essay about international human rights

Chronicle Conversations
Article archives
Issue archives

International Human Rights Law: A Short History

About the author, frans viljoen.

The phrase "human rights" may be used in an abstract and philosophical sense, either as denoting a special category of moral claim that all humans may invoke or, more pragmatically, as the manifestation of these claims in positive law, for example, as constitutional guarantees to hold Governments accountable under national legal processes. While the first understanding of the phrase may be referred to as "human rights", the second is described herein as "human rights law".

While the origin of "human rights" lies in the nature of the human being itself, as articulated in all the world's major religions and moral philosophy, "human rights law" is a more recent phenomenon that is closely associated with the rise of the liberal democratic State. In such States, majoritarianism legitimizes legislation and the increasingly bureaucratized functioning of the executive. However, majorities sometimes may have little regard for "numerical" minorities, such as sentenced criminals, linguistic or religious groups, non-nationals, indigenous peoples and the socially stigmatized. It therefore becomes necessary to guarantee the existence and rights of numerical minorities, the vulnerable and the powerless. This is done by agreeing on the rules governing society in the form of a constitutionally entrenched and justiciable bill of rights containing basic human rights for all. Through this bill of rights, "human rights law" is created, becoming integral to the legal system and superior to ordinary law and executive action.

In this article, some aspects of the history of human rights law at the global, regional and subregional levels are traced. The focus falls on the recent, rather than the more remote, past. To start with, some observations are made about the "three generations" of human rights law.

Three generations of international human rights law Human rights activism can be described as a struggle to ensure that the gap between human rights and human rights law is narrowed down in order to ensure the full legal recognition and actual realization of human rights. History shows that governments do not generally grant rights willingly but that rights gains are only secured through a successful challenge to absolutist authority. Following on the Magna Carta, which set limits on the powers of royal Government in thirteenth century England, the 1776 American Declaration of Independence and the 1789 French Declaration des droits de l'Homme et de du citoyen (Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen) were landmarks of how revolutionary visions could be transformed into national law and made into justiciable guarantees against future abuse.

The traditional categorization of three generations of human rights, used in both national and international human rights discourse, traces the chronological evolution of human rights as an echo to the cry of the French revolution: Liberté (freedoms, "civil and political" or "first generation" rights), Egalité (equality, "socio-economic" or "second generation" rights), and Fraternité (solidarity, "collective" or "third generation" rights). In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the struggle for rights focused on the liberation from authoritarian oppression and the corresponding rights of free speech, association and religion and the right to vote. With the changed view of the State role in an industrializing world, and against the background of growing inequalities, the importance of socio-economic rights became more clearly articulated. With growing globalization and a heightened awareness of overlapping global concerns, especially due to extreme poverty in some parts of the world, "third generation" rights, such as the rights to a healthy environment, to self-determination and to development, have been adopted.

During the period of the cold war, "first generation" rights were prioritized in Western democracies, while second generation rights were resisted as socialist notions. In the developing world, economic growth and development were often regarded as goals able to trump "civil and political" rights. The discrepancy between the two sets of rights was also emphasized: "civil and political" rights were said to be of immediate application, while "second generation" rights were understood to be implemented only in the long term or progressively. Another axis of division was the supposed notion that "first generation" rights place negative obligations on States while "second generation" rights place positive obligations on States. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, it became generally accepted that such a dichotomy does not do justice to the extent to which these rights are interrelated and interdependent. The dichotomy of positive/negative obligations no longer holds water. It seems much more useful to regard all rights as interdependent and indivisible, and as potentially entailing a variety of obligations on the State. These obligations may be categorized as the duty to respect, protect, promote and fulfil.

Global level For many centuries, there was no international human rights law regime in place. In fact, international law supported and colluded in many of the worst human rights atrocities, including the Atlantic Slave Trade and colonialism. It was only in the nineteenth century that the international community adopted a treaty abolishing slavery. The first international legal standards were adopted under the auspices of the International Labour Organization (ILO), which was founded in 1919 as part of the Peace Treaty of Versailles. ILO is meant to protect the rights of workers in an ever-industrializing world.

After the First World War, tentative attempts were made to establish a human rights system under the League of Nations. For example, a Minority Committee was established to hear complaints from minorities, and a Mandates Commission was put in place to deal with individual petitions of persons living in mandate territories. However, these attempts had not been very successful and came to an abrupt end when the Second World War erupted. It took the trauma of that war, and in particular Hitler's crude racially-motivated atrocities in the name of national socialism, to cement international consensus in the form of the United Nations as a bulwark against war and for the preservation of peace.

The core system of human rights promotion and protection under the United Nations has a dual basis: the UN Charter, adopted in 1945, and a network of treaties subsequently adopted by UN members. The Charter-based system applies to all 192 UN Member States, while only those States that have ratified or acceded to particular treaties are bound to observe that part of the treaty-based (or conventional) system to which they have explicitly agreed.

Charter-based system This system evolved under the UN Economic and Social Council, which set up the Commission on Human Rights, as mandated by article 68 of the UN Charter. The Commission did not consist of independent experts, but was made up of 54 governmental representatives elected by the Council, irrespective of the human rights record of the States concerned. As a consequence, States earmarked as some of the worst human rights violators served as members of the Commission. The main accomplishment of the Commission was the elaboration and near-universal acceptance of the three major international human rights instruments: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the latter two adopted in 1966. As the adoption of those two separate documents indicates, the initial idea of transforming the Universal Declaration into a single binding instrument was not accomplished, mainly due to a lack of agreement about the justiciability of socio-economic rights. As a result, individual complaints could be lodged, alleging violations by certain States of ICCPR, but not so with ICESCR.

The normative basis of the UN Charter system is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted on 10 December 1948, which has given authoritative content to the vague reference to human rights in the UN Charter. Although it was adopted as a mere declaration, without a binding force, it has subsequently come to be recognized as a universal yardstick of State conduct. Many of its provisions have acquired the status of customary international law.

Faced with allegations of human rights violations, particularly in apartheid South Africa, the Commission had to devise a system for the consideration of complaints. Two mechanisms emerged, the "1235" and "1503" procedures, adopted in 1959 and 1970, respectively, each named after the Economic and Social Council resolution establishing them. Both mechanisms dealt only with situations of gross human rights violations. The difference was that the "1235" procedure entailed a public discussion while "1503" remained confidential. In order to fill the gap in effective implementation of human rights, a number of special procedures were established by the Commission. Unique procedures take the form of special rapporteurs, independent experts or working groups looking at a particular country (country-specific mandate) or focusing on a thematic issue (thematic mandate).

Leapfrogging a few decades to 2005, in his report In Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security and Human Rights for All, the former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, called for the replacement of the Commission by a smaller, permanent and human rights-compliant Council, able to fill the credibility gap left by States that used their Commission membership "to protect themselves against criticism and to criticize others". 1 The major reason for replacing the Commission was the very selective way in which it exercised its country-specific mandate, due mainly to the political bias of representatives and the ability of more powerful countries to deflect the attention away from themselves and those enjoying their support. In 2006, the General Assembly decided to follow the Secretary-General's recommendation, creating the Human Rights Council as a replacement to the Commission on Human Rights. 2

There are some important differences between the former Commission on Human Rights and the current Human Rights Council. As a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly, the Council enjoys an elevated status compared to the Commission, which was a functional body of the Economic and Social Council. It has a slightly smaller membership (47 States) and its members are elected by an absolute majority of the Assembly (97 States). To avoid prolonged dominance by a few States, members may be elected only for two consecutive three-year terms. The Council serves as a standing or permanent body, which meets regularly, not only for annual "politically charged six-week sessions" as the Commission did. Following the more human rights-sensitive selection criteria, the list of States elected by the Assembly contrasts with countries which, in 2006, served on the Commission. The Assembly may, by a two-thirds majority vote, suspend a member that engages in gross and systematic human rights violations.

The Human Rights Council retained most of the special procedures, including the confidential "1503" (now called the "compliant procedure"), and introduced the Universal Peer Review (UPR). Starting in April 2008, one third of UN Member States has undergone this process. The UPR sUPR hows similarities with the African Peer Review Mechanism which has been set up under the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). Apart from the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the General Assembly adopted numerous other declarations. When sufficient consensus emerges between States, declarations may be transformed into binding agreements. It is revealing that the required level of agreement is lacking on crucial issues, such as the protection of non-hegemonic citizenship. The two relevant declarations -- the Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging to Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, adopted in 1992, and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted in 2007, have not been translated into binding instruments. The same is true of the Declaration on the Right to Development, which was adopted in 1986.

Treaty-based system The treaty-based system developed even more rapidly than the Charter-based system. The first treaty, adopted in 1948, was the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which addressed the most immediate past experience of the Nazi Holocaust. Since then, a huge number of treaties have been adopted, covering a wide array of subjects, eight of them on human rights -- each comprising a treaty monitoring body -- under the auspices of the United Nations.

