WHERE DO HUMAN RIGHTS COME FROM?

Ideas about human rights have evolved over many centuries. But they achieved strong international support
following the Holocaust and World War II. To protect future generations from a repeat of these horrors, the
United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948 and invited states to sign
and ratify it. For the first time, the Universal Declaration set out the fundamental rights and freedoms shared by
all human beings.

THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS?

In 1947, the UN established the Human Rights Commission to draft the UDHR. Representatives from a range
of countries, including the UK, were involved in the drafting process. On 10 December 1948 the Declaration
was adopted by the UN.

The preamble to the UDHR sets out the aims of the Declaration, namely to contribute to ‘freedom, justice and
peace in the world’, to be achieved by universal recognition and respect for human rights. These rights are
then defined in 30 articles which include civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.

The main innovation of the UDHR is that it recognises a universal entitlement to rights applying to ‘all members
of the human family’. Before this the rights and freedoms of individuals were regarded as the domestic affair of
the state within whose jurisdiction they fell. The traumatic events of the Second World War prompted the
strong belief that this situation was no longer tenable, that universal protection was needed for all people, and
that the international community should monitor more strongly what happens inside states.
HOW ARE HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTED

Human rights declarations, conventions and laws are the starting point for making human rights real in
people’s lives. There are three different levels of human rights law – international, regional and domestic.
These are enforced and monitored in different ways.

WHAT ARE HUMAN RIGHTS

'Human rights' are the basic rights and freedoms that belong to every person in the world. They are the
fundamental things that human beings need in order to flourish and participate fully in society.

Human rights belong to everyone, regardless of their circumstances. They cannot be given away or taken
away from you by anybody – although some rights can be limited or restricted in certain circumstances. For
example, your right to liberty (Article 5, European Convention on Human Rights) can be restricted if you are
convicted of a crime.

They regulate the relationship between the state (including public authorities and public bodies, like schools
and the police) and individuals. So 'states' or 'states' parties' are responsible for ensuring rights are provided to
individuals, and individuals are 'rights-bearers'. This means that an individual cannot interfere with another
person’s rights, but that a school can fail to ensure that an individual’s rights are exercised.

Human rights are underpinned by a set of common values, including Fairness, Respect, Equality, Dignity and
Autonomy (FREDA).

There are many different human rights contained in the European Convention on Human Rights, reflecting our
basic needs across different areas of our lives. Civil and political rights include the right to liberty (Article 5) and
freedom of expression (Article 10), while economic, social and cultural rights include the protection of property
(Article 1 of Protocol 1) and the right to education (Article 2 of Protocol 1). Every human right is needed to 'be
human'.

The international community has agreed several key characteristics of human rights:

 Human rights are universal - they belong to everybody in the world.

 Human rights are inalienable - they cannot be taken away from people.
 Human rights are indivisible and interdependent – all the different human rights are important for
human beings to flourish and participate in society.

 MANILA, Philippines – The concept may be problematic in the Philippines but human rights are a vital
component of most modern democracies.
 Human rights allow a person to live with dignity and in peace, away from the abuses that can be
inflicted by abusive institutions or individuals. But the fact remains that there are rampant human rights
violations around the world.
 To further promote the importance of human rights in the Philippines, December 4 to 10 of each year is
marked as National Human Rights Consciousness Week via Republic Act No. 9201.
 December 10 is also considered as the United Nations Human Rights Day. It commemorates the day
the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.
 But do we really know our human rights? Rappler answers some key questions:
1. What are human rights?

Human rights, according to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, refers to norms that aim to protect people
from political, legal, and social abuses.

The United Nations (UN) defines human rights as universal and inalienable, interdependent and indivisible,
and equal and non-discriminatory.

