Human Rights

Question 1

Human Security: Two Dimensions

Answer 1

Safety from such chronic threats (e.g., hunger, disease, repression).

Protection from sudden and hurtful disruptions in the patterns of daily life in homes, jobs or in communities.

Question 2

Specific concerns

Answer 2

Economic security (e.g., freedom from poverty)

Food security

Health security (e.g., access to health care, protection from disease)

Environmental security (e.g., protection from pollution)

Personal security (e.g., physical safety from war, torture, domestic violence, drug use, etc.)

Community security (e.g., survival of traditional cultures and ethnic groups)

Political security (e.g., enjoyment of civil and political rights, and freedom from political oppression)

Question 3

Human rights

Answer 3

Human rights are entitlements inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status (i.e., without discrimination).

Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, and many more.

Question 4

Universal Declaratio n of Human Rights

Answer 4

1948

Civil and political rights E.g., freedom of expression; freedom of assembly

Socioeconomic rights E.g., right to work; favorable remuneration

Social Rights E.g., right to marry

Cultural rights E.g., right to participate in cultural practices of community

Right to leisure

Right to education

Question 5

“Generations” of rights

Answer 5

First generation rights: political and civil rights.

Second generation rights: economic and cultural rights.

Third generation rights: solidarity rights.

Question 6

US is an outlier

Answer 6

The US has not ratified any international human rights treaties since December 2002, when it ratified two optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Did not ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Question 7

Why do states join treaties designed to establish and monitor compliance with human rights standards? Who joins?

Answer 7

States that are already committed to human rights principles.

States that border states that join human rights treaties.

Democratizing states

Some autocratic states with a history of civil violence and torture

Question 8

Credible commitments, again.

Answer 8

Democratizing states
Sign human rights treaties to help force themselves to respect the rule of law.

States that use torture
Sign the Convention Against Torture with the intention of violating it to signal their commitment to defeating domestic opponents.