Name : Omar Essam Farouk Elsyed
Mohamed
ID : 222100642
Faculty : Dentistry
Subject of the assignment : type of human
rights
What Are Human Rights?
Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings,
regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language,
religion, or any other status. Human rights include the
right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and
torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to
work and education, and many more. Everyone is
entitled to these rights, without discrimination.
International Human Rights Law
International human rights law lays down the
obligations of Governments to act in certain ways or to
refrain from certain acts, in order to promote and
protect human rights and fundamental freedoms of
individuals or groups.
One of the great achievements of the United Nations is
the creation of a comprehensive body of human rights
law—a universal and internationally protected code to
which all nations can subscribe and all people aspire.
The United Nations has defined a broad range of
internationally accepted rights, including civil, cultural,
economic, political and social rights. It has also
established mechanisms to promote and protect these
rights and to assist states in carrying out their
responsibilities.
The foundations of this body of law are the Charter of
the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, adopted by the General Assembly in
1945 and 1948, respectively. Since then, the United
Nations has gradually expanded human rights law to
encompass specific standards for women, children,
persons with disabilities, minorities and other
vulnerable groups, who now possess rights that protect
them from discrimination that had long been common
in many societies.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a
milestone document in the history of human rights.
Drafted by representatives with different legal and
cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, the
Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations
General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 by
General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) as a common
standard of achievements for all peoples and all
nations. It sets out, for the first time, fundamental
human rights to be universally protected. Since its
adoption in 1948, the UDHR has been translated into
more than 500 languages - the most translated
document in the world - and has inspired the
constitutions of many newly independent States and
many new democracies. The UDHR, together with the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and
its two Optional Protocols (on the complaints procedure
and on the death penalty) and the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and
its Optional Protocol, form the so-called International
Bill of Human Rights.
Economic, social and cultural rights
The International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights entered into force in 1976. The
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is
the body of 18 independent experts that monitors
implementation of the Covenant by its States parties.
Its Optional Protocol entered into force in 2013. The
human rights that the Covenant seeks to promote and
protect include
the right to work in just and favourable conditions;
the right to social protection, to an adequate standard
of living and to the highest attainable standards of
physical and mental well-being;
the right to education and the enjoyment of benefits of
cultural freedom and scientific progress.
Civil and political rights
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
and its First Optional Protocol entered into force in 1976
and the Second Optional Protocol came into force in
1991. The Human Rights Committee monitors the
implementation of this multilateral treaty and its
Optional Protocols.
The Covenant deals with such rights as freedom of
movement; equality before the law; the right to a fair
trial and presumption of innocence; freedom of
thought, conscience and religion; freedom of opinion
and expression; peaceful assembly; freedom of
association; participation in public affairs and elections;
and protection of minority rights. It prohibits arbitrary
deprivation of life; torture, cruel or degrading treatment
or punishment; slavery and forced labour; arbitrary
arrest or detention; arbitrary interference with privacy;
war propaganda; discrimination; and advocacy of racial
or religious hatred.
Human Rights Conventions
A series of international human rights treaties and
other instruments adopted since 1945 have expanded
the body of international human rights law. They
include the Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948), the
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Racial Discrimination (1965), the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women (1979), the Convention on the Rights of the
Child (1989) and the Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities (2006), among others.
