law;
• United Nations conferences generate nonbinding
consensual policy documents, such
as declarations and programmes of action.
European Convention on Human Rights, 1950
Convention consists of three parts.
The main rights and freedoms are contained in Section I,
which consists of Articles 2 to 18.
Section II (Articles 19 to 51) sets up the Court and its rules
of operation.
Section III contains various concluding provisions.
Many of the Articles in Section I are structured in two
paragraphs: the first sets out a basic right or freedom
(such as Article 2(1) – the right to life) but the second
contains various exclusions, exceptions or limitations on
the basic right (such as Article 2(2) – which excepts
certain uses of force leading to death).
Medical profession and human rights
“It is my aspiration that health will finally be seen
not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a
human right to be fought for.” United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan
Medical profession and human rights
The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of
health as a fundamental right of every human being
was enshrined in WHO’s Constitution over fifty years ago. WHO is striving to make this right a reality for
everyone, paying particular attention to the poorest
and most vulnerable.
What is the link between health and human
rights? • Violations or lack of attention to human rights can
have serious health consequences;
• Health policies and programmes can promote or
violate human rights in the ways they are designed
or implemented;
• Vulnerability and the impact of ill health can be
reduced by taking steps to respect, protect and fulfil
human rights.
What is meant by “the right to health”? “The right to health does not mean the right to
be healthy, nor does it mean that poor
governments must put in place expensive health
services for which they have no resources. But
it does require governments and public
authorities to put in place policies and action
plans which will lead to available and accessible
health care for all in the shortest possible time.” United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights, Mary Robinson
The right to the highest attainable standard of health
(referred to as “the right to health”) was
first reflected in the WHO Constitution (1946) and
reiterated in the 1978 Declaration of Alma
Ata (on primary health) and in the World Health
Declaration (health for all – policy for 21st century)
adopted by the World Health Assembly in 1998.
The right to the highest attainable standard: a set of
social arrangements – norms, institutions, laws, an
enabling environment – that can best secure the enjoyment of this right. In May 2000, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted a General Comment
on the right to health - recognized that the right to
health is closely related to and dependent upon the
realization of other human rights, including the right to food, housing, work, education, ....
The General Comment sets out four criteria by
which to evaluate the right to health: (a)Availability. (b) Accessibility Accessibility has four overlapping
dimensions:
• Non-discrimination;
• Physical accessibility;
• Economic accessibility (affordability);
• Information accessibility. (c) Acceptability. (d) Quality.
What is meant by a rights-based approach to health?
Justice as a right, not as charity
A rights-based approach to development describes
situations not simply in terms of human needs, or of
developmental requirements, but in terms of
society’s obligations to respond to the inalienable
rights of individuals; empowers people to demand
justice as a right, not as charity; and gives
communities a moral basis from which to claim
international assistance when needed.
A rights-based approach to health refers to the processes of:
• Using human rights as a framework for health
development.
• Assessing and addressing the human rights
implications of any health policy, programme or
legislation.
• Making human rights an integral dimension of the
design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation
of health-related policies and programmes in all
spheres, including political, economic and social.
Human Rights & Medical Personnel
The perpetrators of human rights violations have
also the most unlikely collaborators in doctors, who
are believed to have the kindest countenance to human sufferings. The doctors are involved: -in administration of drugs to induce a state of stupor in suspected criminals to splutter the hidden truth; -they plant devices on human bodies to study brain, heart and intestines; -monitor human response to questioning in police interrogation; -examine breath, blood, urine, semen, DNA to detect
or determine commission of crimes;
Dual Loyalty
When the health care professional has both duties to
the person being treated or evaluated and
obligations to the interests of a third party such as an
employer, an insurer, or a military commander.