The first, adopted in 1965, is the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), followed by ICCPR and ICESCR in 1966. The international human rights regime then started to move away from a generic focus, shifting its attention instead to particularly marginalized and oppressed groups or themes: the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) adopted in 1979; the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984); the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989); the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (1990); and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006). The latest treaty is the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances (ICED), also adopted in 2006 but yet to enter into force. With the adoption of an Optional Protocol to ICESCR in 2008, allowing for individual complaints regarding alleged violations of socio-economic rights, the UN treaty system now also embodies the principle that all rights are justiciable. Office of the UN High Commissioner Twenty years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration, the first International Conference on Human Rights was held in 1968 in Teheran. As the world was at that stage caught in the grip of the cold war, little consensus emerged and not much was achieved. The scene was very different when the second world conference took place in Vienna in 1993. The cold war had come to an end, but the genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina was unfolding. Against this background, 171 Heads of State and Government met and adopted the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. It reaffirmed that all rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent. Several resolutions adopted there were subsequently implemented, including the adoption of an Optional Protocol to CEDAW and the establishment of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, with the first High Commissioner (José Ayala Lasso) elected in 1994. The High Commissioner has the major responsibility for human rights in the United Nations. The increasingly important human rights field presence in ratcheted countries also falls under this Office.

Other conferences have also highlighted important issues, such as racism and xenophobia, which were discussed at the 2001 World Conference Against Racism, held in Durban, South Africa. This culminated in the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. A review conference to assess progress in the implementation of the Declaration took place in April 2009.

Regional level Since the Second World War, three regional human rights regimes -- norms and institutions that are accepted as binding by States -- have been established. Each of these systems operates under the auspices of an intergovernmental organization or an international political body. In the case of the European system -- the best of the three -- it is the Council of Europe, which was founded in 1949 by 10 Western European States to promote human rights and the rule of law in post-Second World War Europe, avoided a regression into totalitarianism and served as a bulwark against Communism. The Organization of American States (OAS) was founded in 1948 to promote regional peace, security and development. In Africa, a human rights system was adopted under the auspices of the Organization for African Unity (OAU), which was formed in 1963 and transformed in 2002 into the African Union (AU).

In each of the three systems, the substantive norms are set out in one principal treaty. The Council of Europe adopted its primary human rights treaty in 1950: the European Convention of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Incorporating the protocols adopted thereto, it includes mainly "civil and political" rights, but also provides for the right to property. All 47 Council of Europe members have become party to the European Convention. OAS adopted the American Convention on Human Rights in 1969, which has been ratified by 24 States. The American Convention contains rights similar to those in the European Convention but goes further by providing for a minimum of "socio-economic" rights. In contrast to these two treaties, the African Charter, adopted by OAU in 1981, contains justiciable "socio-economic" rights and elaborates on the duties of individuals and the rights of peoples. All AU members are parties to the African Charter.

The way in which the principal treaty is implemented or enforced differs in each region. In an evolution spanning many decades, the European system of implementation, operating out of Strasbourg, France, developed from a system where a Commission and a Court co-existed to form a single judicial institution. The European Court of Human Rights deals with individual cases. A dual model is in place in the Americas, consisting of the Inter-American Commission, based in Washington, D.C., and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, based in San José, Costa Rica. Individual complainants have to submit their grievances to the Inter-American Commission first; thereafter, the case may proceed to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The Commission also has the function of conducting on-site visits. After some recent institutional reforms, the African system now resembles the Inter-American system.

Fledgling Arab and Muslim regional systems have also emerged under the League of Arab States and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). According to the Islamic world view, the Koran and other religious sources play a dominant role in the regulation of social life.

The League of Arab States was founded in terms of the Pact of the League of Arab States of 1945. Its overriding aim is to strengthen unity among Arab States by developing closer links between its members. The Pact emphasizes the independence and sovereignty of its members, but no mention is made in its founding document of either the contents or principles of human rights.

At the Teheran World Conference in 1968, some Arab States managed to have the position of Arabs in the territories occupied by Israel included in the agenda and successfully articulated it as a human rights issue. This created awareness of human rights among the Arab States in the aftermath of a number of defeats at the hands of Israel in 1967. However, at the Teheran Conference and thereafter, the commitment of the Arab League to human rights was primarily on directing criticism against Israel over its treatment of the inhabitants in Palestine and other occupied areas. In 1968, a regional conference on human rights was held in Beirut, where the Permanent Arab Commission on Human Rights (ACHR) was established. Since inception, the ACHR has been a highly politicized body, with its political nature accentuated by the method of appointment. The Commission does not consist of independent experts, as in many other international human rights bodies, but of government representatives. On 15 September 1994, the Council of the League of Arab States adopted the Arab Charter on Human Rights, whose entry into force, which required seven ratifications, was reached in 2008.

OIC, established in 1969, aims at the promotion of Islamic solidarity among the 56 Member States and works towards cooperation in the economic, cultural and political spheres. The major human rights document, adopted in Cairo in 1990 under this framework, is the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, which is of a declamatory nature only. As its title indicates, and given the aims of OIC, the declaration is closely based on the principles of the Shari'ah. In 2004, OIC adopted a binding instrument with a specific focus: the Covenant on the Rights of the Child in Islam. This Convention is open for ratification and will enter into force after 20 OIC member States have ratified it. Although the Convention provides for a monitoring mechanism -- the Islamic Committee on the Rights of the Child -- its mandate is only vaguely drafted.

Overlapping to some extent with the Muslim world, the heterogeneous Asian region stretches from Indonesia to Japan, comprising a diverse group of nations. Despite some efforts by the United Nations, no supranational human rights convention or body has been established in the Asia-Pacific region. In the absence of an intergovernmental organization serving as a regional umbrella that unites all the diverse States in this region, a regional human rights system remains unlikely.

Subregional level In more recent times, the subregional level has emerged as another site for human rights struggle, particularly in Africa. As a result of a weak regional system under the African Union, a number of African sub-Regional Economic Communities (RECs) emerged from the 1970s: most prominently, the Economic Community of West African States, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the East African Community (EAC). Although these RECs are primarily aimed at subregional economic integration, and not at the realization of human rights, there is an inevitable overlap in that their aims of economic integration and poverty eradication are linked to the realization of socio-economic rights. In a number of the founding treaties of RECs, human rights are given explicit recognition as being integral to the organizations' aims. By creating subregional courts with an implicit, or sometimes explicit, mandate to deal with human rights cases, it is apparent that these economic communities have become key role-players in the African regional human rights system.

Two decisions of subregional courts illustrate the growing significance of RECs to human rights protection. In a case brought against Uganda, it was contended that Uganda violated the EAC Treaty when it re-arrested 14 accused persons after they had been granted bail. 3 The Court, in 2007, held that Uganda had violated the rule of law doctrine, as enshrined among the fundamental principles governing EAC.

In its first decision on the merits of a case, delivered in November 2008, 4 the SADC Tribunal held that it had jurisdiction, on the basis of the SADC Treaty, to deal with the acquisition of agricultural land by the Zimbabwean Government, carried out under an amendment to the Constitution (Amendment 17). The Tribunal further found that, as it targeted white farmers, the Zimbabwean land reform programme violated article 6(2) of the SADC Treaty, which outlaws discrimination on the grounds of race, among other factors. As to the remedial order, the Tribunal directed Zimbabwe to protect the possession, occupation and ownership of lands belonging to applicants and pay fair compensation to those whose land had already been expropriated.

Promising developments towards subregional human rights protection have also recently occurred in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), bringing together the founding States of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines. Although ASEAN was established in 1967, a formal founding treaty (the ASEAN Charter) was adopted only in 2007. The Charter envisages the establishment of an ASEAN human rights body -- a process that is still underway.

Not by States Alone Advances in human rights are not dependent only on States. Non-governmental organizations have been very influential in advancing awareness on important issues and have prepared the ground for declarations and treaties subsequently adopted by the United Nations.

The role of civil society is of particular importance when the contentiousness of an issue inhibits State action. The Yogyakarta Principles on the Application of International Human Rights Law in relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity is a case in point. Although it was adopted in November 2006 by 29 experts from only 25 countries, the 29 principles contained in the document -- related to State obligations in respect of sexual orientation and gender identity -- are becoming an internationally accepted point of reference and are likely to steer future discussions.

