Human beings, unlike animals, live under moral principles that protect their entire lives. The guidelines are applicable from one person to the other without discrimination based on race or gender. The general term for the principles is Human Rights. In every country, the law acknowledges the rights of every person, and the constitution guarantees their protection. The violation of the freedom by an individual, institution or the government is a violation of the law and punishable. The primary function of human rights is to protect the citizens of the country from mistreatment in harsh environments and provide equality for a comfortable life. Therefore, the rights circulate around the basic needs of a human being such as the right to life, protection from slavery and forced labor. Despite the neutrality of the principles, countries such as Syria are famous for violation of human rights due to political instability in the regions.
Importance of Human Rights
Human rights are fundamental to improving the kind of lives lived by the people. In the declaration of human rights, the law stipulated that it was criminal for one person to enslave the other person (Shienbaum " Hasan, 2006, p. 209). In the past, during the era of slavery in the United States, the slaves worked for their masters throughout their lives. In that life, the slaves lived in deplorable conditions and worked without earning a single cent. The owners of the slaves quantified them to personal property and sold them at will. It is worth noting that the slaves and their children belonged to the same masters. Therefore, the whole generation did not have the chance to lead a good life with the freedom to own property or receive payment for their services. Thus, human rights give such people the opportunity to lead ethical lives where they earn for the services rendered and use the cash to better their lives.
Apart from the denial of a chance to earn, slaves lived under the frequent punishment from the masters. The owners beat them up and forced them to work under harsh environments. Analyses of the countries that do not appreciate the policies enforced by the human rights reveal the stressful conditions that the people have to contend with in their lives. For example, in Nigeria, the Boko Haram is famous for attacking innocent civilians and killing them for no apparent reason. In the recent past, the group abducted many students and disappeared with them in the forest. A comparison between such a country and the United States reveals that people in countries that respect human rights lead peaceful lives without security worries. Therefore, human rights offer such people better conditions to work on their future concerning education and financial investments.
Human rights are essential in creating a country characterized by peace and economic growth. A critical aspect of the policies is the prevention of discrimination for all people. In such a community, women enjoy the same rights as their male counterparts. Therefore, all the people live in peace with one another, and the cultural diversity in the land fosters economic growth. People can move throughout the country in search of business opportunities to invest. If the situation were to change, the benefits would disappear with the same speed. For example, countries like Syria have very tough economic times due to political instability and disregard for human rights (Leverett, 2005, p. 26). The groups fighting with the government create tension that pushes away the investors from the country. More so, the people who would provide a market for the goods become refugees and flee the country. Therefore, human rights are essential for peace and economic growth in a state.
Human rights in a society teach the people how to respect one another and treat each other fairly. For example, all people have the right to move freely in any part of the country. However, when one citizen violates the right of another person, the courts confine such a person to jail. The incarceration limits the rights of the person to movement and interaction with other persons. The imprisonment seeks to communicate to the person the value accorded to respecting other people as well as their rights. When such a person leaves the prison, he or she will have the full knowledge and experience on the repercussions of violating the rights of other people. Therefore, human rights are essential in directing how people interact with each other in a manner that fosters respect and promotes mutual respect. Such instances minimize the chances of conflicts within society.
Human rights provide a favorable environment for people to work. It is against the law for an employer to deny the employee his or her salary. More so, the human rights protect the workers from any form of discrimination at work concerning their gender or racial background (Forsythe " McMahon, 2003, p. 222). Therefore, the employees get the chance to work hard for their gains. Human rights protect employees from sexual harassment incidents through improper actions such as rape. Without the rights and the legal policies to enforce the law, women would go back to the era of sex slavery. In those ancient times, the male fraternity bought women for their ventures and owned them in entirety. Therefore, one gender would live under challenging conditions and discrimination would be a common practice in the country. It is essential to appreciate the crucial step played by the policies in making the ground neutral and protecting both genders.
Human rights are applicable within individual countries as well as in the international treaties signed by different governments. The rights give the people a sense of identity to their land and the resources. In case a country like China needed funds from an emerging economy like Kenya, the human rights dictate that the two countries must come to an agreement that represents the views of the two sides. In the agreement, the states will deliberate on the benefits associated with the deal for mutual gain. In the colonial times, the developed nations took control of their colonies and the entire resources at their disposal. Such actions are not possible in the current times due to the legal binding that the smaller countries enjoy under the protection of human rights. Therefore, human rights are essential in helping the developing nations protect their resources and sign treaties that are important for their growth.
The applicability of human rights is evident even in the judicial system. The policies are essential in preventing incarceration of people over the wrong reasons. For example, the human rights dictate that a person must go through the entire judicial steps before recommendation of the appropriate punishment. Such measures ensure that the persons have the right to prove their innocence before the courts find him or her guilty. Besides, the state holds the responsibility of providing a lawyer to persons who cannot afford to get one. If it were not the case, only the wealthy persons would enjoy the services of the lawyers putting them in a better chance of getting justice as opposed to the poor (Campbell et al. 2003, p. 145). The human rights aim at equality for the entire population irrespective of the financial status. Therefore, the courts are essential in fighting for the human rights of the less privileged in the society by according them an impartial hearing in court.
