DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

 DEVELOPMENT

CYRUS

The origins of Human Rights are ideally pinpointed to the year 539 BC. When the troops of Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon. Cyrus freed the slaves, declared that all people had the right to choose their own religion, and established racial equality. These and other principles were recorded on a baked-clay cylinder known as the Cyrus Cylinder, whose provisions served as inspiration for the first four Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Middle Ages -

  During the era,  notable thinkers like Albert (1079-1142) and Thomas (1224-1274) developed the Theory of Natural Law as a higher Principle of Law to be derived from reason. But, neither of the two make the human personality as the main focus of law and social life.  Thomas Aquinas believed in and favored the existence of slavery.  More emphasis was laid on the development of the principle of sovereignty and not on the development of the theory of human rights.
 Swain J.E notes "this approach later one become one of the greatest obstacles to the law relating to the protection of human rights"
During the Renaissance there began a steady decline of feudalism. New beliefs replaced the old beliefs.  because of the  Renaissance movement, there arose a concept of individual freedom out of the natural law.   Ideas like Liberty, equality right to private property were slowly begin accepted.  This change was a consequence of the ideology of Aquinas (1224-1274), Hugo and Grotius and others including the proclamation of Magna Carta (1215). The Magna Carta (1215) is often considered to be the source of Human Rights. However, it is not really so. The Magna Carta was only a deed of compromise upon the allotment of powers between King John and his subjects. The British Parliament had fought against the King and out of this struggle had emerged the bill of rights. In the Bill of rights there is no specific mention of Human Rights though the bill of rights contains certain matters which relate to human rights. The American Declaration of Independence, 1776 has clearly declared that all human beings are equal.

 At the end of the 18th century and in the beginning of 19th-century certain laws,  eliminating the institution of slavery were passed.  The League and Nations has put a ban on slavery in 1926.The Red Cross was established in 1863 for the protection of human rights

MAGNA CARTA

Another cornerstone in Human Rights History is represented by the promulgation of the Magna Charta in 1215 which introduced a raw concept of “Rule of Law” and the basic idea of defined rights and liberties to all persons, which offers protection from arbitrary prosecution and incarceration. Before the Magna Charta, the rule of law,  now considered as a key principle for good governance in any modern democratic society,  was perceived as a divine justice, solely distributed by the monarch or the king or, in this case, King John of England.

The Magna Carta is seen as one of the most influential legal documents in British history. Indeed Lord Denning (1899 -1999) a distinguished British judge and second only to the Lord Chief Justice as Master of the Rolls, called the document “the greatest constitutional document of all time – the foundation of the freedom of the individual against the arbitrary authority of the despot”. However, its original conception was not nearly as successful.

The Magna Carta, also know as Magna Carta Libertatum (the Great Charter of Freedoms), was so called because the original version was drafted in Latin. It was introduced by some of the most notable barons of the thirteenth century in an act of rebellion against their king, King John I (24 December 1199 – 19 October 1216).

Increased taxes, the king’s excommunication by Pope Innocent III in 1209 and his unsuccessful and costly attempts to regain his empire in Northern France had made John hugely unpopular with his subjects. Whilst John was able to repair his relationship with the Pope in 1213, his failed attempt to defeat Phillip II of France in 1214 and his unpopular fiscal strategies led to a barons’ rebellion in 1215.

This significant moment, the first time a ruling monarch had been forcibly persuaded to renounce a great deal of his authority, took place at Runnymede, a meadow on the banks of the River Thames near Windsor on 15th June. For their part, the barons renewed their oaths of allegiance to the king on 19th June 1215. The formal document which was drafted by the Royal Chancery as a record of this agreement on 15th July was to become known retrospectively as the first version of the Magna Carta.

 

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, adopted in 1789, by France’s National Assembly , represents one of the basic charters of human liberties, containing the principles that inspired the French Revolution.

The basic value introduced by the Declaration was that all “men are born and remain free and equal in rights”, which were specified as the rights of liberty, private property, the inviolability of the person, and resistance to oppression. All citizens were equal before the law and were to have the right to participate in legislation directly or indirectly; no one was to be arrested without a judicial order. Freedom of religion and freedom of speech were safeguarded within the bounds of public “order” and “law”. Private property was given the status of an inviolable right, which could be taken by the state only if an indemnity were given and offices and positions were opened to all citizens.

It is in this historical period that the concept, mostly based on political concerns, of Civil and Political Rights was defined. These rights, also known as first generation rights, recognise the existence of certain things that the all-powerful rulers should not be able to do and that people should have some influence over the policies affecting them. The two central ideas were those of personal liberty, and of protecting the individuals against violations by the State. They serve negatively to protect the individual from excesses of the State.

The steps forward made since the time of Cyrus were impressive, yet still many of these concepts, when originally translated into policies, excluded women, people of color, and members of certain social, religious, economic, and political groups.

Petition of Right (1628)

 

The next recorded milestone in the development of human rights was the Petition of Right, produced in 1628 by the English Parliament and sent to Charles I as a statement of civil liberties. Refusal by Parliament to finance the king’s unpopular foreign policy had caused his government to exact forced loans and to quarter troops in subjects’ houses as an economy measure. Arbitrary arrest and imprisonment for opposing these policies had produced in Parliament a violent hostility to Charles and to George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham.