The international human rights law landscape today looks radically different from 60 years ago when the Universal Declaration was adopted. Significant advances have been made since the Second World War in expanding the normative reach of international human rights law, leading to the proliferation of human rights law at the international level. Over the last few decades, however, attention has shifted to the implementation and enforcement of human rights norms, to the development of more secure safety nets and to a critical appraisal of the impact of the norms. Greater concern for human rights has also been accompanied with greater emphasis on the individual liability of those responsible for gross human rights violations in the form of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The creation of international criminal tribunals, including the International Criminal Court in 1998, constitutes a trend towards the humanization of international law. The further juridification of international human rights law is exemplified by the establishment of more courts, the extension of judicial mandates to include human rights, and the unequivocal acceptance that all rights are justiciable. With the adoption of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, there is much clearer acceptance of the principle of indivisibility under international human rights law. However, the constant evolution of the international human rights regime depends greatly on non-State actors, as is exemplified by their role in advocating for and preparing the normative ground for the recognition of the rights of "sexual minorities". There is no doubt that the landscape is to undergo dramatic changes in the next 60 years.

1. In Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security and Human Rights for All, Report of the Secretary-General, UN Doc A/49/2005, 21 March 2005.

2. UN Doc. A/RES/60/251 (para 13), 3 April 2006, recommending to the Economic and Social Council to "abolish" the Commission on Human Rights on 16 June 2006.

3. James Katabazi and Others v Secretary-General of the EAC and Attorney-General of Uganda, Reference 1 of 2007, East African Court of Justice, 1 November 2007.

4. Mike Campbell (Pvt) Limited and Others v Republic of Zimbabwe, Case SADCT 2/07, SADC Tribunal, 28 November 2008.

The UN Chronicle  is not an official record. It is privileged to host senior United Nations officials as well as distinguished contributors from outside the United Nations system whose views are not necessarily those of the United Nations. Similarly, the boundaries and names shown, and the designations used, in maps or articles do not necessarily imply endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations.

Monument to the 1795 slave revolt in Curacao.

From Local Moments to Global Movement: Reparation Mechanisms and a Development Framework

For two centuries, emancipated Black people have been calling for reparations for the crimes committed against them.

A group of self advocates at a World Down Syndrome Day event in Kenya. ©Down Syndrome Society of Kenya, 2023.

World Down Syndrome Day: A Chance to End the Stereotypes

The international community, led by the United Nations, can continue to improve the lives of people with Down syndrome by addressing stereotypes and misconceptions.

Houses and parked cars in Jerteh, Terengganu, Malaysia, 2020. Pok Rie

Population and Climate Change: Decent Living for All without Compromising Climate Mitigation

A rise in the demand for energy linked to increasing incomes should not be justification for keeping people in poverty solely to avoid an escalation in emissions and its effects on climate change.

Documents and publications

Yearbook of the United Nations
Basic Facts About the United Nations
Journal of the United Nations
Meetings Coverage and Press Releases
United Nations Official Document System (ODS)
Africa Renewal

Libraries and Archives

Dag Hammarskjöld Library
UN Audiovisual Library
UN Archives and Records Management
Audiovisual Library of International Law
UN iLibrary

News and media

UN News Centre
UN Chronicle on Twitter
UN Chronicle on Facebook

The UN at Work

17 Goals to Transform Our World
Official observances
United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI)
Protecting Human Rights
Maintaining International Peace and Security
The Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth
United Nations Careers

Inspiring human rights essays everybody should know

Can Human Rights Bring Social Justice? 12 Essays

Technically this is a collection of 12 separate essays, but all of them address the same topic: the intersection of human rights and social justice.

Scholars from countries around the world discuss what human rights and social justice actually mean, the potential for human rights to lead to social justice (or not), and what the role of human rights organizations like Amnesty International is in the conversation and practice of human rights law and social justice. Each author offers a unique perspective, some positive and some critical, on the topic and covers a specific aspect of the topic to help create a whole picture.

Women’s Rights are Human Rights

In this publication from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the contributors explore one of the most fundamental and essential human rights: the rights of women. From the perspective of the United Nations, this publication is a comprehensive overview of the issue of human rights, including the international human rights laws and UN practices related to the topic. Additionally, it talks about specific issues relating to women’s rights, such as reproductive health, standard of living, conflict, violence against women, access to justice, and more. Through each of these specific areas, this report gives examples of the human rights framework in action through real-life cases.

Part 1: So Software Has Eaten the World: What Does It Mean for Human Rights, Security and Governance ; Part 2: Digital Disruption of Human Rights

This two-part article from Eileen Donahoe, Director of Global Affairs for Human Rights Watch, discusses the intersection of technology and human rights in an increasingly digital age. Donahoe’s experiences serving with UNHCR, Human Rights Watch, International Service for Human Rights, and Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation provide a unique and informed perspective on the challenges that technology brings the progression and implementation of human rights. The first article addresses issues related to governance and globalization, and the second article talks about the disparity in human rights that technology can cause and has caused already. For human rights professionals, her articles provide important insight to consider in the implementation and practice of human rights law.

The Perils of Indifference

Although this essay was originally a speech from Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, it is important reminder of where the world has been in terms of human rights violations, as well as where we should strive to be. While the tenants of the speech are ones that most human rights professionals know, they are also tenants that can be easy to forget in the day-to-day work and the seemingly endless fight for justice. Wiesel reminds human rights professionals, along with the rest of the world, why they shouldn’t give in to indifference when the struggle for human rights is long and difficult. Beyond being an inspiring piece, this speech, and Wiesel’s writings in general, have been key pieces to human rights theory and practice, shaping the ideas and ideals we have today.

Letter from Birmingham Jail

Another important historical piece in the human and civil rights movements is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” In addition to defending the practice of nonviolent protest, the letter also serves as a call to action for people to take direct action against unjust laws rather than to rely or wait on the courts to serve justice. King’s letter is a reminder for all human rights professionals that the road to human rights practice is not easy and is not always black and white. As an essay addressing one of the most fundamental and long-standing human rights issues, racial inequality, this letter is an inspiring and historical reminder for all human rights professionals.

The UN Young Leaders Online Training Programme is Open for Applications!

Apply now: Essex Human Rights Summer School (Fully Online)

17 International Organizations Offering Early-Career Opportunities

Gender Rights Jobs: Our Short Guide

Free MOOC on Children’s Right to Education in Armed Conflict

9 Online Courses on Leading Diverse Teams

40 Top-Rated Social Issues Courses to Study in 2024

10 Courses to Prepare for Your Human Rights Job

Register now: Global Institute of Human Rights Certificate Program

The UN Immersion Programme Is Open for Applications!

NGO Jobs: Our Short Guide

Apply now: UN Post Graduate Diploma in Global Health Procurement and Supply Chain Management

About the author, allison reefer.

Allison Reefer is a young professional living in Pittsburgh, PA. She works with a refugee resettlement agency to help refugees and immigrants in the city, and she volunteers with a local shelter for human trafficking victims. She obtained her Master in International Development from the University of Pittsburgh and a BA in Writing from Geneva College, focusing most of her academic work on human trafficking and migration in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. In her free time, she loves to write, read, sing and play bass guitar, practice Russian, and explore her city.

25,000+ students realised their study abroad dream with us. Take the first step today

Here’s your new year gift, one app for all your, study abroad needs, start your journey, track your progress, grow with the community and so much more.

Verification Code

An OTP has been sent to your registered mobile no. Please verify

Thanks for your comment !

Our team will review it before it's shown to our readers.

Essay on Human Rights: Samples in 500 and 1500

Updated on
Dec 9, 2023

Essay writing is an integral part of the school curriculum and various academic and competitive exams like IELTS , TOEFL , SAT , UPSC , etc. It is designed to test your command of the English language and how well you can gather your thoughts and present them in a structure with a flow. To master your ability to write an essay, you must read as much as possible and practise on any given topic. This blog brings you a detailed guide on how to write an essay on Human Rights , with useful essay samples on Human rights.

This Blog Includes:

The basic human rights, 200 words essay on human rights, 500 words essay on human rights, 500+ words essay on human rights in india, 1500 words essay on human rights, importance of human rights, essay on human rights pdf.

What are Human Rights

Human rights mark everyone as free and equal, irrespective of age, gender, caste, creed, religion and nationality. The United Nations adopted human rights in light of the atrocities people faced during the Second World War. On the 10th of December 1948, the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Its adoption led to the recognition of human rights as the foundation for freedom, justice and peace for every individual. Although it’s not legally binding, most nations have incorporated these human rights into their constitutions and domestic legal frameworks. Human rights safeguard us from discrimination and guarantee that our most basic needs are protected.

Did you know that the 10th of December is celebrated as Human Rights Day ?

Before we move on to the essays on human rights, let’s check out the basics of what they are.

8 Universities with higher ROI than IITs and IIMs

Grab this one-time opportunity to download this ebook

Connect With Us

25,000+ students realised their study abroad dream with us. take the first step today..

Resend OTP in

Need help with?

Study abroad.

UK, Canada, US & More

IELTS, GRE, GMAT & More

Scholarship, Loans & Forex

Country Preference

New Zealand

Which English test are you planning to take?

Which academic test are you planning to take.

Not Sure yet

When are you planning to take the exam?