Human rights are essential in communicating the necessary standards, which people need to lead a decent life. In various settings, human beings judge their environment based on the traditional practices synonymous with the region. However, there are basic rules and privileges which humanity considers critical for survival in the current times. In the United States of America, access to education in the past was for the whites only. In South Africa, the apartheid regime segregated the schools for the whites as well as the black. In such circumstances, the rich people, mostly the whites, accessed education of higher quality as compared to the rest of the population. Therefore, the gap between the rich and the poor increased due to lack of knowledge. As the times changed, it became impossible to secure a good employment without education. More so, leadership roles in the countries became dependent on the academic level of the candidate.
The proponents of human rights understood that education would be necessary for all people to compete equally in the employment sector (Campbell et al. 2003, p. 145). Currently, technology is taking over the world at a very high rate. It has become mandatory for persons with lower education to invest in advanced training to improve their competence. Therefore, the lack of schooling confined the people into a lifetime of challenges in trying to fit into the changing world. The human rights imply that knowledge is one of the basic requirements and lists it as one of the priority to communicate the standard needs of life. However, it is impossible for the person to enjoy the rights without the preservation of life. The first part dictates that a human being has the freedom to live. No one has the power to take the life of another person. The right is the fundamental reason behind the abolishment of the death penalty from the criminal justice department.
Roles of Human Rights
In human life, the freedoms perform the fundamental role of protecting the citizens of the country. One of the protections includes that of the lives of the people. In the first part of the bill, the policies state that every person deserves to live. Therefore, the freedom seeks to ensure that people do not kill one another as they please. The rights reinforce the religious perception of life as being sacred. The sanctity of life means that all the people should live for as long as possible without interference from any individual or the government. Apart from the lives of the people, human rights shield the people from any form of discrimination. The diversity in the world today places people from various ethnic origins in the same place either as the majority or minority groups. Discrimination of such people means that the minority groups would undergo frequent marginalization.
The lives of such people would end up being stressful since the discrimination might affect how they secure employment or get admission to academic institutions. Therefore, the policies protect the interaction of the people with one another in a fair form without discrimination or stereotypic mentality within the population. It beats logic when one group tends to claim a more significant right than the other. For example, people who use others as slaves hold the mentality that they deserve better lives than the ones they offer to the slaves. However, when anyone violates their rights, they end up seeking the assistance of the courts to push for their rights (Donald " Leach, 2016, p. 72). The freedoms accorded to all people in the constitution do not favor one group over the other due to numbers, financial power or academic achievements. Therefore, the implementation of the rights seeks to protect all the people by creating a uniform environment for everyone.
The human rights prioritize the safety of the people in all places. For example, a person has the freedom to move from one country to another is he or she feels that his or her life is in danger at home. In moving to the other country, the person is still within the boundaries created by the policies. In countries like Syria where political instability is the reason behind the death of many people and destruction of property, the residents can move to other countries as refugees or for political asylum. In the new state, the refugees will still enjoy the same rights as the citizens of the country. Such instances stipulate the importance of human rights in the protection of the citizens. Without the rights, the refugees might end up as slaves or remain in their original homes despite the imminent dangers. The neutrality of the freedoms reiterates the importance accorded to all people.
Despite the movement, the freedom accords the citizens the right to belong to a specific country. Therefore, the person may opt to apply for new citizenship in the foreign land or maintain the original status (Sobel, 2016, p. 63). The right to citizenship means that every person on earth must be a member of one country or more as stipulated by some of the constitutions that acknowledge dual citizenship. As the person grows up, the right expands the scope of freedoms enjoyed by the person. For example, a grownup has the freedom to move away from the parents and live independently in a different place. More so, the state cannot prevent such a person from starting a family. According to the rights, marriage and family is a fundamental freedom that every citizen must enjoy. Therefore, the law guarantees the expansion of the family through marriage and rearing of children. The bill ensures satisfaction of the physical body, mental state as well as spiritual form.
Human rights have the responsibility averting abuse of persons in the society. Abuse might be in the form of malnutrition, oppression at work or cultural practices. One point to note is that diversity appreciates the traditional methods of all people concerning their backgrounds. The rights do not force any person to change from their cultural practices to new ones. When a refugee moves from one country to another, the law gives them the freedom to uphold their values without interference. Therefore, the role of human rights is to give people the freedom to make choices in life that match their desires and aspirations. In the artistic world, human right gives people the freedom to enjoy their creations without oppression from other people who might replicate the idea. In art, duplication of an original piece of design requires permission from the owner. Therefore, the freedom applies to individuals as well as institutions and countries in the agreement.