 Universal and inalienable:

Human rights belong to all and cannot be taken away unless specific situations call for it. However, the
deprivation of a person's right is subject to due process.
 Interdependent and indivisible:
Whatever happens to even one right – fulfillment or violation – can directly affect the others.
 Equal and non-discriminatory:
Human rights protect all people regardless of race, nationality, gender, religion, and political leaning,
among others. They should be respected without prejudice.
 Human rights can also be classified under individual, collective, civil, political, economic and social, and
cultural.
 2. What laws or legal documents ensure the human rights of Filipino citizens?
 The rights of Filipinos can be found in Article III of the 1987 Philippine Constitution. Also called the Bill
of Rights, it includes 22 sections which declare a Filipino citizen’s rights and privileges that the
Constitution has to protect, no matter what.
 Aside from various local laws, human rights in the Philippines are also guided by the UN's International
Bill of Human Rights – a consolidation of 3 legal documents including the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights (UDHR), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and
the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
 As one of the signatories of these legal documents, the Philippines is obliged to recognize and apply
appropriate laws to ensure each right’s fulfillment.
 This is not always the case, however, as the Philippine Constitution lacks explicit laws to further cement
specific human rights in the local context.
 For example, the Right to Adequate Food may be included in the UNDR but it is not explicitly indicated
in the Philippine Constitution. Thus the government cannot be held responsible if this is not attained.
(READ: Zero Hunger: Holding gov’t accountable)
 3. Who oversees the fulfillment and protection of human rights in the Philippines?
 Human rights are both rights and obligations, according to the UN. The state – or the government – is
obliged to “respect, protect, and fulfill” these rights.

Respect begets commitment from state that no law should be made to interfere or curtail the fulfillment of the
stated human rights. Protecting means that human rights violations should be prevented and if they exist,
immediate action should be made.

In the Philippines, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) primarily handles the investigations of human
rights violations. However, it has no power to resolve issues as stated in the Supreme Court decision in 1991.

Established in 1986 during the administration of President Corazon Aquino, CHR is an independent body
which ensures the protection of human rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.

Aside from investigations, it also provides assistance and legal measures for the protection of human rights
guided by Section 18 Article XIII of the Philippine Constitution.

4. Do criminals or those who break the law still enjoy human rights?

Criminals or those in conflict with the law are still protected by rights as indicated in many legal documents
such as the Philippines’ Criminal Code and UN’s Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.

Specific human rights, however, may be removed, provided they go through due process beforehand.

In 2002, the CHR issued an advisory after the debate sparked by Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte's
statement during a crime summit in Manila. He said extra-judicial or summary killings remain "the most
effective way to crush kidnapping and illicit drugs."

