Transcript HUMAN RIGHTS - Ohio Center for Law

HUMAN RIGHTS
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Inalienable moral entitlements. . .
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Attach to all persons equally. . .
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Specify the minimum conditions for human
dignity and a tolerable life. . .
Government and rights
“The American
Declaration of
Independence. . .is quite
clear that rights are not
secure without an actual
government to enforce
them.”

Jeremy A. Rabkin
WHAT HUMAN RIGHTS DO
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Define government power
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What government cannot do
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What government must do
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Challenge exercise of power
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Contribute to government’s legitimacy and
reputation
Human rights/civil rights
Human rights: human attributes
Civil rights: government-recognized
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Constitutions
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Statutes
How are human rights and civil rights linked?
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
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Catalogue of rights
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Normative and prescriptive
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Not legally binding
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Not necessarily consistent with
views/practices of nations
ACTIVITY I
Working in small groups, identify what you think
are the eight most important rights in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
why. If you cannot agree on eight, list the
candidates for inclusion and why you could not
agree on them.
Assumptions
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World is “human family”
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Rights are foundation of freedom, justice,
peace
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Everyone has duty to teach, educate,
promote human rights
Evaluating status of human rights
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Local
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State
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National
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International
Activity II
Reflecting first on your own, and using the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights as your guide,
evaluate the state of human rights in
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Your town or city
Your state
The United States
An area/nation of the world
Join in small groups. Compare your lists and discuss
points of agreement/disagreement and why.
NGO’s and human rights
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Long history
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Dramatic growth since UN created
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UN Declaration, Article 71, encourages
TODAY
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INGO (international)
BINGO (big/business)
RINGO (religious)
ENGO (environmental)
TANGO (technical assistance)
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WANGO: World Association of NGO’s!
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Human rights NGO’s
Duke University web site:
http://library.duke.edu/research/subject/guides/
ngo_guide/ngo_links/rights.html
Where. . . 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. . .
Such are the places where every man,
woman and child seeks equal justice,
equal opportunity, equal dignity
without discrimination. Unless these
rights have meaning there, they have
little meaning anywhere.
Eleanor Roosevelt