Human rights are a philosophical and political concept which, taken as a juridical basis by modern constitutions, describes the inalienable rights that every person possesses. CRO Cyber Rights Organization’s mission to create a world where digital rights are respected and protected according to the principles of the European Declaration on Digital Rights.

1. A Comprehensive Guide To Human
Rights And The Global Effort To Uphold
Them
Learn about the fundamental human rights that every person is entitled
to and their importance in this comprehensive guide.

2. What are human rights?
Human rights are a philosophical and political concept which, taken
as a juridical basis by modern constitutions, describes the inalienable
rights that every human being possesses.
CRO Cyber Rights Organization's mission to create a world where
digital rights are respected and protected according to the principles of
the European Declaration on Digital Rights.
Fundamental human rights include rights to:
● Life;
● Individual freedom;
● Self-determination;
● Fair trial;
● Dignified existence;
● Religious freedom;
● Vote.
Recently, the right to the protection of personal data has been added.
The text that safeguards human rights is the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights (UDHR):
“The UDHR is widely recognized as having inspired, and paved the way
for the adoption of more than seventy human rights treaties, applied
today on a permanent basis at global and regional levels”.
It is a milestone on human rights, adopted by the United Nations
General Assembly at its third session on the 10th of December 1948 in
Paris.

3. Today the UN has 192 member states: all of them have signed on in
agreement with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Specifically speaking, human rights intrinsically belong to every
individual on earth, regardless of nationality, sex, ethnic origin, color,
religion, language or any other status.
The importance therefore of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
is precisely that of continuing to be the foundation of all international
human rights law.
Its 30 articles provide the principles and building blocks of current and
future human rights conventions, treaties and other legal instruments.
Digital human rights
Another significant step in the area of human rights was taken in 2022
by the European Union with the Declaration of Digital Rights and
Principles.

4. In the preamble to the Declaration you can read the purpose of this
important document:
“We aim to promote a European way for the digital transition, putting
people at the centre. It shall be based on European values and
benefiting all individuals and businesses”.
The draft Digital Rights and Principles Declaration aims to give
everyone a clear reference on how Europe promotes and defends
digital transformation.
Indeed, it outlines key rights and principles for the digital
transformation, including putting people and their rights first, promoting
solidarity and inclusion, ensuring freedom of choice online.
Finally, it is still important to talk about Human Rights and raise
awareness because in the world, they are not yet respected in many
contexts.
Historical evolution of human rights
It is difficult to identify precisely the historical moment when the concept
of human rights emerged.
Nevertheless, here are some important moments that have marked the
history of human rights:
● Congress of Vienna of 1815 where it was promote the abolition of
the slave trade;
● Brussels Convention in 1890, when this purpose was finally
achieved;
● The adoption, in 1948, by the United Nations of the UDHR;

5. ● International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights, both of which came into force in 1976;
● European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles for the
Digital Decade adopted in January 2022.
However, it can be assumed that during the modern Era, the idea began
to make space under the concept of “Natural Rights”.
Philosophers such as John Locke, Thomas Hobbes and Hugo Grotius
identified natural rights in the sense that they were fundamental to the
human being and at the core of their inherent nature.
In that sense, they marked deeply the future conceptualization of human
rights.
The universal declaration of human rights
“Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and
inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation
of freedom, justice and peace in the world.”
This is the beginning of the Preamble to the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights.

6. It is an historic document that outlines the rights and freedoms to which
every human being is entitled.
It was the first international agreement on the fundamental
principles of human rights: it laid the groundwork for the Human
Rights we enjoy as citizens worldwide, which are protected and enforced
by the United Nations.
The first five articles of the UDHR are a pillar in the history of human
rights:
● 1 Article: all human beings are born free and equal and should
be treated the same way;
● 2 Article: everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set
forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as
race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion,
national or social origin, property, birth or other status;
● 3 Article: everyone has the right to life, liberty and the security of
person;

7. ● 4 Article: no one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and
the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms;
● 5 Article: no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman
or degrading treatment or punishment.
The dramatic events of World War II demonstrated that human rights
were not always universally respected.
For this reason, soon after the conflict, governments around the world
made a concerted effort to encourage international peace and prevent
conflicts.
The role of governments in upholding human rights
Considering the state of rights in the world today, we realize that much
still needs to be done to ensure that human rights are guaranteed.
Let’s look at those following data by the collective DoSomething.org:
● 40 million children below the age of 15 suffer from abuse and
neglect;
● There are approximately 246 million child laborers worldwide
proving childhood is in danger;
● Approximately 27 million people are currently enslaved in the
human trafficking trade around the world.

8. Indeed, the primary focus for the promotion and protection of human
rights is at the national level.
And it is therefore the primary responsibility of States to ensure that
human rights are promoted, protected and fulfilled.
That is why the governance of states must be deeply linked to the
promotion and protection of human rights.
According to the OHCHR:
“Good governance and human rights are mutually reinforcing. Human
rights standards and principles provide a set of values to guide the work
of governments and other political and social actors.
They also provide a set of performance standards against which these
actors can be held accountable. Moreover, human rights principles
inform the content of good governance efforts: they may inform the
development of legislative frameworks, policies, programmes, budgetary
allocations and other measures”.

