Revision Session 2 Rights and Responsibilities – HUMAN RIGHTS

WHAT ARE HUMAN RIGHTS? Human rights apply to all of us. The basis of all human rights is respect for all human life and human dignity. We all have a responsibility to safeguard human rights and not take them away from anyone. For every human right we have, there is a responsibility to uphold everyone else’s human rights.

The origin of Human Rights The ideas that people should be entitled to certain basic rights has been around for centuries Eg. The Magna Carta signed by King John of England 1215 gave people rights like the right not to be imprisoned without trial. BUT these rights only applied to the rich NOT to everyone.

Who can tell me when & why the idea of modern day human rights was born?

Universal Declaration of Human Rights After the atrocities of WW2 the world were agreed that such death & destruction should never happen again. The United Nations was born and one of the first actions was to publish the Universal Declaration of Human Rights The aim of this was to lay down basic minimum rights for every person in every country. The declaration was signed by 48 member countries of the UN.

There are 30 Articles of the UDHR…. How many can you name? Article 1 All human beings are born free & equal in dignity & rights Article 3 Everyone has the right to life, liberty & security of person Article 5 No-one shall be subjected to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment Article 9 No one shall be arrested or detained without good reason Article 11 Everyone is innocent until proven guilty Article 19 Everyone has the right to freedom of expression & opinion Article 26 Everyone has the right to a free education LEARN AT LEAST 5 OF THESE BEST KNOWN

Is the UDHR law? No- it is a statement of the way things ought to be, like a sort of moral code BUT it is not enforceable in law. The UN actually has few powers to force countries to stick to all the articles. Countries can be condemned (thought badly of) for not respecting Human Rights but actually the UDHR has no real power. For example: The USA condemns China for having a poor human rights record and yet the USA still has the death penalty in some states.

How effective is UDHR at protecting human rights globally? Across the world many people do not enjoy human rights protection in law like we do in the UK and EU. Many countries state they uphold Human Rights but the reality may be very different ………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………… AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL is an active pressure group with thousands of supporters who take action to protect human rights. Pressure groups do this by: Writing letters & sending s to those in power Protesting in marches Organising petitions Involving the media to get publicity Persuading people not to visit countries who have poor human rights records

Human Rights Law European Convention of Human Rights (EcHR) 1953 European Convention on Human Rights passed by the EU Based on UDHR many articles are the same If Convention broken case goes to European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg EcHR is followed in all EU countries Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) Britain is a member of the UN & EU & signed both BUT these rights were not part of British law & to claim them you had to go to Strasbourg Parliament passed HRA, this protects British citizens under British law It brought articles of the EcHR into British law. It allowed UK citizens to have their cases dealt with in a UK court if they felt their human rights had been threatened. Who can name the 2 examples of Human Rights laws?

HRA 1998 FAQ Does HRA 1998 mean everyone has total freedom to do what they like? No, people cannot restrict other people’s rights If we have the HRA 1998, is there any point having other laws. HRA provides a framework for many of our laws but it is up to Parliament to decide what should happen within the framework eg HRA states all people should have the right to vote but in UK prisoners had been denied that right. HRA also does not state at what age people should vote. Does everyone have the right to freedom? No there are rules to allow freedom to be taken away from criminals, people who may be planning a criminal offence, people with infectious diseases or severe mental illness, or people trying to enter the country illegally. If we have HRA why are there still debates about euthanasia & abortion? Sometimes rights clash. The right to life may clash with a parents choice. There are also debates about when life starts and stops.

Give some example of Human Rights abuses….

Who Are Amnesty International? C6c C6c