Already booked my exam slot

Within 2 Months

Want to learn about the test

Which Degree do you wish to pursue?

When do you want to start studying abroad.

September 2024

January 2025

What is your budget to study abroad?

How would you describe this article ?

Please rate this article

We would like to hear more.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights Essay

Before discussing any phenomenon or event, it is of crucial importance to identify the major factors, which contributed to it. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights should be analyzed within the context of the political, cultural, and religious situation, emerging in the middle of the twentieth century. As it is widely known, this act was adopted in 1948. According to this document, every person (or it would be better to say human beings) must be entitled to certain rights, which cannot take away from him or her (Weiss, 14).

At first glance, it may seem that this act should have been readily accepted by every nation; however, one should take into account that the Declaration of Human Rights was not received unanimously by all nations. For instance, representatives of some Islamic countries subjected it to heavy criticism. They stated that religious and cultural traditions were overlooked in this document (Ramcharan, 43).

The question arises of what prompted the United Nations Organization to develop and adopt this act. It stands to reason that first of all this declaration was the natural response to the events of World War II (genocide, violations of Genève convention, atomic explosion), which had proved that human rights could be easily violated even in the most developed countries. In addition to that, it became apparent that the international community did not come to a consensus about such a concept as “human rights”. As it has been pointed out earlier, Western and Eastern interpretations did not exactly coincide; therefore, some unification had to be achieved.

In this respect, we should explore the political situation in the Post-War period. Humankind was on the verge of a new conflict, the Cold War, but at that moment, the contradictions between the United States and the Soviets were not so aggravated, and both sides of the argument supported the idea of such declaration.

Regarding the religious environment, we should first say that the twentieth century is marked by a religious crisis, which means that to some extent, religion ceased to act as guidelines for people (the events of World War II eloquently substantiated this statement). Consequently, it was necessary to lay legal foundations, which were to ensure that at least basic human rights were preserved and protected (Asbeck,88). Naturally, we should not make generalizations because the religious crisis did not strongly affect Islamic countries but it was very tangible in Europe.

The events of World War II also showed that many people were not able to practice their religion. They were officially (or unofficially) prohibited to do it. In theory, the Declaration of Hunan guarantees that every person has religious freedom but it could not eradicate certain tacit laws, which still acted against some religious groups (Weiss, 134).

Furthermore, while analyzing the history of the twentieth century, scholars often attach primary importance to the so-called clash of cultures. At that moment, Easter and Western Worlds were only beginning to interact with each other but it was obvious that such notion as “human rights” was perceived in different ways. Partly, this declaration was aimed at strengthening the ties between the two most basic cultures or at least ensuring that they could efficiently cooperate (Ramcharan, 65).

New social developments also contributed to the adoption of this document. For instance, the growth of the feminist movement indicated that the roles of men and women should be reconsidered especially in terms of employment policies, and education. The adoption of the Declaration aroused a storm of protest in some Islamic countries because social equality of both sexes contradicted some tenants of the Muslim religion, especially regarding the role of women in the family and their dependence on their husbands.

In her book “A World Made New” Mary Glendon gives the reader insights into the atmosphere of that time. The author focuses on the role of Eleanor Roosevelt in developing this document. She was a member of the Human Rights Commission along with representatives of other countries. People, who were designated to draft this document, had to fight against insuperable odds, namely cultural-political, religious, and social controversies. It should be mentioned that even now this document is viewed as pro-Western and pro-American, though it seems its basic principles are universally applicable (Glendon, 33).

Nevertheless, the most important problem that Human Rights Commission had to resolve is how to make this doctrine applicable, in other words, whether this document had any legal force. Johannes Morsink in his book “The Declaration of Human Rights” argues that this legislative act was fully implemented only in the West; however, it did not become applicable in some other countries for example, in the USSR (Morsink, 8).

Thus, having analyzed political, religious, cultural, and cultural environment in the post-War Period we can arrive at the following conclusions: first Human rights commission had to resolve cross-cultural contradictions while drafting the declaration, especially different perceptions of human rights in the Western and Eastern cultures. However, the main problem that had to be resolved was the applicability of this legislative act. It seems that even now this issue remains very stressful because some countries only officially accepted the Declaration of Human Rights but even they do not follow its basic principles.

Bibliography

B. G. Ramcharan.Thirty Years After the Universal Declaration. BRILL, 1979.

Frederik Mari Asbeck. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Its Johannes Predecessors (1679-1948): And Its Predecessors (1679-1948). Brill Archive, 1949.

Morsink. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Origins, Drafting, and Intent. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000.

Mary Ann Glendon. “A World Made New: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights” Random House, 2002.

Thomas George Weiss. “The United Nations and Changing World Politics” Westview Press, 2004.

Chicago (A-D)
Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2021, October 23). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-universal-declaration-of-human-rights/

"The Universal Declaration of Human Rights." IvyPanda , 23 Oct. 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/the-universal-declaration-of-human-rights/.

IvyPanda . (2021) 'The Universal Declaration of Human Rights'. 23 October.

IvyPanda . 2021. "The Universal Declaration of Human Rights." October 23, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-universal-declaration-of-human-rights/.

1. IvyPanda . "The Universal Declaration of Human Rights." October 23, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-universal-declaration-of-human-rights/.

IvyPanda . "The Universal Declaration of Human Rights." October 23, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-universal-declaration-of-human-rights/.

Dominant Ideology and Contradiction
Immigration in Post-war France
Rhetoric of The Declaration of Independence
Postwar Petroleum Order Rise and Fall
History of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Why Was the Declaration of Independence Written?
“Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen” and “Declaration of the rights of woman and the female citizen”
American History: The Effects of the Postwar Era in America
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Critique of the U.S & the U.N Universal Declaration of Human Rights
T he Role of Confidentiality in Psychometric and Educational Testing
Twin Peaks and Misogyny
Individual Rights vs. Public Order
Summary of "Smokers Get a Raw Deal" by Stanley Scott
Is Human Life Valuable Today?

Scholarship @ GEORGETOWN LAW

Home > Faculty > Working Papers > 5

Georgetown Law Faculty Working Papers

The idea of humanity: human rights and immigrants' rights.

David Cole , Georgetown University Law Center

This Faculty Working Paper has been updated and posted within the Georgetown Law Faculty Publications series in the Scholarly Commons. It is currently available at http://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/417/

This essay asks whether international human rights arguments are likely to be effective in advancing immigrants' rights in the United States. There are certainly reasons to be pessimistic. Despite its history as a nation of immigrants and the ever-increasing diversity of its populace, the United States remains a deeply parochial and nationalist culture. International human rights arguments are often seen as the advocates' last refuge. In the absence of an international forum that can hold the United States accountable, and in the face of Congressional directives that the international human rights treaties it has ratified are not self-executing, international human rights often seem only aspirational. International human rights arguments are rarely advanced in domestic U.S. courts, where they are broached, they are as often as not ignored or dismissed.

Yet there are also reasons to be hopeful about the potential for advancing immigrants' rights through international human rights. Human rights are just that - human rights - and therefore generally do not acknowledge distinctions in fundamental rights between citizens and noncitizens. Human rights offers a common language and standard for global pressure. And international law has always been an integral part of immigration law. Accordingly, human rights discourse offers tremendous normative power and potential for advancing social justice on behalf of foreign nationals in the United States.

Analogizing to the New Deal revolution in the role of the federal government vis-à-vis the economy and rights protection, this essay argues that we may be living in a similar global revolution marked by the simultaneous rise of a global economy and an international human rights regime. I propose a three-pronged strategy: advancing modest claims of statutory construction and constitutional interpretation in the courts; advocating more expansive conceptions of international human rights in the political and popular realms; and pushing for the creation of institutions and processes to bring international human rights considerations into domestic policymaking at the outset, before disputes arise

Advanced Search

Notify me via email or RSS
Law Library
Faculty Profiles
Faculty Scholarship Database
Collections

Author Corner

Home | About | FAQ | My Account | Accessibility Statement

Privacy Copyright

Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law

2024 human rights essay award, call for submission for the human rights essay award is now open, 2024 topic: protection and guarantee of human rights in digital environments .

The Human Rights Essay Award is an annual award sponsored by the Academy aimed at encouraging the production of academic articles in the field of international human rights law. The topic for the 2024 award is " Protection and Guarantee of Human Rights in Digital Environments ." Participants have the flexibility to choose any subject related to this theme. However, the scope of the essay must directly correspond to the 2024 theme, or it will be disqualified. Additionally, we would like to note that we believe international human rights law includes international humanitarian law and international criminal law.

CALL FOR ESSAYS RESUBMISSION AND DEADLINE EXTENDED!

