What are Human Rights? (WJEC Eduqas GCSE Religious Studies): Revision Note

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• Human rights are the universal moral rights that apply to all people at all times and in all places

• These rights are meant to ensure that everyone is treated fairly, with dignity and respect, no matter their race, religion, gender, nationality or any other status

• In 1948, the United Nations (UN) adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)

  • The UDHR outlines a set of fundamental human rights that should be protected for all people

  • The declaration includes 30 articles that cover rights such as the right to life, liberty, education and work

  • The UK signed this declaration; therefore, UK law should always protect these rights

• The UDHR opens with a statement that the rights set out apply to all humans equally

The responsibilities that come with human rights

• Having your human rights upheld comes with the accompanying responsibility of upholding and respecting the rights of others

• For example:

  • The right: Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion (Article 18) 

    • The responsibility: Everyone needs to respect all religious beliefs and treat all religions fairly

  • The right: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression (Article 19)

    • The responsibility: Everyone needs to ensure that what they express does not deliberately offend others or cause violence or hatred

• Some people’s human rights may be limited

  • For example, people serving prison sentences have lost their rights to liberty and freedom of movement

• When human rights are violated, international organisations and other countries may put pressure on governments to protect people’s rights

  • Human rights organisations, such as Amnesty International, monitor cases in which human rights are denied, and they campaign for justice and fair treatment

What is social justice?

• Social justice is the process of promoting a fair society by challenging injustice and valuing diversity 

• To achieve social justice, everyone must have equal access to provisions, equal opportunities and rights

  • The former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon, outlined the need for social justice for everyone

• The United Nations describes social justice as an “underlying principle” for peaceful coexistence

• Those who do have rights must recognise that with rights come responsibilities

  • This means recognising that injustices exist and acting to correct them so that they do not increase and get worse

• Both individuals and groups must work for social justice

  • Governments and agencies may work together to help developing countries, reduce the rich/poor divide and improve the environment for everyone

  • Religious believers are often involved in this work for social justice because of their belief in the dignity of human life 

Campaigns for human rights

• There are many examples of individuals and organisations that have campaigned for human rights and social justice because of their personal convictions

Malala Yousafzai

• Human rights campaigner Malala Yousafzai has a personal conviction in the importance of education for girls

• In Pakistan, where she lived, the Taliban had banned girls from attending school

• Malala realised that this rule went against the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, since Article 26 says that everyone has the right to education

• Malala started to blog and speak out publicly to campaign for education for girls

• In 2012, the Taliban shot Malala while she was boarding her school bus

• She survived the attack and recovered in England, where she continued her education

• Malala continues to campaign for the importance of education today and, in 2014, won the Nobel Peace Prize for her work

Attribution:
Malala Yousafzai, producer, at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in Toronto, Canada, is licenced under CC BY-SA 4.0

Original source:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Malala_Yousafzai_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival_5.jpg (opens in a new tab)

Amnesty International

• Amnesty International is a human rights organisation that works worldwide

  • To protect and uphold basic human rights

  • To campaign on behalf of people whose human rights have been violated

• Amnesty International uses a range of nonviolent actions to highlight and campaign against human rights violations. These include:

  • Writing letters to governments to highlight injustice

  • Conducting protest marches

  • Executing media campaigns to raise awareness of human rights abuses

  • Organising public events and school programmes to educate people about human rights abuses

• Peter Benenson, who had a personal conviction that everyone should be entitled to human rights, founded Amnesty International in 1960

  • Benenson read about two students who had been imprisoned for raising their glasses "to liberty”, and he started campaigning to free wrongfully imprisoned people

  • He designed the Amnesty International candle logo with the Chinese proverb, “Better light a candle than curse the darkness”, in mind

• Amnesty International has continued its work ever since

  • In 1977, the organisation won the Nobel Peace Prize to mark the worldwide impact of its work

Attribution:
Candle logo of Amnesty International, public domain

Original download from:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Amnesty_International_logo_candle.jpg (opens in a new tab)