Human rights are like armor: they protect you; they are like rules because they tell you how you can behave; and they are like judges because you can appeal to them. They are abstract ΜΆ as emotions, and as emotions they belong to everyone and exist no matter what is going on around them. They are like nature, because they can be trampled upon; and like spirit, because they cannot be destroyed. Like time, they treat all of us equally: rich and poor, old and young, white and black, tall and short. They offer us respect, and require us to treat others with respect. We may sometimes differ in our definitions of goodness, truth, and justice, but when we meet them in life, we are sure to recognize them.
A right is a claim that we rightly claim. I have a right to the goods in my shopping cart if I have paid for them. Citizens have the right to elect a president if it is guaranteed by their country’s constitution, and a child has the right to visit the zoo if his parents have promised him that. People are entitled to all these things, provided that the other party has made appropriate promises or guarantees. But human rights are claims of a different nature: they do not depend on promises or guarantees made by the other party. A person’s right to life does not depend on another person’s promise not to kill him. His life may depend on it, but not his right to life. His right to life depends on only one thing: that he is human.
The recognition of human rights means recognizing that every human being is given the right to claim the following: I have these rights, no matter what you say or do, because I, just like you, am a human being. Human rights are inherent in every human being.
Why doesn’t this claim presuppose some particular behavior as its justification? Why not demand that people earn their own rights? Ultimately, the demand for human rights is moral in nature and based on moral values. My right to life ultimately means that no one is allowed to take my life: it is simply unacceptable. This statement hardly needs substantiation, and probably any reader would agree with this approach. After all, with respect to ourselves, we all recognize that there are aspects of our life and being that are inviolable and that no one should intrude upon, for these are the vital aspects of our being that define who and what we are. They are essential to our humanity and our human dignity. Without human rights we cannot realize our full human potential. Human rights merely transfer this understanding from the individual level to all other human beings on the planet. If I can make such demands, so can anyone else.
Core Values
The concept of human rights is based on two basic values: the first is human dignity and the second is equality. Human rights can be understood as something that defines the basic norms necessary to live with dignity, and their universality derives from the fact that, at least in this, all people are equal. We should not and cannot single anyone out here. In fact, in order to accept the concept of human rights, it is enough to recognize these two beliefs or values, and hardly anyone would argue with them. That is why human rights are supported by all world cultures, all civilized governments and all major religions. It is almost universally recognized that the power of the state cannot be unlimited or arbitrary, it must be limited by the need to provide at least minimum conditions for all who are under its jurisdiction to live with a sense of human dignity.
From these two basic values, many others can be derived, and by means of them more precisely defined, how in practice people and societies should coexist. For example:
Freedom: because the human will is an important part of human dignity. Being forced to do something against our will belittles the human person.
Respect for others: because lack of respect for others makes it impossible to appreciate their individuality and their human dignity.
Non-discrimination: because equality of persons in human dignity means that we cannot judge people’s rights and opportunities on the basis of their physical or other attributes.
Tolerance: because intolerance indicates a lack of respect for differences, and equality does not mean sameness or uniformity.
Fairness: because people who are equal in their membership in the human race deserve to be treated fairly.
Responsibility: because respect for the rights of others implies that each person is responsible for his actions and requires him to make an effort to realize his rights and the rights of all people.