Classification of

Human Rights
BS (Economics)-5th Semester
Lecture (2)
Qurra-tul-Ain
Classification of Human
Rights:
Human rights can be classified in a number of
different ways. Some rights may fall into more
than one of the available categories. All
human rights carry corresponding obligations
that must be translated into concrete duties to
guarantee these rights. The research of
Human rights, their genesis, social roots
has always been
and remains an important subject during
the mankind's historical development and
continues to be the political, legal, or
philosophical subject of the research.
Human rights are being formed and
developed with the development of
mankind.
First, Second and Third
Generation Rights:
The division of human rights into three
generations was first proposed by Karel Vasak
at the International Institute of Human Rights
in Strasbourg.

[Link] generation rights are related to liberty

and refer fundamentally to civil and political
rights.
II. The second generation rights are related
to equality, including economic, social and
cultural rights.
III. Third generation rights cover group and
collective rights, which include, the right to
development, the right to peace and the right
to a clean environment.
 Individual and Collective Rights:
Although the fundamental purpose of human
rights is the protection and development of the
individual (individual rights), some of these
rights are exercised by people in groups
(collective rights). Freedom of association and
assembly, freedom of religion and the freedom
to form or join a trade union, fall into this
category. The collective element is even more
evident when human rights are linked
specifically to membership of a certain group,
such as the right of members of ethnic and
cultural minorities to preserve their own
language and culture. One must make a
distinction between two types of rights, which
are usually called collective rights: individual
rights enjoyed in association with others and
the rights of a collective.
The most notable example of a collective
human right is the right to self-determination,
which is regarded as being vested in peoples
rather than in individuals. The recognition of
the right to self-determination as a human
right is grounded in the fact that it is seen as a
necessary precondition for the development of
the individual. It is generally accepted that
collective rights may not infringe on
universally accepted individual rights, such as
the right to life and freedom from torture.
 Ethnic Minority Rights:
Human Rights are universal, civil, political,
economic, social and cultural rights belong to
all human beings, including members of ethnic
minority groups. Members of ethnic minorities
are entitled to the realization of all human
rights and fundamental freedoms on equal
terms with others in society, without
discrimination of any kind. Ethnic minorities
both the individuals belonging to ethnic
minorities and ethnic minorities as groups also
enjoy certain human rights specifically linked
to their ethnic status, including their right to
maintain and enjoy their culture, religion, and
language free from discrimination.
The human rights of ethnic minorities are
explicitly set out in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, the International Covenants,
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the
Rights of the Child, the Declaration on the
Rights of Persons Belonging to National or
Ethnic, Religious or Linguistic Minorities and
other widely adhered to international human
rights treaties and Declarations. They include
the following indivisible, interdependent and
interrelated human rights:
The human right of members of ethnic
minorities to freedom from any distinction,
exclusion, restriction or preference based on
race, color, national or ethnic origin, language,
religion, birth, or any other status,
enjoyment of human rights and
fundamental freedoms.
1. The right of members of ethnic
minorities to freedom from discrimination
in all areas and levels of education,
employment, access to health care,
housing, and social services.
2. The right of each member of an ethnic
minority to equal recognition as a person
before the law, to equality before the courts,
and to equal protection of the law.
3. The right of all members of ethnic
minorities to participate effectively in
cultural, religious, social, economic and
public life.
4. The right of ethnic minorities to exist.
5. The right of ethnic minorities to freedom
from genocide and Ethnic cleansing.
6. The right of ethnic minorities to enjoy and
develop their own culture and language.
7. The right of ethnic minorities to establish and
maintain their own schools and other training
and educational institutions, and to teach and
receive training in their own languages.
8. The right of members of ethnic minorities to
participate in shaping decisions and policies
concerning their group and community, at the
local, national and international levels.

9. The right of ethnic minorities to autonomy

in matters internal to the group, including in
the fields of culture and religion.
 Rights of Self Determination
and Justification:
The right to self-determination is the right of a
group to determine political action concerning
the group and its members. In this case, the
right to national self-determination is the right
of nations to have the institutions to make the
political decisions that are of primary concern
to the nation.
In general terms, the right to self-
determination can be understood as the right
of peoples to freely determine their political
status and to pursue their economic, social
and cultural development.
The rights of justification: justice is
grounded in the principle of justification and is
the first and overriding virtue in moral,
political and social contexts.
the right to justification is a qualified veto
right that takes on a substantive form in a
given context of justice and needs to be
institutionalized. It forms the basis of human
rights as well as of any justifications of social
basic structures. The right to justification
implies that persons or institutions that
restrict our freedom are obliged to explain
their reasons for doing so. Restrictions on our
freedom are not unjust on principle; they do
require, however, an explicit justification for
why they should be considered necessary.
Every person or institution that restricts our
freedom owes us a justification and we have
the right to demand it.
 Fundamental and Basic Rights:
Fundamental rights are taken to mean such
rights as the right to life and the inviolability
of the person. a broad definition of human
rights may lead to the notion of ‘violation of
human rights’ losing some of its significance
has generated a need to distinguish a
separate group within the broad category of
human rights. Increasingly, the terms
‘elementary’, ‘essential’, ‘core’ and
‘fundamental’ human rights are being used.
Another approach is to distinguish a number of
‘basic rights’, which should be given absolute
priority in national and international policy.
These include all the rights which concern
people’s primary material and non-material
needs. If these are not provided, no human
being can lead a dignified existence. Basic
rights include the right to life, the right to a
minimum level of security, the inviolability of
the person, freedom from slavery and
servitude and freedom from torture, unlawful
deprivation of liberty, discrimination and
other acts which impinge on human dignity.
They also include freedom of thought,
conscience and religion, as well as the right
to suitable nutrition, clothing, shelter and
medical care and other essentials crucial
to physical and mental health.