Human Rights

1. HUMAN RIGHTS
Medical humanities II
2012-2013
Prof. Marija Definis-Gojanović, MD, Ph.D.

2. Human rights
Human rights are commonly understood as
"fundamental rights to which a person is
inherently entitled simply because she or he
is a human being."
universal (applicable everywhere) and
egalitarian (the same for everyone).
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 modern concept of human rights
developed during the early Modern
period.alongside the

3. The modern sense of
human rights can be traced to
Renaissance Europe and the
Protestant Reformation.
Magna Carta (1215)
required King John of England to proclaim
certain liberties and accept that his will was
not arbitrary
Statute of Kalisz (1264)
gave privileges to the Jewish minority in the
Kingdom of Poland such as protection from
discrimination and hate speech
History of concept

4. The basis of most modern legal
interpretations of human rights: recent
European history
The Twelve Articles (1525)
considered to be the first record of human
rights in Europe
Two revolutions during the 18th century, in the
United States (1776) and in France (1789)
adoption of the United States Declaration
of Independence and the French
Declaration of the Rights of Man and
of the Citizen respectively, both of which
established certain legal rights
History of concept

5. 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
In the United States, all the northern states
had abolished the institution of slavery
between 1777 and 1804
History of concept

6. 20th century:
labor unions
women’s right movement
national liberation movements
movement
History of concept

7. 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
The League of Nations, 1919, -
negotiations over the Treaty of
Versailles following the end of World
War I.
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.
History of concept

8. 1. Civil and political rights –
Universal Declaration of Human rights
(UDHR, art. 3-21)
International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR)
/1st generation/
2. Economic, social and cultural rights
Universal Declaration of Human rights
(UDHR, art. 22-28)
International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural rights (ICESCR)
/2nd generation/
3. Right to piece, clean environment...
/3rd generation/
Classification

9. Economic, social and cultural rights are argued to be:
• positive, meaning that they require active provision
• resource-intensive, meaning that they are expensive
and difficult to provide
• progressive, meaning that they will take significant
time to implement
• vague, meaning they cannot be quantitatively
measured
• ideologically divisive/political, meaning that there is no
consensus on what should and shouldn't be provided as
a right
• socialist
• non-justifiable, meaning that their provision, or the
breach of them, cannot be judged in a court of law
• aspirations or goals, as opposed to real 'legal' rights

10. 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".
International protection

11. The rights espoused in the UN charter
International Bill of Human Rights
Universal
Declaration of
Human Rights
International
Covenant on
Civil and Political
Rights
International
Covenant on
Economic, Social
and Cultural
Rights

12. Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948
- was a non-binding resolution; now considered by some to
have acquired the force of international customary law which
may be invoked in appropriate circumstances by national and
other judiciaries
"It is not a treaty...[In the future, it] may well
become the international Magna Carta.“
Eleanor Roosevelt with the Spanish text of
the UDHR in 1949.
International protection

13. Articles 1 and 2 are the foundation
blocks: their principles of dignity,
liberty, equality and brotherhood.
Articles 3–11: rights of the
individual, such as the right to life
and the prohibition of slavery.
Articles 12–17: rights of the
individual in civil and political
society.
Articles 18–21: spiritual, public and
political freedoms such as freedom
of religion and freedom of
association.
Articles 22–27: social, economic
and cultural rights.

14. Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Guinness Book of Records
describes the UDHR as the
"Most Translated Document" in
the world
It is a fundamental constitutive
document of the United
Nations
Commemoration:
International Human Rights
Day
Significance and legal effect
10 December

15. International treaties
- generally known as human rights instruments
- some of the most significant (with ICCPR and ICESCR) are:
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women
United Nations Convention Against Torture
Convention on the Rights of the Child
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All
Migrant Workers and Members of their Families

16. may protect some human rights, such as the prohibition of
torture, genocide and slavery and the principle of non-
discrimination
Customary international law

17. The Geneva Conventions came into being between 1864 and
1949 as a result of efforts by Henry Dunant, the founder of the
International Committee of the Red Cross.
International humanitarian law

18. The Geneva Conventions comprise four treaties, and three
additional protocols, that 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.
International humanitarian law

19. Two Protocols were adopted in 1977 that extended the terms of
the 1949 Conventions with additional protections.
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.
International humanitarian law

20. Nations who are party to these treaties must enact and enforce
legislation penalizing any of these crimes, are obligated to
search for persons alleged to commit these crimes, or ordered
them to be committed, and to bring them to trial.
The principle of universal jurisdiction also applies to the
enforcement of grave breaches when the UN Security Council
asserts its authority and jurisdiction from the UN Charter to
apply universal jurisdiction. The UNSC did this via the
International Criminal Court.
International humanitarian law

21. Summary of main points about Geneva Conventions
The First Protocol The Second Protocol
extends the
Conventions,
taking into
consideration
modern means of
warfare and
transport and
aiming to give
further protection
to civilians
The Forth Protocol
provides a code of
minimum
protection for the
combatants and
the civilian
population during
civil wars. They
embody the main
idea which led to
the founding of the
Red Cross
covers members of
the armed forces
who fall into
enemy hands.
They are in the
power of the
enemy State, not
of the individuals
or troops who
have captured
them
covers all individuals "who do not belong to the
armed forces, take no part in the hostilities
and find themselves in the hands of the
Enemy or an Occupying Power"
The Third Protocol

22. Under the mandate of the UN charter, the United Nations (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

23. Regional and national human rights regimes
Regional human rights regimes
Non-governmental Organizations
Human rights defenders
National preventive mechanism