The document provides a history of the development of human rights from ancient times through the modern era. It details early influences and documents that promoted concepts of equality, dignity, and freedoms for individuals, such as Cyrus the Great's charter in 539 BC, the Magna Carta in 1215, the English Bill of Rights in 1628, the US Declaration of Independence in 1776, the US Constitution and Bill of Rights in 1787, the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in 1789, and the UN Charter and Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1945 and 1948 respectively. The document traces how the idea of human rights has evolved over thousands of years through numerous civilizations and political changes to become
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Human rights
2. Human: noun
A member of the Homo
sapiens species; a man,
woman or child; a person.
Rights: noun
Things to which you are entitled
or allowed; freedoms that are
guaranteed.
Human Rights: noun
The rights you have simply
because you are human.
Human rights are based on the
principle of respect for the
individual. Their fundamental
assumption is that each person is a
moral and rational being who
deserves to be treated with dignity.
They are called human rights
because they are universal. Whereas
nations or specialized groups enjoy
specific rights that apply only to
them, human rights are the rights to
which everyone is entitled—no
matter who they are or where they
live—simply because they are alive.
3. In ages past, there were no human rights.
Then the idea emerged that people should
have certain freedoms. And that idea, in
the wake of World War II, resulted finally
in the document called the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and the
thirty rights to which all people are
entitled.
5. In 539 B.C., the armies of Cyrus the Great, the
first king of ancient Persia, conquered the city
of Babylon.
He freed the slaves, declared that all people
had the right to choose their own religion,
and established racial equality. These and
other decrees were recorded on a baked-clay
cylinder in the Akkadian language with
cuneiform script.
Known today as the Cyrus Cylinder, this
ancient record has now been recognized as
the world’s first charter of human rights.
6. From Babylon, the idea of human rights
spread quickly to India, Greece and
eventually Rome. There the concept of
“natural law” arose, in observation of the
fact that people tended to follow certain
unwritten laws in the course of life, and
Roman law was based on rational ideas
derived from the nature of things.
7. The Magna Carta, or “Great Charter,” was arguably the most
significant early influence on the extensive historical process
that led to the rule of constitutional law today in the Englishspeaking world.
In 1215, after King John of England violated a number of
ancient laws and customs by which England had been
governed, his subjects forced him to sign the Magna
Carta, which enumerates what later came to be thought of as
human rights. Among them was the right of the church to be
free from governmental interference, the rights of all free
citizens to own and inherit property and to be protected from
excessive taxes. It established the right of widows who owned
property to choose not to remarry, and established principles
of due process and equality before the law. It also contained
provisions forbidding bribery and official misconduct.
The Magna Carta was a crucial turning point in the struggle
to establish freedom.
8. The next recorded milestone in the development of human
rights was the Petition of Right, produced in 1628 by the English
Parliament and sent to Charles I as a statement of civil liberties.
The Petition of Right, initiated by Sir Edward Coke, was based
upon earlier statutes and charters and asserted four principles:
(1) No taxes may be levied without consent of Parliament, (2) No
subject may be imprisoned without cause shown (reaffirmation
of the right of habeas corpus), (3) No soldiers may be quartered
upon the citizenry, and (4) Martial law may not be used in time
of peace.
9. On July 4, 1776, the United States Congress
approved the Declaration of Independence. Its
primary author, Thomas Jefferson, wrote the
Declaration as a formal explanation of why
Congress had voted on July 2 to declare
independence from Great Britain, more than a year
after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary
War, and as a statement announcing that the
thirteen American Colonies were no longer a part
of the British Empire. Congress issued the
Declaration of Independence in several forms.
Philosophically, the Declaration stressed two
themes: individual rights and the right of
revolution.
10. Written during the summer of 1787 in Philadelphia, the Constitution of the
United States of America is the fundamental law of the US federal system of
government and the landmark document of the Western world. It is the oldest
written national constitution in use.
The Bill of Rights protects freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to
keep and bear arms, the freedom of assembly and the freedom to petition. It
also prohibits unreasonable search and seizure, cruel and unusual
punishment and compelled self-incrimination. Among the legal protections it
affords, the Bill of Rights prohibits Congress from making any law respecting
establishment of religion and prohibits the federal government from
depriving any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law. In
federal criminal cases it requires indictment by a grand jury for any capital
offense, or infamous crime, guarantees a speedy public trial with an impartial
jury in the district in which the crime occurred, and prohibits double jeopardy.
11. Written during the summer of 1787 in Philadelphia, the Constitution of the
United States of America is the fundamental law of the US federal system of
government and the landmark document of the Western world. It is the oldest
written national constitution in use.
The Bill of Rights protects freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to
keep and bear arms, the freedom of assembly and the freedom to petition. It
also prohibits unreasonable search and seizure, cruel and unusual
punishment and compelled self-incrimination. Among the legal protections it
affords, the Bill of Rights prohibits Congress from making any law respecting
establishment of religion and prohibits the federal government from
depriving any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law. In
federal criminal cases it requires indictment by a grand jury for any capital
offense, or infamous crime, guarantees a speedy public trial with an impartial
jury in the district in which the crime occurred, and prohibits double jeopardy.
