Human Rights and National and International Agencies

Human rights are the basic rights and freedoms that all people are entitled to regardless of their age, sex, nationality, etc.

Historical Background

1. The concept of human rights certainly existed in pre-modern cultures; ancient philosophers like Aristotle wrote on the rights of people to property and participation in public affairs.
2. The basis of most modern legal interpretations of human rights can be traced back to recent European history where the Twelve Articles are considered to be the first record of Human rights in Europe.
3. In the 19th century, UK and USA took several steps in banning slavery, assuring full citizenship and rights to people born in the US, guaranteeing African-Americans the right to vote.
4. At the 1945 Yalta Conference, the allied powers agreed to create a new body to supplant the League's role; it was the United Nations. After the world wars, the UN is quite successful in making its members develop the bodies of law that now make the international humanitarian law and human rights law.

The United Nations (UN) has declared Human rights in 1948 A.D. with an aim of providing necessary requirements for people's growth and development. It was the tireless efforts of Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of the former US president, Franklin D Roosevelt which resulted in the issue of first Universal Declarations of the Human Rights by the UN on 10th December 1948.

Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2: Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as a face, color, sex, language, religion, political or another opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or another status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on any basis.

Article 3: Everyone has the right to live, liberty and security of person.

Article 4: No one shall be held in slavery or servitude. Slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 6: Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7: All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Article 8: Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

Article 9: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 10: Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

Article 11: Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defense. No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under a national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.

Article 12: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, or to attacks upon his honor and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Article 13: Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

Article 14: Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution. This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 15: We all have the right to belong to a country.

Article 16: Every grown-up men and woman have the right to marry and have a family as if they want to. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage. Men and women have the same rights when they are married, and when they are separated.

Article 17: Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Article 18: Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Article 21: Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives. Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country. The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will/shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

Article 22: Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

Article 23: Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work. Everyone who works has the right to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection. Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Article 24: Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Article 25: Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Article 26: Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Article 27: Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits. Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

Article 28: Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

Article 29: Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible. In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society. These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Roles of National and International Organizations in Human Rights Conservation

There are many national and international agencies effective in the Human Rights conservation in Nepal. These agencies are involved in the warning about the violation of human rights, awareness and upholding of human rights values in Nepal. Below are some national and international agencies that are involved in the human rights conservation.

1. National Human Rights Commission: This is a constitutional organ of Nepal. It was established in 2057B.S. It has been working in relation to human rights ever since. Dignity, Equality and Justice is the main motto for this organization.
2. Informal Sector Service Center (INSEC): Established in 1988A.D., it has been running since a long time in Human and Civil Rights movement. It provides service to people in the informal sector of the country and overseed the human rights conditions. It also publishes a Human Rights Yearbook each year.
3. Amnesty International: This in an international organization involved in human rights sector in Nepal. It was established in 1961A.D. in London. This agency has been working to stop human rights violation and provide basic human rights to the ones who have been ignored. This agency was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977 and UN Human Rights Award in 1978 for its work against human torture.