WEEK 8 SS2 FIRST TERM
SUBJECT: Civic Education
TOPIC: Human rights
Human rights refers to those rights that people in every society are entitled to as human beings.
The concept of fundamental human rights was popularized by the 1948 United Nations
Declaration bof Human Rights (UDHR). The declaration is divided into articles and covers most
aspects of human life-economic, political, social, religious, etc. In Nigeria, fundamental human
rights are covered by chapter 4 of the 1999 Constitution. This idea of human rights upholds the
dignity of the human person and respect for the equal rights of all men, women and children.
Fundamental human rights as a principle makes provisions for freedom of expression,
assembly, association, life, movement, speech, ownership of private property among others
CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMAN RIGHTS
1. Human Rights is universal: The doctrine of universality of human rights postulate that human
rights belong to all human beings to every woman, man and child where ever they live in Earth.
No individuals, group country or religion in the world should be denied the enjoyment of human
rights.
2. Human Rights is inalienable: Human Rights of any person cannot be taken away. It remains
with every person. It can only be taken away upon an order of court or any condition under
chapter 4 of 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It refers to citizens rights that
are not giving by anyone and that cannot be taken away by anyone
3. Independent human rights: This refers to the rights of people which are dependent bor rely on
each other. This involves different branches of rights
4. Inherent human rights: Inherent human rights refers to the natural and permanent rights of a
citizen
5. Human Rights are enforceable against any person including the government
6. Every person has the right to have his or her case heard fairly. The breach of fair trial gives
the person the right to appeal or a judicial review of this case
7. Human right are protected by the court: The courts are the protectors of human rights, where
any person perceives that his or her rights is violated or about to be violated can seek for
redress in court
8. Human Rights provisions are binding on the government and person. The Constitution is
binding on the government is the custodian of human rights through the Constitution
LIMITATIONS TO HUMAN RIGHTS
There are several factors which may lead to the denial of a citizen's rights. These include
1. Being detained by law: A citizen's right can be limited or denied if he or she commits any
offence worthwhile of being detained by law. Such citizen will lose his or her fundamental rights
of freedom of movement
2. Wars: War situations can result to the denial of people's freedom of movement, personal
liberty, dignity of human person, freedom from future inhuman or degrading punishment, etc.
War situations have no respect for any kind of fundamental human rights
3. Ban on politicians: The rights of a citizen to vote and be voted for in any given election may be
limited if he or she is a banned politician because of his past record of either criminal or
violence offences
4. Curfew: Sometimes, either government or some group of people like militants, terrorists may
imposed curfew which restricts the right of movement
5. State of emergency: This is a situation where some part of the Constitution of a Nation is
suspended to restore peace and order
6. Death: People are denied through their rights to life when they are condemned to death as a
result of murder, armed robber, terrorism, etc
7. The police: Sometimes a citizen's rights maybe denied by the police, mostly the rights of
expression and movement whenever the police are carrying out investigation of cases of
different kinds because what such a citizen says at that point in time can be used against him
or her in the law court
8. Developmental purpose: A citizen's right to ownership of property, movement etc may be
infringed upon by government if the property considered to be located in a developmental area.
This happens when developmental projects like that of road construction, power line, ocean
lane are been constructed or restructured by government. Citizens lose most of their properties
to this act but sometimes they are compensated by government for relocation
9. Contagious or infectious disease: Sometimes, people living with diseases of various kinds
like HIV/AIDS, insanity, etc are either detained in hospitals or psychiatry homes for proper cure
and this act puts limitation to the citizen's freedom of movement, expression, association etc