Due to technical difficulties with the Essays submission form, the Award pre-selection committee hasn’t been able to collect all the submitted Essays. If you have sent an Essay to us, even if you received a confirmation email acknowledging that we received the Essays, it might happen that we didn’t. We apologize for these technological issues . In order to guarantee that all prospective candidates who presented their Essays timely and in proper shape and form can participate on the Award, we have decided to extend the submission deadline until Wednesday, February 7th, 2024, at 11:59 PM (Washington DC Time)

For resubmission, please send us an email to [email protected] and attached both: (i) Resume; and (ii) Essay. Make sure to attached both document. Include your name. We kindly ask you to also forward us the received confirmation email to certify that your submission was done during the original deadline.

The essay submission form has been disable to avoid confusion. If you still have access to that form please disregard it. The only valid mean to successfully complete your resubmission is by sending us an email as described above.

We encourage you to make your resubmission. Our Honor Jury and the Academy is excited to read you approaches to the protection of Human Rights in Digital Environments, and once again, apologize to all the candidates for this inconvenience.

ABOUT THE AWARD

The Academy will grant two Awards, one for the best article in English and one for the best article in Spanish. The Award in each case will consist of:

A full tuition scholarship to the Program of Advanced Studies on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law for either the Diploma or Certificate of Attendance options (travel, housing and per diem living expenses are not included)*

The best articles may also be published in the American University International Law Review, which contains relevant and diverse academic material. This prestigious journal receives approximately 1,500 submissions each year and publishes legal research from professors, judges, lawyers, and renowned scholars.

* In 2021 the Program of Advanced Studies in Human Rights and Humanitarian Law was held virtually due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The Academy reserves the right to determine if the 2024 Program will be held virtually.

Participants Eligibility Requirements:

Must hold a law degree, Juris Doctor, (J.D.), Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.), or equivalent.

Shall have a demonstrated experience or interest in international human rights law.

H ave the flexibility to choose any subject related to the 2024 topic: ¨ Protection and Assurance of Human Rights in Digital Environments ¨

Must keep in mind the essay must be a legal article citation sources.

Important dates:

Deadline for submissions (EXTENDED!): February 7, 2024, 11:59 PM (DC Time)

Winners Announcement: April 1st, 2024 (Website)

Difference between the award and our LL.M Program

We would like to remind you that the Human Rights Essay Award is a project offered by the Academy of Human Rights and International Law. The project is not related to the application process for our LL.M. programs , for which you need to follow all the steps outlined on our website at this link , which we encourage you to consult if you are interested.

Want to know more?

Click on the right menu to learn more about the Award regulations.

Contact us!

For more information, please contact us at [email protected] . Allow 48 to 72 business hours for responses

We invite you all to keep visiting this page for more details on the 2024 Human Rights Essay Award!

Official Rules

Essay Submission

American University International Law Review

Go to the page in Spanish

Human Rights Events

UCL Faculty of Laws

International Human Rights Law (LAWS0232)

This module examines the history, theory and nature of international human rights law, a selection of substantive rights protections (and their application to topical situations), and enforcement.

This module examines the history, theory and nature of international human rights law, a selection of substantive rights protections (and their application to topical situations) the institutional infrastructure for enforcing this body of law. The course strikes a balance in seeking to cover all the main elements of the international normative and institutional system regarding human rights, and a selection of some of the main rights protections, while enabling sufficient depth of coverage.

Module Syllabus (Topics subject to change)

History, theory and structure of international human rights law (‘IHRL’)

Sources and nature of IHRL obligations, and the relationship between IHRL and other areas of international law (notably international humanitarian law and UN Law)

Territorial and extraterritorial applicability of IHRL

Self-determination, minority and indigenous rights

Economic, social and cultural rights including the right to development

Forced migration, refugees, non-refoulement, diplomatic asylum

Prohibition of Torture and (other) Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment

Right to life

Right to liberty and security

Privacy in general, big data and cyberspace in particular

War and genocide

The environment and human rights

Enforcement: Dispute settlement and remedies at the international and domestic levels

Enforcement: The UN System of Human Rights Protection: Charter and Treaty based

Enforcement: Regional Systems of HR Protection I: The African, ASEAN and Arab Systems

Enforcement: Regional Systems of HR Protection II: The American and European Systems

Enforcement: States taking action in respect of human rights violations by other states

Recommended Materials

Module reading lists and other module materials will be provided via online module pages, available at the beginning of term once students have enrolled.

Preliminery Reading

This is a graduate level international law course. Students who have not taken a module in public international law, or who have not done so for a considerable amount of time, are strongly advised to read a general textbook in advance of commencing the course. An understanding of the sources in international law and the law of state responsibility is assumed. Two suggested books to look at would be James Crawford, Brownlie’s Principles of Public International Law (OUP, 2012) and Vaughan Lowe, International Law (OUP 2007). More generally, students may also wish to look at relevant entries in the Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law (OUP, available online [subscription or institutional access required] at  www.mpepil.com ).

Key Information

Find out more.

Life at Laws
Student Support
Careers Support
UCL Laws Open Days
Register your interest

Please read the FAQs for graduate applicants and offer holders . If you still need to contact UCL Admissions, you can submit an enquiry via the Admissions Contact Form on the page.

You can also contact the LLM admissions team, particularly for queries relating to scholarships:

Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 (0)20 3108 8430

Unfortunately, the UCL Laws Graduate Office does not accept drop-in visitors.

Summer School

Our Summer School programme, open to current students and graduates, provides opportunities to delve deep into learning about key legal concepts.

Explore our courses

Share full article

Supported by

Guest Essay

The Two-State Solution Is an Unjust, Impossible Fantasy

A photo illustration showing Israeli workers building a wall on one side, and a Palestinian child playing by a separation wall on the other.

By Tareq Baconi

Mr. Baconi is the author of “Hamas Contained” and the president of the board of al-Shabaka, the Palestinian Policy Network.

After 176 days, Israel’s assault on Gaza has not stopped and has expanded into what Human Rights Watch has declared to be a policy of starvation as a weapon of war. More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed, and the international community has reverted to a deeply familiar call for a two-state solution, under which Palestinians and Israelis can coexist in peace and security. President Biden even declared “the only real solution is a two-state solution” in his State of the Union address last month.

But the call rings hollow. The language that surrounds a two-state solution has lost all meaning. Over the years, I’ve encountered many Western diplomats who privately roll their eyes at the prospect of two states — given Israel’s staunch opposition to it, the lack of interest in the West in exerting enough pressure on Israel to change its behavior and Palestinian political ossification — even as their politicians repeat the phrase ad nauseam. Yet in the shadow of what the International Court of Justice has said could plausibly be genocide, everyone has returned to the chorus line, stressing that the gravity of the situation means that this time will be different.

It will not be. Repeating the two-state solution mantra has allowed policymakers to avoid confronting the reality that partition is unattainable in the case of Israel and Palestine, and illegitimate as an arrangement originally imposed on Palestinians without their consent in 1947. And fundamentally, the concept of the two-state solution has evolved to become a central pillar of sustaining Palestinian subjugation and Israeli impunity. The idea of two states as a pathway to justice has in and of itself normalized the daily violence meted out against Palestinians by Israel’s regime of apartheid.

The circumstances facing Palestinians before Oct. 7, 2023, exemplified how deadly the status quo had become. In 2022, Israeli violence killed at least 34 Palestinian children in the West Bank, the most in 15 years, and by mid-2023, that rate was on track to exceed those levels. Yet the Biden administration still saw fit to further legitimize Israel, expanding its diplomatic relations in the region and rewarding it with a U.S. visa waiver . Palestine was largely absent from the international agenda until Israeli Jews were killed on Oct. 7. The fact that Israel and its allies were ill prepared for any kind of challenge to Israeli rule underscores just how invisible the Palestinians were and how sustainable their oppression was deemed to be on the global stage.

This moment of historical rupture offers blood-soaked proof that policies to date have failed, yet countries seek to resurrect them all the same. Instead of taking measures showing a genuine commitment to peace — like meaningfully pressuring Israel to end settlement building and lift the blockade on Gaza or discontinuing America’s expansive military support — Washington is doing the opposite. The United States has aggressively wielded its use of its veto at the United Nations Security Council, and even when it abstains, as it did in the recent vote leading to the first resolution for a cease-fire since Oct. 7, it claims such resolutions are nonbinding. The United States is funding Israel’s military while defunding the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, a critical institution for Palestinians, bolstering the deeply unpopular and illegitimate Palestinian Authority, which many Palestinians now consider to be a subcontractor to the occupation, and subverting international law by limiting avenues of accountability for Israel. In effect, these actions safeguard Israeli impunity.

The vacuity of the two-state solution mantra is most obvious in how often policymakers speak of recognizing a Palestinian state without discussing an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory. Quite the contrary: With the United States reportedly exploring initiatives to recognize Palestinian statehood, it is simultaneously defending Israel’s prolonged occupation at the International Court of Justice, arguing that Israel faces “very real security needs” that justify its continued control over Palestinian territories.

