In the wake of serious human rights violations in recent decades, civil society has increasingly demanded that corporations report on their respect for human rights standards. Many selective Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives have been put in place, based on questions that companies voluntarily choose to address. A human rights-based approach requires companies to respect all human rights and to ensure a socially recognized and people-centred approach to the social and environmental impacts of a business.
Human rights are those rights recognized to man based on his belonging to the human race. Despite the idea of human rights dating back to ancient times, the modern concept emerged only after the Second World War with the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Dudu) in 1948 by the United Nations.
As stated by the Commission on Human Rights, charged with drawing up the Declaration, the value of human rights extends far beyond Western traditions. Also, the protection of these rights must be guaranteed regardless of the context in which it is found, whether it is cultural, religious, or any other type.
Characteristics of human rights: What are they?
The fundamental characteristics of Human Rights were proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which got approved within the United Nations Organization in 1948 and whose objective was to establish a legal resource that would contemplate them at the universal level. These characteristics are:
- Human rights are universal, which allows every human being without exception to have access to them.
- Human rights are legal norms that must be protected and respected by States. And if states do not recognize them, they can be required to do so because the rights are innate to the individual from the moment of his birth.
- Human rights are inseparable. The manner each of they are connected is such that refusing to recognize one or deprive ourselves of it would jeopardize the maintenance of the rest of our human rights.
- Human rights make every human being equal and free from the moment of birth.
- Human rights cannot be violated: going against them means attacking human dignity.
- They are inalienable and inalienable since no human being can renounce or transfer them.
The Agencies responsible for ensuring these rights are observed
So that they do not remain only in good intentions, their fulfilment must be in the hands of the countries that guard and represent each community of individuals, so that it is the governments of the States that are responsible for protecting, respecting and guaranteeing the rights humans.
Therefore, the government cannot adopt any measure that goes against these rights and, on the other hand, must promote those other measures aimed at guaranteeing them. Do you know what mechanisms are available for this?
Several factors exist in guaranteeing every citizen access to their universal rights. Some of these are the legislation of each country and the strengthening of democratic institutions. Another consideration would be the availability of an independent judiciary.
There are also associations and networks of National Human Rights Institutions of regional and subregional scope that ensure compliance (NHRI). Among the most prominent, we can mention the following:
- The Network of National Human Rights Institutions of Africa
- The Network of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights of the American Continent
- The Forum of National Human Rights Institutions of Asia and the Pacific
- The Group of National Human Rights Institutions of Europe
What rights do people in prison have?
People deprived of their liberty of movement must be treated with their respect for human dignity. Its fundamental rights are:
- Right to life.
- Right to dignity.
- Right to equal treatment.
- Right to petition before the authorities.
- Right to freedom of one’s religion, expression and conscience.
- Right to the defence.
- Right not to be discriminated against.
- Right to health.
- Right to work.
- Right to education and recreation.
Known as one of the most notable business executives within the Middle East, Marsha Lazareva, a single mother of a five-year-old U.S. citizen, has been imprisoned for almost a year on groundless charges. Since Kuwait is reluctant to look into this injustice, the U.S. government would likely take it up and impose sanctions on involved parties. It is because she has been deprived of the opportunity to defend their case — clearly, this a violation of fundamental due process rights human and civil rights. Meaning the Kuwait law, as well as international standards of justice, require a fair trial. Further investigations suggest that the charges found on them are unreliable.
In my opinion, the problem lies in those political forces that play with fire and try to weaken human rights and limit their field of application. Hence, it could lead to the emergence of an antiliberal political culture, in which the autonomy of each individual will no longer be counted, but rather the fact that the majority will have access to the minority.