However, according to the CHR, summary or extra-judicial executions of criminals or suspects are prohibited
under the Philippine Constitution as these violate several sections such as Article III Section 1, which states
that “no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law nor shall any person be
denied the equal protection of the laws."
A summary of the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Article 1: We are all born free. We all have our own thoughts and ideas and we should all be treated the same
way.
Article 2: The rights in the UDHR belong to everyone, no matter who we are, where we’re from, or whatever
we believe.
Article 3: We all have the right to life, and to live in freedom and safety.
Article 4: No one should be held as a slave, and no one has the right to treat anyone else as their slave.
Article 5: No one has the right to inflict torture, or to subject anyone else to cruel or inhuman treatment.
Article 6: We should all have the same level of legal protection whoever we are, and wherever in the world we
are.
Article 7: The law is the same for everyone, and must treat us all equally.
Article 8: We should all have the right to legal support if we are treated unfairly.
Article 9: Nobody should be arrested, put in prison, or sent away from our country unless there is good reason
to do so.
Article 10: Everyone accused of a crime has the right to a fair and public trial, and those that try us should be
independent and not influenced by others.
Article 11: Everyone accused of a crime has the right to be considered innocent until they have fairly been
proven to be guilty.
Article 12: Nobody has the right to enter our home, open our mail, or intrude on our families without good
reason. We also have the right to be protected if someone tries to unfairly damage our reputation.
Article 13: We all have the right to move freely within our country, and to visit and leave other countries when
we wish.
Article 14: If we are at risk of harm we have the right to go to another country to seek protection.
Article 15: We all have the right to be a citizen of a country and nobody should prevent us, without good
reason, from being a citizen of another country if we wish.
Article 16: We should have the right to marry and have a family as soon as we’re legally old enough. Our
ethnicity, nationality and religion should not stop us from being able to do this. Men and women have the same
rights when they are married and also when they’re separated. We should never be forced to marry. The
government has a responsibility to protect us and our family.
Article 17: Everyone has the right to own property, and no one has the right to take this away from us without
a fair reason.
Article 18: Everyone has the freedom to think or believe what they want, including the right to religious belief.
We have the right to change our beliefs or religion at any time, and the right to publicly or privately practise our
chosen religion, alone or with others.
Article 19: Everyone has the right to their own opinions, and to be able to express them freely. We should
have the right to share our ideas with who we want, and in whichever way we choose.
Article 20: We should all have the right to form groups and organise peaceful meetings. Nobody should be
forced to belong to a group if they don’t want to.
Article 21: We all have the right to take part in our country’s political affairs either by freely choosing politicians
to represent us, or by belonging to the government ourselves. Governments should be voted for by the public
on a regular basis, and every person’s individual vote should be secret. Every individual vote should be worth
the same.
Article 22: The society we live in should help every person develop to their best ability through access to work,
involvement in cultural activity, and the right to social welfare. Every person in society should have the freedom
to develop their personality with the support of the resources available in that country.
Article 23: We all have the right to employment, to be free to choose our work, and to be paid a fair salary that
allows us to live and support our family. Everyone who does the same work should have the right to equal pay,
without discrimination. We have the right to come together and form trade union groups to defend our interests
as workers.
Article 24: Everyone has the right to rest and leisure time. There should be limits on working hours, and
people should be able to take holidays with pay.
Article 25: We all have the right to enough food, clothing, housing and healthcare for ourselves and our
families. We should have access to support if we are out of work, ill, elderly, disabled, widowed, or can’t earn a
living for reasons outside of our control. An expectant mother and her baby should both receive extra care and
support. All children should have the same rights when they are born.
Article 26: Everyone has the right to education. Primary schooling should be free. We should all be able to
continue our studies as far as we wish. At school we should be helped to develop our talents, and be taught an
understanding and respect for everyone’s human rights. We should also be taught to get on with others
whatever their ethnicity, religion, or country they come from. Our parents have the right to choose what kind of
school we go to.
Article 27: We all have the right to get involved in our community’s arts, music, literature and sciences, and the
benefits they bring. If we are an artist, a musician, a writer or a scientist, our works should be protected and we
should be able to benefit from them.
Article 28: We all have the right to live in a peaceful and orderly society so that these rights and freedoms can
be protected, and these rights can be enjoyed in all other countries around the world.
Article 29: We have duties to the community we live in that should allow us to develop as fully as possible.
The law should guarantee human rights and should allow everyone to enjoy the same mutual respect.
Article 30: No government, group or individual should act in a way that would destroy the rights and freedoms
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
 HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 17. (1) There is hereby created an independent office called the Commission on Human
Rights.

(2) The Commission shall be composed of a Chairman and four Members who must be natural-born
citizens of the Philippines and a majority of whom shall be members of the Bar. The term of office and
other qualifications and disabilities of the Members of the Commission shall be provided by law.

(3) Until this Commission is constituted, the existing Presidential Committee on Human Rights shall
continue to exercise its present functions and powers.

(4) The approved annual appropriations of the Commission shall be automatically and regularly
released.

Section 18. The Commission on Human Rights shall have the following powers and functions:

(1) Investigate, on its own or on complaint by any party, all forms of human rights violations involving
civil and political rights;

(2) Adopt its operational guidelines and rules of procedure, and cite for contempt for violations thereof
in accordance with the Rules of Court;

(3) Provide appropriate legal measures for the protection of human rights of all persons within the
Philippines, as well as Filipinos residing abroad, and provide for preventive measures and legal aid
services to the underprivileged whose human rights have been violated or need protection;

(4) Exercise visitorial powers over jails, prisons, or detention facilities;

(5) Establish a continuing program of research, education, and information to enhance respect for the
primacy of human rights;

(6) Recommend to Congress effective measures to promote human rights and to provide for
compensation to victims of violations of human rights, or their families;

(7) Monitor the Philippine Government’s compliance with international treaty obligations on human
rights;

(8) Grant immunity from prosecution to any person whose testimony or whose possession of
documents or other evidence is necessary or convenient to determine the truth in any investigation
conducted by it or under its authority;

(9) Request the assistance of any department, bureau, office, or agency in the performance of its
functions;

(10) Appoint its officers and employees in accordance with law; and

(11) Perform such other duties and functions as may be provided by law.