What might explain this seeming contradiction?

The concept of partition has long been used as a blunt policy tool by colonial powers to manage the affairs of their colonies, and Palestine was no exception. The Zionist movement emerged within the era of European colonialism and was given its most important imprimatur by the British Empire. The Balfour Declaration, issued by the British in 1917, called for a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine without adequately accounting for the Palestinians who constituted a vast majority in the region and whom Balfour referred to simply as “non-Jewish communities.” This declaration was then imposed on the Palestinians, who by 1922 had become Britain’s colonized subjects and were not asked to give consent to the partitioning of their homeland. Three decades later, the United Nations institutionalized partition with the passage of the 1947 plan, which called for partitioning Palestine into two independent states, one Palestinian Arab and the other Jewish.

All of Palestine’s neighboring countries in the Middle East and North Africa that had achieved independence from their colonial rulers and joined the United Nations voted against the 1947 plan. The Palestinians were not formally considered in a vote that many saw as illegitimate; it partitioned their homeland to accommodate Zionist immigration, which they had resisted from the onset. The Palestine Liberation Organization, established more than a decade later, formalized this opposition, insisting that Palestine as defined within the boundaries that existed during the British Mandate was “an indivisible territorial unit”; it forcefully refused two states and by the late 1970s was fighting for a secular, democratic state. By the 1980s, however, the P.L.O. chairman, Yasir Arafat, along with most of the organization’s leadership, had come to accept that partition was the pragmatic choice, and many Palestinians who had by then been ground down by the machinery of the occupation accepted it as a way of achieving separateness from Israeli settlers and the creation of their own state.

It took more than three decades for Palestinians to understand that separateness would never come, that the goal of this policy was to maintain the illusion of partition in some distant future indefinitely. In that twilight zone, Israel’s expansionist violence increased and became more forthright, as Israeli leaders became more brazen in their commitment to full control from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. Israel also relied on discredited Palestinian leaders to sustain their control — primarily those who lead the Palestinian Authority and who collaborate with Israel’s machinations and make do with nonsovereign, noncontiguous Bantustans that never challenge Israel’s overarching domination. This kind of demographic engineering, which entails geographic isolation of unwanted populations behind walls, is central to apartheid regimes. Repeating the aspiration for two states and arguing that partition remains viable presents Israel as a Jewish and democratic state — separate from its occupation — giving it a veneer of palatability and obfuscating the reality that it rules over more non-Jews than Jews .

Seen in this light, the failed attempts at a two-state solution are not a failure for Israel at all but a resounding success, as they have fortified Israel’s grip over this territory while peace negotiations ebbed and flowed but never concluded. In recent years, international and Israeli human rights organizations have acknowledged what many Palestinians have long argued: that Israel is a perpetrator of apartheid. B’Tselem, Israel’s leading human rights organization, concluded that Israel is a singular regime of Jewish supremacy from the river to the sea.

Now, with international attention once again focused on the region, many Palestinians understand the dangers of discussing partition, even as a pragmatic option. Many refuse to resuscitate this hollowed-out policy-speak. In a message recently published anonymously, a group of Palestinians on the ground and in the diaspora state wrote: “The partition of Palestine is nothing but a legitimation of Zionism, a betrayal of our people and the final completion of the nakba,” or catastrophe, which refers to the expulsion and flight of about 750,000 Palestinians with Israel’s founding. “Our liberation can only be achieved through a unity of struggle, built upon a unity of people and a unity of land.”

For them, the Palestinian state that their inept leaders continue to peddle, even if achievable, would fail to undo the fact that Palestinian refugees are unable to return to their homes, now in Israel, and that Palestinian citizens of Israel would continue to reside as second-class citizens within a so-called Jewish state.

Global powers might choose to ignore this sentiment as unrealistic, if they even take note of it. They might also choose to ignore Israeli rejection of a two-state solution, as Israeli leaders drop any pretenses and explicitly oppose any pathway to Palestinian statehood. As recently as January, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel “must have security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River.” He added, “That collides with the idea of sovereignty. What can we do?”

And yet the two-state solution continues to be at the forefront for policymakers who have returned to contorting the reality of an expansionist regime into a policy prescription they can hold on to. They cycle through provisions that the Palestinian state must be demilitarized, that Israel will maintain security oversight, that not every state in the world has the same level of sovereignty. It is like watching a century of failure, culminating in the train wreck of the peace process, replay itself in the span of the past five months.

This will not be the first time that Palestinian demands are not taken into account as far as their own future is concerned. But all policymakers should heed the lesson of Oct. 7: There will be neither peace nor justice while Palestinians are subjugated behind walls and under Israeli domination.

A single state from the river to the sea might appear unrealistic or fantastical or a recipe for further bloodshed. But it is the only state that exists in the real world — not in the fantasies of policymakers. The question, then, is: How can it be transformed into one that is just?

Source photographs by Jose A. Bernat Bacete, Daily Herald Archive and Lior Mizrahi, via Getty Images.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , WhatsApp , X and Threads .

A ‘post-human rights’ era is emerging. Here’s what it means for migrants – and how to stop it

The world is in danger of entering a post-human rights moment — for safe and dignified migration this could have serious implications. Image: REUTERS/Cheney Orr

.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo{-webkit-transition:all 0.15s ease-out;transition:all 0.15s ease-out;cursor:pointer;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;outline:none;color:inherit;}.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo:hover,.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo[data-hover]{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;}.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo:focus,.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo[data-focus]{box-shadow:0 0 0 3px rgba(168,203,251,0.5);} Marie McAuliffe

.chakra .wef-9dduvl{margin-top:16px;margin-bottom:16px;line-height:1.388;font-size:1.25rem;}@media screen and (min-width:56.5rem){.chakra .wef-9dduvl{font-size:1.125rem;}} Explore and monitor how .chakra .wef-15eoq1r{margin-top:16px;margin-bottom:16px;line-height:1.388;font-size:1.25rem;color:#F7DB5E;}@media screen and (min-width:56.5rem){.chakra .wef-15eoq1r{font-size:1.125rem;}} Human Rights is affecting economies, industries and global issues

A hand holding a looking glass by a lake

.chakra .wef-1nk5u5d{margin-top:16px;margin-bottom:16px;line-height:1.388;color:#2846F8;font-size:1.25rem;}@media screen and (min-width:56.5rem){.chakra .wef-1nk5u5d{font-size:1.125rem;}} Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale

Stay up to date:, human rights.

The world is in danger of entering a post-human rights era — and, as some of the world's most vulnerable people refugees and migrants may pay the price.
A renewed commitment to the rule-based multilateral system underpinned by human rights could avert the worst of this global slide.
The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration provides the methdology to uphold the dignity and rights of all people on the move

Many analysts and commentators have argued that the world has entered a post-human rights phase, with sustained undermining of human rights and the rule of law around the world. Unfortunately, this is not new — although the focus on this topic has tended to wax and wane as global events have dictated news feeds and analysis .

The United Nations Secretary-General spoke about these challenges during his speech to the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting earlier this year, highlighting the critical need to fully respect international law and the UN Charter in building global peace and security.

As we move closer to the UN Summit of the Future scheduled for September, and with previously ‘unthinkable’ wars raging in Ukraine and Gaza, it is time to reflect on the global transformations — geopolitical, technological and environmental — radically altering the multilateral landscape and what they are likely to mean for global governance of migration in a post-human rights world.

Have you read?

Transforming the migration system to make it work for displaced talent, why it’s time to rethink migration, ai in migration is fuelling global inequality: how can we bridge the gap, post-human rights implications for migration and mobility.

A multilateral system where traditional human rights frameworks are no longer respected or implemented would involve a profoundly different global approach to migration. Here’s how.

Geopolitical dominance and power dynamics

Without the grounding principles of human rights, migration policies and practices could become more influenced by geopolitical interests and power dynamics. Countries would further prioritize national security and economic interests over the well-being and dignity of migrants, leading to more restrictive and selective migration policies that favor certain groups based on strategic alliances.

Technological surveillance and control

In the absence of human rights protections, the use of advanced technologies in migration management would shift towards enhanced surveillance, control and enforcement. This might include widespread use of AI in migration management (such as visa processing and border control), potentially leading to increased inequalities between states and potential for violations of personal privacy and other rights.

Environmental displacement and inequity

As environmental changes increasingly influence migration, the setting aside of existing human rights frameworks would likely result in inadequate protection and support for those displaced by climate disasters or environmental degradation. This might lead to increased vulnerability and inequity, with wealthier countries potentially fortifying their borders against people displaced from their homes by climate change impacts.

Transactional bilateral labour agreements

Without a shared commitment to universal human rights, migration governance could become much more fragmented, characterized by bilateral labour agreements that are transactional in nature. These agreements might focus exclusively on the interests of states rather than the welfare of migrants, potentially leading to scenarios where migrants are used as bargaining chips in international negotiations.

