HUMAN RIGHTS

CitizenshipAlmudena Corrales Marbán

Social Studies Department

RIGHTS

Right is the capacity of a person to do, tochoose, and also refrain from things. Allhuman beings own human rights sincethey are born, and they are necessaryfor our development. These human rights cannot be won, and any institutioncan deprive people from them.

HUMAN RIGHTS THROUGH HISTORY

The Hammurabi’s Code or Code of Hammurabi (1800-1750 BC) was a compilation of rights and duties for thebabilonian citizens. This code was basedon lex talionis, law of retaliation or“eyefor an eye”, which is the principle that a person who has injured another person is penalized to a similar degree, or according to other interpretations the victim receives the value of the injury in compensation.

•Thievery

Ex. Law #22: "If any one is committing a

robbery and is caught, then he shall be put to

death”.

The sixth Babylonian king, Hammurabi, enacted the code, and partial copies exist on a human-sized stone stele and various clay tablets. The Code consists of 282 laws, with scaled punishments, adjusting "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" as graded depending on social status, of slave versus free man.

MESOPOTAMIA

CLASSICAL CULTURE

Greeks and Romans wrote severallaws in which they incuded somerights, but they were not the same forall people, because they werestablished according to the social rankand sex (man and women).

Along the 5th century BC, Athens started a democracy, but they werejust the men who owned thoserights, like voting; women, foreignersand slaves didn’t have rights. Once thePeloponesian wars ended and Spartawon, oligarchy was established again.

There was in Rome when the civil rights were set for citizens. Theyregulated property and family matters.

FAR EAST

Mohism or Moism (Chinese: 墨家; pinyin: Mòjiā; literally "School of Mo") was a Chinese philosophy developed by the followers of Mozi (also referred to as Mo Tzu (Master Mo), 470 BC–391 BC.

Mozi taught that as long as a person was qualified for a task, he should keep his position, regardless of blood relations. If an officer were incapable, even if he were a close relative of the ruler, he ought to be demoted, even if it meant poverty.

In a perfect governmental structure where the ruler loves all people benevolently, and officials are selected according to meritocracy, the people should have unity in belief and in speech. His original purpose in this teaching was to unite people and avoid sectarianism. However, in a situation of corruption and tyranny, this teaching might be misused as a tool for oppression.

MIDDLE AGES: CHRISTIANITY, JUDAISM AND ISLAM

These three monotheisticreligions compilated codes of behavior, rights and duties in their sacred books.

These books were elaboratedaccording to different towns orpeoples. Following some rules, we can think they are updatedand many of them even sexistfor us noawadys.

Muslims The KoranJews The TorahChristiansThe Holy Bible

Jews use a pointer because the Torahcannot be touched.

FEUDAL SYSTEM

During the Middle Ages religionwas very important but societywas organised under a feudal system that started with the fallof the Western Roman Empire.

It was a system in which a free person was dependent on anotherand became his vassal. Thecommitment between the vassaland the lord was sealed with theact of homage.

The feudal lords exercised theirauthority over the peasants whoworked on their lands (manorland). So dependentrelationshipswere also created between thelower social classes and the rulingclasses.

In this unfair societythere were privileged

groups and non privilegedgroups who had no rights, and plenty of duties imposed like

paying taxes.

BETWEEN THE MODERN AGE AND THE CONTEMPORARY AGE

It is said tha it was in the United

States, during the 18th century, when

the first declaration of human rights

was written.

But we can state that it was in

England, birthplace of the

Parlamentarism (cuna del

Parlamentarismo), where we find the

first Bill of Rights (Carta de

Derechos), in 1689, by the time

William and Mary of England reached

the power.

English Bill of Rights 1689

Introduction:

The Bill of Rights was passed by Parliament on 16 December 1689. It was a

re-statement in statutory form of the Declaration of Right presented by the

Convention Parliament to William and Mary in March 1689 inviting them to

become joint sovereigns of England. It lays down limits on the powers of

sovereign and sets out the rights of Parliament and rules for freedom of

speech in Parliament, the requirement to regular elections to Parliament

and the right to petition the monarch without fear of retribution. It

reestablished the liberty of Protestants to have arms for their defense

within the rule of law, and condemned James II of England.

“Whereas the late King James the Second, by assistance of divers evil counsellors, judges and ministers

employed by him, died endeavour to subvert and extirpate the Protestant religion and the laws and liberties1 of this

kingdom”

(First lines of the English Bill of Rights)

1 This sentence is inspired by the British philosopher John Locke (1632-1704), who believed that all people were born with 3 natural rights: life, liberty and property.

