Human Rights Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Human Rights - Research Paper Example This paper provides a brief detail of them along with human right practices in different nations. Introduction The concept of human rights was first introduced to the world by United Nations Charter in 1945 (Freeman, 2011, p 4). The elements or doctrines of human rights which were declared by United Nations are accepted across the globe as standard human rights. The human rights include a host of provisions or aspects. Some of these are- freedom by birth, equality of rights and dignity, promotion of universal peace and brotherhood, eradication of any discrimination in theory and practice, general right to lead one’s own life with liberty and security, general right of not entertaining any extreme punishment or degrading treatment, right to recognition, equality before law and State, right to fair trials and public hearing, right of doing social and cultural duties, right to opine and express, freedom of thought and conscience, freedom of exercising ones free will regarding sel ection of religion, political party, philosophy, and many others (Preamble, n.d.). This paper examines general characteristic features of human rights, its historical background, international bodies supporting its cause and finally its implication in present times. Human rights: general attributes The concept of human rights emerged as early as seventeenth and eighteenth century when the liberal doctrines were propagated by different socialists and philosophers. Capitalism got introduced in Europe during this time and resulted in major change in socio- economic structure. Due to capitalism, more precisely mercantilism, working class people suffered a lot. They were not only exploited on monetary and physical terms, but at the same time were also tortured, beaten, abused and even murdered. The idea of human rights initiated since then with an objective to initiate a protest against capitalist social order (Pollis and Schwab, 2000, p 11). As general people perceive it, human rights a re a set of principles bestowed upon every individual on this earth. Human rights ensure that every person, irrespective of caste, creed, age, color and nationality enjoy some specific rights and freedoms. Often, the human rights are also considered as a ‘concept’ which is adopted for real- thinking and expressing those thoughts. Furthermore, it is expressed that human rights are nothing but a mode of ‘ethnic cleansing’. This implies that the more the interests and welfare of individuals are violated, the more implication of human rights becomes essential. In present times, human rights are mostly associated with social and economic issues like illegal transactions, terror, massacres, unfair trail, execution, mass rapes- wherever the relative security of individuals are compromised (Freeman, 2011, p 3-4). From traditional point of view, human rights could be classified into two groups- human rights associated with democracy and human rights associated with individual rights and freedom. Democratic human rights incorporate rights of individual person and masses regarding civil aspects and also aspects related to politics, economy, society, culture and religion. In practice, this concept of freedom and independence supported by human right varies across different nations (Duxbury, 2011, p. 46). Reasons behind formulation of human rights Out of the several reasons due to which the human rights were framed, one is being abused by prosecution by legal bodies or tribunals on behalf