Privatization of migration management

A decline in the respect for human rights might also further encourage the privatization of aspects of migration management, including detention facilities, return processes and even rescue operations. This could prioritize efficiency and profit margins over the humane treatment of migrants, with more limited oversight and accountability.

Community responses

In response to the erosion of human rights in formal migration governance, non-state actors, including NGOs, community groups and international organizations, might play an increasingly vital role in providing support and protection to migrants. These entities could become crucial in delivering humanitarian aid, legal assistance and advocacy for migrants' welfare.

In such a scenario, the global migration landscape would likely become more complex and challenging, with significant implications for the dignity, safety and rights of migrants worldwide. The erosion of human rights principles would necessitate new forms of solidarity, advocacy and support to ensure that the most vulnerable are not left without protection and assistance.

Bolstering a rights-based approach to migration and mobility

There is, however, another path ahead. A renewed commitment to the rule-based multilateral system underpinned by human rights at this year’s Summit of the Future means bolstering a rights-based approach to migration governance:

Enhanced focus on climate and environmental mobility

With climate change intensifying, stronger emphasis on climate-induced displacement and environmental migration is essential. This would involve supporting adaption measures, disaster risk reduction as well as support to those displaced by environmental disasters, ensuring their rights and providing pathways for resettlement or return.

Adaptation to technological advancements

The rapid advancement of technology, particularly in digitalization and AI poses both opportunities and challenges for migrants. A rights-based approach incorporates mechanisms to ensure that technological advancements in migration management enhance, rather than infringe upon, the rights and dignity of migrants. This includes addressing digital divides and ensuring equitable access to technology-driven migration processes.

Geopolitical responsiveness

Continuing to be highly adaptable to geopolitical shifts, such as conflicts or changes in international alliances, is a cornerstone to humanitarian response due to displacement. Increasing pressure on the humanitarian system globally to provide protection and support to displaced populations in times of crisis will require a rights-based approach that is adequately resourced and geopolitically enabled.

Economic and social inclusion

Given the crucial role of migration in economic development and the stark inequalities that exist, rights-based governance prioritizes policies that foster economic and social inclusion of migrants. This involves ensuring that migrants have access to labour markets, social services and regular pathways (including regularization programming). This would also involve a concerted effort to counteract narratives that dehumanize migrants and to combat xenophobia and discrimination.

Global governance and cooperation

Recognizing migration as a global phenomenon that no single country can manage alone, international cooperation and global governance will increase in importance. This involves redoubling efforts to share responsibilities to manage migration humanely and efficiently, implementing commitments to collective action over unilateral approaches.

Maintaining human rights at the core of the multilateral system is intrinsically tied to reducing inequality globally through the new agenda for peace and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Migration governance as articulated in the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration would amplify its adaptability, inclusiveness and commitment to upholding the dignity and rights of all people on the move. The Compact integrates responses to environmental, technological and geopolitical transformations, ensuring that migration remains a source of human development and global cooperation. Failing to fortify rights-based approaches risks a slide into a post-human rights system with potentially devastating consequences for migrants and societies.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect those of IOM or any other organizations with which the author is affiliated .

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

The Agenda .chakra .wef-n7bacu{margin-top:16px;margin-bottom:16px;line-height:1.388;font-weight:400;} Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

.chakra .wef-1dtnjt5{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;-webkit-flex-wrap:wrap;-ms-flex-wrap:wrap;flex-wrap:wrap;} More on Human Rights .chakra .wef-17xejub{-webkit-flex:1;-ms-flex:1;flex:1;justify-self:stretch;-webkit-align-self:stretch;-ms-flex-item-align:stretch;align-self:stretch;} .chakra .wef-nr1rr4{display:-webkit-inline-box;display:-webkit-inline-flex;display:-ms-inline-flexbox;display:inline-flex;white-space:normal;vertical-align:middle;text-transform:uppercase;font-size:0.75rem;border-radius:0.25rem;font-weight:700;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;line-height:1.2;-webkit-letter-spacing:1.25px;-moz-letter-spacing:1.25px;-ms-letter-spacing:1.25px;letter-spacing:1.25px;background:none;padding:0px;color:#B3B3B3;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;}@media screen and (min-width:37.5rem){.chakra .wef-nr1rr4{font-size:0.875rem;}}@media screen and (min-width:56.5rem){.chakra .wef-nr1rr4{font-size:1rem;}} See all

Is climate inaction a human rights violation?

John Letzing and Minji Sung

April 9, 2024

This is why the number of refugees could double in the next decade, according to the head of UNHCR

Liam Coleman

March 7, 2024

Here are 11 of Nelson Mandela’s most inspirational quotes

Kate Whiting

July 12, 2023

110 Million People Globally Have Been Forced From Their Homes

Refugees deserve compassion: a walk towards positive change

Christa Odinga-Svatenson and Diana Alvarez

June 20, 2023

How One Woman is Using Technology to Fight Human Trafficking

Skip to main content
Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

IDF fires artillery shells into Gaza as fighting between Israeli troops and Islamist Hamas militants continues on Oct. 12, 2023.

Middle East crisis — explained

The conflict between Israel and Palestinians — and other groups in the Middle East — goes back decades. These stories provide context for current developments and the history that led up to them.

UN human rights body calls for halt to weapons shipments to Israel

The Associated Press

Meirav Eilon Shahr, ambassador of the Permanent Representative Mission of the Israel to the UN, observes the vote on a resolution regarding the Israeli military campaign in Gaza, during the 55th session of the Human Rights Council, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland on Friday. Salvatore Di Nofi/AP hide caption

GENEVA — The U.N.'s top human rights body called on countries to stop selling or shipping weapons to Israel in a resolution passed Friday that aims to help prevent rights violations against Palestinians amid Israel's blistering military campaign in Gaza.

The 47-member-country Human Rights Council voted 28-6 in favor of the resolution, with 13 abstentions.

The sweeping measure takes aim at an array of Israeli actions such as impeding access to water and limiting shipments of humanitarian aid into Palestinian areas. It also calls on U.N.-backed independent investigators to report on shipments of weapons, munitions and "dual use" items — that have both civilian and military applications — that could be used by Israel against Palestinians.

While non-binding, the resolution is bound to raise international pressure on Israel as a sign of widespread concern about its military campaign in Gaza, begun in response to the attacks in Israel by armed militants on Oct. 7, that has led to the killings of nearly 33,000 Palestinians.

Western countries were divided. The U.S. and Germany opposed the resolution, France and Japan abstained, while Belgium, Finland and Luxembourg voted in favor.

Sustained applause interrupted the council president as he read the results. Israel's ambassador said she would not attend the rest of the day's session and called the resolution a "stain on the Human Rights Council and the United Nations as a whole."

Israel's military dismisses officers over World Central Kitchen airstrike

"This council has long abandoned the Israeli people and long defended Hamas," Meirav Eilon Shahar said of the militant group behind the attacks. "It has become a shield for terrorists. It has turned a blind eye to any acts of violence against Israelis and Jews."

She said she was especially disappointed at European countries that backed the measure — calling out Belgium, Luxembourg and Finland by name — for supporting a resolution that did not condemn Hamas.

"I don't know if any of you counted, but Israel appears in the resolution 59 times — 59 times," she told reporters afterward. "Hamas does not appear at all."

Before the vote, the Palestinian ambassador in Geneva, Ibrahim Khraishi, decried the "humanitarian disaster" in Gaza, and appealed to envoys "to wake and stop this genocide ... televised live across the world, killing thousands of innocent Palestinian people."

McDonald's says it is buying back all of its franchises in Israel

Speaking in Arabic, Khraishi alluded to the genocide of Jews in Europe last century, saying: "We were not responsible, but we have been paying the price of what was done during the Second World War."

Israel — at times joined by the United States — has regularly and roundly criticized the council for its alleged anti-Israel bias. The council has approved far more resolutions against Israel for its actions toward Palestinians over the years than against any other country.

The council is wrapping up its first session of the year, which began on Feb. 26, with action on more than 40 resolutions on subjects as diverse as the rights of the child; the environment and human rights; genocide prevention; and rights situations in countries like Sudan, Belarus and North Korea.

On Thursday, resolutions were passed on troubling rights situations in places like Myanmar, Iran, Ukraine and Syria.

U.S.-Israel politics set to roil Democratic primaries

The resolution comes amid a growing focus on weapons shipments to Israel — notably by its strongest backer, the United States — as Israel continues its military campaign in Gaza.

In a sign of Washington's growing impatience with Israel's handling of the military campaign, U.S. President Joe Biden issued a stark warning to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday that future U.S. support for Israel's Gaza war depends on the swift implementation of new steps to protect civilians and aid workers.

That was the first time that Biden has threatened to rethink his backing if Israel doesn't change its tactics and allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza.