The Petition of Right, initiated by Sir Edward Coke, 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.

United States Declaration of Independence (1776)

On July 4, 1776, the United States Congress approved the Declaration of Independence. Its primary author, Thomas Jefferson, wrote the Declaration as a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain, more than a year after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and as a statement announcing that the thirteen American Colonies were no longer a part of the British Empire. Congress issued the Declaration of Independence in several forms. It was initially published as a printed broadsheet that was widely distributed and read to the public.

Philosophically, the Declaration stressed two themes: individual rights and the right of revolution. These ideas became widely held by Americans and spread internationally as well, influencing in particular the French Revolution.

 

 

The Constitution of the United States of America (1787) and Bill of Rights (1791)

Written during the summer of 1787 in Philadelphia, the 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 and defines the principal organs of government and their jurisdictions and the basic rights of citizens.

The first ten amendments to the Constitution—the Bill of Rights—came into effect on December 15, 1791, limiting the powers of the federal government of the United States and protecting the rights of all citizens, residents and visitors in American territory.

The Bill of Rights protects freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to keep and bear arms, the freedom of assembly and the freedom to petition. It also prohibits unreasonable search and seizure, cruel and unusual punishment and compelled self-incrimination. Among the legal protections it affords, the Bill of Rights prohibits Congress from making any law respecting establishment of religion and prohibits the federal government from depriving any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law. In federal criminal cases it requires indictment by a grand jury for any capital offense, or infamous crime, guarantees a speedy public trial with an impartial jury in the district in which the crime occurred, and prohibits double jeopardy.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789)

In 1789 the people of France brought about the abolishment of the absolute monarchy and set the stage for the establishment of the first French Republic. Just six weeks after the storming of the Bastille, and barely three weeks after the abolition of feudalism, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (French: La Déclaration des Droits de l’Homme et du Citoyen) was adopted by the National Constituent Assembly as the first step toward writing a constitution for the Republic of France.

The Declaration proclaims that all citizens are to be guaranteed the rights of “liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.” It argues that the need for law derives from the fact that “...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.” Thus, the Declaration sees law as an “expression of the general will,“ intended to promote this equality of rights and to forbid “only actions harmful to the society.”

After the First War
After the First World War was over, some attempts were made to promote and universalizes Human Rights. The Treaty of Versailles was entered into but it did not have any impact.  This Treaty was entered into because it was felt that the rights of individuals must be protected against violation by one's own country. A private organization, Institute of International Law, took steps to formulate the provisions of Human Rights.

After Second World War

During the Second World War the world had seen the horror of War and unleashing of nuclear weapons made future wars seem much more dangerous and dreadful. Development to become an important Agenda of the post Second World War International community.

 At the San Francisco conference held on 25th  26th June 1945, the charter of the United Nations was finalized.  In this charter, there were incorporated numerous provision relating to the protection and promotion of Human Rights.

The Universal Declaration of Human rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10th December 1948. This paved the way for the preparation of other documents on human rights like International Covenant on civil and political rights,1966, and the International Covenant on economic social and cultural rights 1966.

THREE GENERATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Karel Vasak, a distinguished and very well-known human rights scholar, introduced the idea of three generations of human rights, which allows us to understand the types and evolution of human rights better.

The so-called “Three Generations Theory of Human Rights”—known for dividing human rights into three separate generations based on

(1) civil and political rights;

(2) economic, social and cultural rights; and

(3) collective or solidarity rights—turns 40 this month.

The first generation rights i.e., civil and political rights are the initial form of natural rights. These rights developed during the English Revolution of the 17th century and the French and American Revolution of the 18th century. The key theme underlying these rights is liberty. The first generation rights include the right to life, the right to liberty, and the right to property and have expanded to include non-discrimination, freedom from arbitrary arrest, freedom of thought, freedom of religion, freedom of movement etc. These rights are often seen as a manifestation of negative rights since they can be enjoyed only when there is a restriction upon others. The key documents to understand the content of the first generation of human rights are Article 3 to Article 21 of the UN Declaration and the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights of 1966 which came into force in 1976.

In the twentieth century, especially post World War II, second-generation rights began to earn a greater prominence. The economy of countries was torn by war and there was massive destruction as a result of the world wars. Therefore, the effort for economic, social and cultural rights developed during the twentieth century. The rights rely on socialist assumptions and the underlying theme is equality which is in contrast to first-generation rights and the notion of liberty. The second-generation rights include the right to work, the right to health care, the right to education, the right to social security etc. Therefore, these rights are seen as a manifestation of positive rights as they place a claim on the state and a duty to oblige for action, for example, welfare provisions. The key documents to understand the content of second-generation rights are Article 22 to Article 27 of the UN Declaration and the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966.

The third generation of rights emerged post-1945 and are referred to as solidarity rights. This is for the simple reason that these rights are concerned with social groups and society on the whole rather than an individual. They are therefore seen as collective rights. The underlying theme of the third-generation rights is fraternity. Usually, these rights are shaped by the difficulties faced by the countries of the Global South. These rights include the right to development, the right to environmental protection, the right to self-determination, the right to peace etc. The Stockholm Convention of Human Environment of 1972 and the Earth Summit of 1992 at Rio can be analysed to understand these rights.