The Bill of Rights laid out certain basic rights for (at the time) all Englishmen. These rights continue to apply today, not

only in England and Wales, but in each of the jurisdictions of the Commonwealth realms as well. The Act set out that

there should be:

no royal interference with the law. Though the sovereign remains the fount of justice, he or she cannot unilaterally establish new courts or act as a judge.

no taxation by Royal Prerogative. The agreement of parliament became necessary for the implementation of any new taxes.

only civil courts, not Church courts, are legal

freedom to petition the monarch without fear of retribution

no standing army may be maintained during a time of peace without the consent of parliament.

no royal interference in the freedom of the people to have arms for their own defence as suitable to their class and as allowed by law (simultaneously restoring rights previously taken from Protestants by James II)

no royal interference in the election of members of parliament

the freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament

"grants and promises of fines or forfeitures" before conviction are void

no excessive bail or "cruel and unusual" punishments may be imposed

United States Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental

Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies

then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as independent states, and no

longer a part of the British Empire. John Adams put forth a resolution earlier in the

year which made a formal declaration inevitable. A committee was assembled to

draft the formal declaration, which was to be ready when congress voted on

independence. Adams persuaded the committee to select Thomas Jefferson to

compose the original draft of the document, which congress would edit to produce

the final version. The Declaration was ultimately a formal explanation of why

Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain, more

than a year after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. The birthday of

the United States of America—Independence Day—is celebrated on July 4, the day the wording of the Declaration was

approved by Congress.

The first sentence of the Declaration asserts as a matter of Natural law the ability of a people to assume political

independence, and acknowledges that the grounds for such independence must be reasonable.

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have

connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which

the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they

should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

The next section, the famous preamble, includes the ideas and ideals that were principles of the Declaration. It is also

an assertion of what is known as the "right of revolution": that is, people have certain rights, and when a government

violates these rights, the people have the right to "alter or abolish" that government.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with

certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

1776

CONTEMPORARY AGE: FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789

The French Revolution was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France from 1789 to 1799 that had a fundamental impact on French history and on modern history worldwide.Experiencing an economic crisis exacerbated by the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War, the common people of France became increasingly frustrated by the ineptitude of King Louis XVI and the continued decadence of the aristocracy. This resentment, coupled with burgeoning Enlightenment ideals, fueled radical sentiments and launched the Revolution in 1789 with the convocation of the Estates-General in May. The first year of the Revolution saw members of the Third Estate proclaiming the Tennis Court Oath in June, the assault on the Bastille in July, the passage of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in August, and an epic march on Versailles that forced the royal court back to Paris in October.

DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF MAN AND OF THE CITIZEN: 1793

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, or Declaration of Human and Civic Rights (French: Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen) is a fundamental document of the French Revolution and in the history of human rights, defining the individual and collective rights of all the estates of the realm as universal. Influenced by the doctrine of "natural right", the rights of man are held to be universal: valid at all times and in every place, pertaining to human nature itself.

DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF MAN AND OF THE CITIZEN: 1789

The last article of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen was adopted on 26 August 1789, by the National Constituent Assembly, during the period of the French Revolution, as the first step toward writing a constitution for France. Inspired by the Enlightenment, the original version of the Declaration was discussed by the representatives on the basis of a 24 article draft proposed by the sixth bureau,led by Jérôme Champion de Cicé. The draft was later modified during the debates. A second and lengthier declaration, known as the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1793 was later adopted

DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF MAN AND OF THE CITIZEN: 1789

The Declaration also asserted the principles of popular sovereignty, in contrast to the divine right of kings that characterized the French monarchy, and social equality among citizens, "All the citizens, being equal in the eyes of the law, are equally admissible to all public dignities, places, and employments, according to their capacity and without distinction other than that of their virtues and of their talents," eliminating the special rights of the nobility and clergy.

1. Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good.

4. Liberty consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no one else; hence the exercise of the natural rights of each man has no limits except those which assure to the other members of the society the enjoyment of the same rights. These limits can only be determined by law.

11. The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man. Every citizen may, accordingly, speak, write, and print with freedom, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law.

WORLD WARS ARFTERMATH: THE UNITED NATIONS

The United Nations is an international

organization founded in 1945 after the

Second World War by 51 countries

committed to maintaining international peace

and security, developing friendly relations

among nations and promoting social

progress, better living standards and human

rights.

The UN has 4 main purposes

• To keep peace throughout the world;

• To develop friendly relations among nations;

• To help nations work together to improve the lives of poor people, to conquer hunger, disease and illiteracy, and to encourage respect for each other’s rights and freedoms;

• To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations to achieve these goals.

Due to its unique international character, and the powers vested in its founding Charter, the Organization can take action on a wide range of issues, and provide a forum for its 193 Member States to express their views, through the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council and other bodies and committees.

http://www.humanrights.com/#/what-are-human-rights

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