What are human rights?

What are human rights?

There is a lot of talk everywhere about human rights. That we all deserve something. But what is it we really deserve, and why do we deserve it? Do you know? Human rights are extremely important to acknowledge, but unfortunately the law does not apply for everyone and hence, our world is quite divided. On paper, all of us are entitled to a lot of things, just for being human. We deserve to be treated well, and we should not be set apart in any way just because of how we look or who we are. Again, on paper, there should be no discrimination what so ever between people when it comes to human rights.

The very beginning of human rights

We adopted the declaration of the human rights just after the Second World War, a conflict which truly highlighted how devastating military conflicts are, and how terrible it is when certain people are designated as the black sheep of a certain nation or community. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights came about in 1948, and much has changed since then. Many of the countries we used to consider “third world”, are now growing, booming economies with democratic systems and a lovely future.

Human rights – not for all humans after all?

On the other hand, however, certain countries have been blasted back to the middle ages because of certain corporate interests, dictatorships and corruption. Armed conflicts are the biggest cause of human rights violations, but they happen every day in supposedly peaceful countries. Some examples are forced disappearances of political opponents, limitations put on the freedom of speech, and many other limitations of rights imposed with the aim of curbing terrorism. Every single country in the United Nations is supposed to follow the chart about human rights, and do whatever possible to make sure these rights are respected. As we see time and time again in the news, this is not always the case. Many people who end up victimised aren’t even aware of what their rights are. That is why it is so important to spread the awareness of human rights and the awareness of the condition our planet is in.