The creation and maintenance of order are the sole responsibilities of the rights. If one person respected the other without any hitches, instances where people collided with each other, would reduce immensely. For example, the reason behind conflicts in some countries is due to undemocratic processes in an election of the leaders. Therefore, a conflict emerges between the rightful leaders and those imposed on the people by those who need the power. In human rights, people have the freedom to decide the people they would entrust with the leadership of the country. Human rights perform the role of guaranteeing good leadership in the country by placing the decision on the citizenship of the country (Bessette, 2014, p. 206). In this process, the law gives a mandatory age limit to ensure the process is sensible. At the age of eighteen years, which is the limit for most countries, the person is in the right mental stature to analyze the characters of the leaders and identify the right one.
Imposing leaders on the population is a common cause of conflicts, which goes against the right to democratic freedom of the people. The human rights play the critical role of providing acceptable leadership and improving the comfort of the lives of the people. In the right to social security, the citizenship of the state must get affordable housing, medication and enough income to sustain their lives. Therefore, when an employer pays an employee, it is not a privilege but rather a right enshrined in the constitution. In the developed nations, the government calculates the minimum wage that an employee should receive from the employer. It beats logic for the employee to earn an amount that cannot guarantee sustainable lives. It is the right of any person to make enough money to lead comfortable lives without reliance on foreign aid for the basic needs. The minimum wage is a policy that seeks to guarantee conformity to the human rights by the employers.
In the formulation of laws in different countries, human rights act as the point of reference for the practitioners. In every step, the legislators must ensure that the proposals made do not conflict with the universal rules that govern the lives and freedom of people. For example, many countries sentenced serious offenders to death. However, the human rights acknowledge the right to life for all people irrespective of the crime committed (Wicks, 2010, p. 22). In observation of the conflict between the laws and the policies of human rights, the countries modified their laws per the statute to abolish the practice such as in Mongolia. In other countries, human rights policies have altered the educational system by making it free for all people. The cost of education is expensive, and some people cannot afford it. However, many donors and non-governmental organizations took to the role of funding the education systems in developing nations to make it accessible.
The accessibility of the education guarantees all the people an opportunity to gain education and use the acquired knowledge in improving their lives. Therefore, the human rights are responsible for creating a foundation on which majority of the countries formulate their laws. Even though some countries are defiant of the rights, the overall changes produced by the policies are good. For example, financial aid given to the people in calamities such as droughts and hurricanes is responsible for the sustenance of life. In the absence of the help, many people would die from the natural disasters leaving some countries deserted. The ethical implication of human rights relies on the fair treatment of people in measures that maintain their dignity as people. Animals have adaptive features that protect them against harsh environmental factors. Therefore, they can survive without shelters and be in a position to procreate and increase their population. A human being needs the basic needs to survive, and the human rights seek to provide such.
In the religious perspective, human rights allow the persons from all the religious backgrounds to worship in peace. In this era of religious extremism, some worshippers believe that their religion is superior to others and create an environment where religious tolerance is minimal. A good example is the Boko Haram militants in Nigeria who are fond of bombing religious buildings where other worshipers pray. Such mannerisms go against the fundamental principles used in designing human rights. If a person believes that the religious beliefs of another person are not right, it is not within his or her right to interfere with them. The ethical measures to adopt are letting the people continue with their practices as long as they do not interfere with theirs. The human rights practices seek to create an environment where all people can live in peace and harmony from the physical interaction, mental and spiritual states. Therefore, it is right to conclude that human rights are a significant step towards enhancing equality from the local to international levels.
Conclusion
Human rights are a declaration of equality for all people from all over the world without discrimination based on color, gender, and ethnic backgrounds. The privileges guarantee humanity legal protection from the law that protects their lives, their employment and peaceful existence in their homes. After maturity, human rights accord the people an opportunity to marry, own a home and children without interference from the government or an intruder. Despite the positive aspect of the policies, it is regrettable that some of the countries disregard human rights and treat people in horrible ways. The slavery of people and payment of funds below the minimum wage are some of the instances where humanity experiences a violation of their rights. The judicial bodies in all countries have the responsibility of ensuring the people enjoy their rights as accorded by the constitution. The departments punish those people who violate the rights of others while ensuring that the offense is equal to the crime committed. Therefore, human rights are responsible for protecting the population; providing better living conditions and creating a good design for the enactment of laws that uphold the rights of the people.
References
Bessette, J. (2014). American government and politics : deliberation, democracy and citizenship. Belmont: Wadsworth.
Campbell, T., Goldsworthy, J. " Stone, A. (2003). Protecting human rights : instruments and institutions. Oxford New York: Oxford University Press.
Donald, A. " Leach, P. (2016). Parliaments and the European Court of Human Rights. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.
Forsythe, D. " McMahon, P. (2003). Human rights and diversity : area studies revisited. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
Leverett, F. (2005). Inheriting Syria : Bashar's trial by fire. Washington, D.C: Brookings Institution Press.
Shienbaum, K. " Hasan, J. (2006). Beyond jihad : critical voices from inside Islam. Bethesda: Academica Press.
Sobel, R. (2016). Citizenship as foundation of rights : meaning for America. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
Wicks, E. (2010). The right to life and conflicting interests. Oxford New York: Oxford University Press.