12. In 1789 the people of France brought about the
abolishment of the absolute monarchy and set the
stage for the establishment of the first French
Republic. Just six weeks after the storming of the
Bastille, and barely three weeks after the abolition
of feudalism, the Declaration of the Rights of Man
and of the Citizen.
The Declaration proclaims that all citizens are to be
guaranteed the rights of “liberty, property, security,
and resistance to oppression.”
Thus, the Declaration sees law as an “expression of
the general will,“ intended to promote this equality
of rights and to forbid “only actions harmful to the
society.”
13. In 1789 the people of France brought about the
abolishment of the absolute monarchy and set the
stage for the establishment of the first French
Republic. Just six weeks after the storming of the
Bastille, and barely three weeks after the abolition
of feudalism, the Declaration of the Rights of Man
and of the Citizen.
The Declaration proclaims that all citizens are to be
guaranteed the rights of
“liberty, property, security, and resistance to
oppression.”
Thus, the Declaration sees law as an “expression of
the general will,“ intended to promote this equality
of rights and to forbid “only actions harmful to the
society.”
14. World War II had raged from 1939 to 1945, and as the end drew near, cities
throughout Europe and Asia lay in smoldering ruins. Millions of people were
dead, millions more were homeless or starving.
In April 1945, delegates from fifty countries met in San Francisco full of
optimism and hope. The goal of the United Nations Conference on
International Organization was to fashion an international body to promote
peace and prevent future wars. The ideals of the organization were stated in
the preamble to its proposed charter: “We the peoples of the United Nations
are determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which
twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind.”
The Charter of the new United Nations organization went into effect on
October 24, 1945, a date that is celebrated each year as United Nations Day.
15. By 1948, the United Nations’ new Human Rights Commission had captured the world’s
attention. Under the dynamic chairmanship of Eleanor Roosevelt—President Franklin
Roosevelt’s widow, a human rights champion in her own right and the United States
delegate to the UN—the Commission set out to draft the document that became the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Roosevelt, credited with its
inspiration, referred to the Declaration as the international Magna Carta for all
mankind. It was adopted by the United Nations on December 10, 1948.
In its preamble and in Article 1, the Declaration unequivocally proclaims the inherent
rights of all human beings: “Disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in
barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a
world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom
from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common
people...All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”
In consequence, many of these rights, in various forms, are today part of the
constitutional laws of democratic nations.
16. HUMAN RIGHT #1
We are all born free and equal. (Todos nacimos libres e iguales)
HUMAN RIGHT #2
Don’t discriminate (No discrimines)
HUMAN RIGHT #3
The right to live (El derecho a la vida)
HUMAN RIGHT #4
No slavery (A nadie se le puede esclavizar)
HUMAN RIGHT #5
No torture (A nadie se le puede torturar)
HUMAN RIGHT #6
You have rights no matter where you go (Tienes derechos donde quiera que
estés)
HUMAN RIGHT #7
We’re equal before the law (Todos somos iguales ante la ley)
17. HUMAN RIGHT #8
Your human rights are protected by Law (La ley protege tus derechos humanos)
HUMAN RIGHT #9
No unfair detainment (Nadie puede ser detenido injustificadamente)
HUMAN RIGHT #10
The right to trial (El derecho a un juicio)
HUMAN RIGHT #11
We’re always innocent till proven guilty (Eres inocente hasta que se pruebe lo
contario)
HUMAN RIGHT #12
The right to privacy (El derecho a la privacidad)
HUMAN RIGHT #13
Freedom to move (El derecho de transitar)
HUMAN RIGHT #14
The right to seek a safe place to live (El derecho de asilo)
18. HUMAN RIGHT #15
Right to a nationality (El derecho a tener una nacionalidad)
HUMAN RIGHT #16
Marriage and family (El derecho al matrimonio y a la familia)
HUMAN RIGHT #17
Right to ownership(El derecho a tus propias posesiones)
HUMAN RIGHT #18
Freedom and thought (Libertad de pensamiento)
HUMAN RIGHT #19
Freedom of expression (Libertad de expresión)
HUMAN RIGHT #20
Right to public assembly (El derecho a reunirse)
HUMAN RIGHT #21
The right to democracy (El derecho a la democracia)
19. HUMAN RIGHT #22
Social security (Seguridad social)
HUMAN RIGHT #23
Worker’s rights (Derechos de los trabajadores)
HUMAN RIGHT #24
The right to play (El derecho a jugar)
HUMAN RIGHT #25
Food and shelter for all (Comida y alojamiento para todos)
HUMAN RIGHT #26
Right to education (El derecho a la educación)
HUMAN RIGHT #27
Copyright (Derechos de autor)
HUMAN RIGHT #28
A fair and free world (Un mundo justo y libre)
20. HUMAN RIGHT #29
Responsibility (Responsabilidad)
HUMAN RIGHT #30
No one can take your rights (Nadie puede arrebatarte tus derechos)
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