U.S. ambassador Michele Taylor, alluding to the Israeli strike that killed seven humanitarian workers from World Central Kitchen in Gaza this week, told the council: "Israel has not done enough to mitigate civilian harm."

The resolution had "many problematic elements — too many to name in full," she said, while noting a lack of "specific condemnation of Hamas for perpetrating the horrific Oct. 7 attacks" in Israel.

IMAGES

(PDF) Human Rights Law Essay (The Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
Human Rights Essay
Essay on "Human Rights"
International Human Rights (400 Words)
(PDF) International Human Rights Law
UN Human Rights Council Essay

VIDEO

INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
English Essay about Human Rights| Essay on Human Rights
Imagine a World Where Human Rights are a Reality for Everyone
10 lines essay on human rights day in English| Human rights day essay| Human rights| #humanrights

COMMENTS

The global politics of human rights: From human rights to human dignity
Human dignity, in this essay, embraces all types of human rights claims, ranging from political rights to socio-economic rights, among many others. The essay proposes a three-pronged reform of international human rights: (1) a shift from Western human rights to the more inclusive and pluralist notion of human dignity; (2) the promotion of ...
PDF Human Rights: A Brief Introduction
the concept of human rights, this essay will examine the tensions between human rights and state sovereignty, the challenges to the universality of human rights, the enumeration of rights recognized by the international community, and the means available to translate the high aspirations of human rights into practice. II.
International Human Rights Law
In the past two decades, the International Human Rights Law (IHRL) has increased its emphasis on protecting all human rights for people to live a free, secure, and healthy life. We will write a custom essay on your topic. 809 writers online. Learn More. According to Rehman (2010), living a dignified life can only be achieved if all basic ...
PDF Human Rights: A Brief Introduction
human rights in ethical, legal and advocacy discourse and some historical background of the concept of human rights, this essay will examine the tensions between human rights and state sovereignty, the challenges to the universality of human rights, the enumeration of rights recognized by the international community, and the means
Human Rights: Effectiveness of International and Regional Mechanisms
Introduction. This essay examines the study of human rights regimes in the field of International Relations (IR). In particular, it explores the links between theories of regimes (how are the origins, development and effects of regimes on politics explained?) on the one hand, and the evolving norms and practices of human rights embedded within the institutions of international and global ...
International Human Rights Law: A Short History
Through this bill of rights, "human rights law" is created, becoming integral to the legal system and superior to ordinary law and executive action. In this article, some aspects of the history of ...
What are human rights?
Article 1 of the UDHR states: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.". Freedom from discrimination, set out in Article 2, is what ensures this equality. Non-discrimination cuts across all international human rights law. This principle is present in all major human rights treaties. It also provides the central theme ...
World Report 2021
World Report 2021, Human Rights Watch's 31st annual review of human rights practices and trends around the globe, reviews developments in more than 100 countries. In his introductory essay ...
Human rights, international human rights, and sovereign political
THE NATURAL RIGHTS APPROACH. The natural rights model has dominated philosophical theorization about human rights for decades. It has been advocated by influential authors such as Alan Gewirth, Martha Nussbaum, James Griffin, and Amartya Sen. Footnote 4 These authors regard human rights as pre-institutional claims, that is to say, claims that people hold against all other agents, including ...
The Library of Essays on International Human Rights: The Library of
The Development of International Human Rights Law: Volume I 1st Edition. Edited By David Weissbrodt, Fionnuala D. Ní Aoláin April 24, 2014. The essays selected for this volume, written by some of the world's most respected experts on human rights, encompass the development of human rights law from its philosophical underpinnings and address many of its current controversies.
Inspiring human rights essays everybody should know
Can Human Rights Bring Social Justice? 12 Essays. Technically this is a collection of 12 separate essays, but all of them address the same topic: the intersection of human rights and social justice. ... Human Rights Watch, International Service for Human Rights, and Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation ...
240 Human Rights Essay Topics & Samples
Human Rights Violations in Today's World. This paper addresses questions regarding human rights, including the United Nations' involvement in enforcing those rights violations and the role of non-governmental organizations in addressing the issue. Shirin Ebadi's Perspective on Women's Human Rights Activism and Islam.
Essay on Human Rights: Samples in 500 and 1500
Here is a 200-word short sample essay on basic Human Rights. Human rights are a set of rights given to every human being regardless of their gender, caste, creed, religion, nation, location or economic status. These are said to be moral principles that illustrate certain standards of human behaviour.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights Essay
As it is widely known, this act was adopted in 1948. According to this document, every person (or it would be better to say human beings) must be entitled to certain rights, which cannot take away from him or her (Weiss, 14). We will write a custom essay on your topic. 809 writers online. Learn More.
Essay International Human Rights Law and Black Lives Matter: Why We
under international human rights law. Therefore, this Essay argues that an understanding of the right to life, under international human rights law, could provide a constructive means of securing respect for Black life. Of the various formulations of the right to life found in international human rights law, the Article 6 Right to Life found
Feminist Perspectives on Human Rights
Summary. Feminism has provided some new perspectives to the discourse on human rights over the years. Contemporary feminist scholarship has sought to critique the liberalism on which the conception of formal "equality" in the international human rights laws has been derived on a number of grounds. Two of the most pertinent critiques for ...
PDF A. the International Bill of Human Rights
4 The International Bill of Human Rights Article 16 1. Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, national-ity or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution. 2. Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full ...
The UN System for the Protection of Human Rights
The essay will provide an introduction to the UN and then move on to trace the establishment of the United Nations Human Rights Council (hereinafter referred to as either the UNHRC or the 'Council') after the abolishment of the Commission of Human Rights (hereinafter referred to as either the CHR or the 'Commission') due to its ...
International Human Rights: Problems of Law, Policy, and Practice
The introductory chapter of this book discusses how a unifying concern for human dignity led to the establishment of human rights as part of the body of international law. Next, the chapter includes excerpts from multiple writers' works to employ slavery as a case study to demonstrate how the international community has used the notion of ...
The Idea of Humanity: Human Rights and Immigrants' Rights
This essay asks whether international human rights arguments are likely to be effective in advancing immigrants' rights in the United States. There are certainly reasons to be pessimistic. Despite its history as a nation of immigrants and the ever-increasing diversity of its populace, the United States remains a deeply parochial and nationalist culture.
The United Nations Human Rights Council
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC or Council) was created by UN General Assembly Resolution 60/251 of 3 April 2006. It came into existence to replace the much discredited UN Commission of Human Rights (UNCHR or Commission) and "to preserve and build on its achievements and to redress its shortcomings" . The establishment of the ...
Is it True that All Human Rights Have Equal Status and Cannot Be ...
This led to the division of the rights in the UDHR and the subsequent adoption in 1966 of two separate legal documents, the ICCPR and the ICESCR, embodying different categories of rights. Human rights are based on the principles of universality, indivisibility and interdependence; it is stated that "all human rights have equal status and cannot ...
Human Rights Essay
The Human Rights Essay Award is an annual award sponsored by the Academy aimed at encouraging the production of academic articles in the field of international human rights law. The topic for the 2024 award is " Protection and Guarantee of Human Rights in Digital Environments ." Participants have the flexibility to choose any subject related to ...
International Human Rights Law (LAWS0232)
This module examines the history, theory and nature of international human rights law, a selection of substantive rights protections (and their application to topical situations) the institutional infrastructure for enforcing this body of law. The course strikes a balance in seeking to cover all the main elements of the international normative ...
Switzerland's Climate Shortfalls Violate Human Rights, European Court
Reporting from London. April 9, 2024, 5:33 a.m. ET. Europe's top human rights court said in a landmark ruling on Tuesday that the Swiss government had violated its citizens' human rights by ...
Opinion
Guest Essay. The Two-State Solution Is an Unjust, Impossible Fantasy. April 1, 2024. ... international and Israeli human rights organizations have acknowledged what many Palestinians have long ...
How a 'post-human rights' system for migration might look
A decline in the respect for human rights might also further encourage the privatization of aspects of migration management, including detention facilities, return processes and even rescue operations. This could prioritize efficiency and profit margins over the humane treatment of migrants, with more limited oversight and accountability.
European court to rule on whether climate change is a human right
Europe's highest human rights court began its session Tuesday on a group of climate change cases aimed at forcing countries to meet international obligations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The NMU Department of History Human Rights Essay Competition
The Essay Competition aims to encourage engagement with the issues of human rights at all levels. We invite all NMU students to enter an essay competition on the following question: "How will you create awareness in your present community about human rights?" All submissions must be prose non-fiction. Entries should be a minimum of 500 words.
UN human rights body calls for halt to weapons shipments to Israel
Salvatore Di Nofi/AP. GENEVA — The U.N.'s top human rights body called on countries to stop selling or shipping weapons to Israel in a resolution passed Friday that aims to help prevent rights ...