9. And that is why, on the other hand, without optimal governance, human
rights cannot be respected and supported.
Governments also have the task of protecting the identity and
freedoms of citizens on the internet era.
In these terms, the need to implement online protection against
explicit and implicit forms of digital violence against people relied on
the role of legislators.
The responsibility of individuals and communities in
defending human rights
Since human rights are inalienable in all their assumptions, even the
individual is subject to respect for the human being in the forms and
meanings found in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
For instance, every state is responsible for protecting its people from
genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.
Such responsibility shall involve the prevention of any kind of crimes,
including cyber crimes like sextortion.
As for the State, the citizen also has the right and the duty to align
himself with this way of understanding the rights of persons and
virtuously promoting respect for Human Rights.
Each individual citizen is entitled to contribute actively, freely and with
meaningful participation, to the enjoyment of civil, political, economic,
social and cultural development, through which human rights and
fundamental freedoms can be realized.

10. In this context and with the same vision of ethics purposes, the CRO
Cyber Rights Organization wants human rights to be respected in the
digital world.
Different forms of human rights activism
Human rights activism takes many forms.
To this respect, any action that demands change and accountability
counts as Human Rights Activism.
Here are some of the most important examples.
Petition and letter writing
Amnesty International, for example, runs Write For Rights, a
letter-writing campaign that has been running for two decades.
Every December, people write letters, emails, postcards, tweets and
Facebook posts in support of human rights defenders, prisoners
and others.
Strikes and boycotts
Throughout history, boycotts and strikes have been the most effective
and solid forms of human rights activism.
Very often, the two go in tandem.
Consider that not necessarily the strike is addressed in the corporate
context, but also to bring out fundamental issues for society.

11. Think about the movement for the right to vote for women and, today,
strikes to raise political and societal awareness of the challenge of
climate change.
Protests and marches
Associations, activists for the rights of people, NGOs, people united by
an ideal, gather at a place to raise public awareness.
Think that the right to gather and freely manifest one’s own thought it's
included in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.
Articles 19 and 20 protect the right to assemble in public and to
express, promote and defend beliefs.
The growing impact of human rights across the
globe
By reading Eleanor Roosevelt's prescient speech, it may be easier to
fully understand the value and application of human rights and, today,
digital rights:
“Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close
to home – so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps
of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the
neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory,
farm, or office where he works.”
The Declaration has been the catalyst for other important treaties
against discrimination on the basis of race, sex and disability, as shown
by those example of the Auckland University:
● 198 countries allow women to vote, up from 91 in 1948;

12. ● 57% of countries have a human rights institution;
● 111 countries have passed laws to protect freedom of the press.
Moreover, as the UN recalls, human rights need to be at the center of
government agendas to continue impacting the lives of the world’s
population.
In addition, the increasing interpenetration between real life and the
online life calls for a thorough assessment of the protection of digital
human rights.
How do human rights impact our lives?
Human rights are basic rights that belong to all of us simply because
we are human.
Nowadays, it also includes anything that happens online.
As explained above, they are the embodiment of key values in our
society, such as fairness, dignity, equality and respect.

13. For all of us, especially those who may be at risk of abuse, neglect and
isolation, they are an important means of protection.
It means that digital rights are human rights and it is fundamental to
protect people from threats like catfishing.
Most of all, these rights give us power and enable us to raise our voices
and contest mistreatment by authorities.
The way in which our lives are impacted is expressed above all in the
constitutions of the states adhering to the Universal Declaration that over
the decades have structured laws, programs of support, policies inspired
by the UDHR.
Indeed, every human being needs access to health care, food and
water, clothing, and shelter.
Through the inclusion of these as part of a person's basic human
rights, every person has a basic level of dignity.
When people experience abuse and corruption, the concept of human
rights allows them to speak out.
Human rights empower people, telling them they deserve dignity from
society, whether it's the government or their workplace.
Human Rights impact our lives from the point of view of the dignity of
work; the right to health and education; gender equality; the right to
express our opinion without encountering any kind of harassment; as
well as the right to live in a protected and unpolluted environment
because of the profit of a few.

14. Ultimately, there are many perspectives that allow citizens' lives to
benefit from the Universal Declaration.
Conclusions
Human rights are the basic rights that form the essential part of
people's development as human beings.
You can draw the following conclusions reading our guide:
● Human rights are a philosophical and political concept which,
taken as a juridical basis by modern constitutions, describes the
inalienable rights that every human being possesses;
● All the 192 member states have signed on in agreement with the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
● The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, signed on 10
December 1948, is an historic document that outlines the rights
and freedoms to which every human being is entitled;
● The most important obligation for citizens is not to do anything that
violates the freedoms enshrined in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights;
● The draft Digital Rights and Principles Declaration aims to give
everyone a clear reference on how Europe promotes and defends
digital transformation;
● Human Rights impact our lives from the point of view of the
dignity of work, the right to health and education, gender
equality, the right to express our opinion without encountering any
kind of harassment.

15. The CRO Cyber Rights Organization is fighting every day to ensure
that human rights are respected everywhere.
We believe that every person on earth must see their freedoms
protected.
We provide legal and technical assistance to all survivors who have
experienced violations of their rights online.