IMPORTANCE OF HUMAN RIGHTS: 10 ESSENTIAL REASONS - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

There are more than 10 reasons why human rights are important. These allow people to live with dignity, equality, justice, freedom and peace. All people have these rights simply because we are human.

They are guaranteed for everyone, without distinction of any kind, nor by race, color, language, religion, political inclination, sex, different opinions, nationality or social origin, birth, property or any other status.

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Human rights are essential for the full development of individuals and also of their communities.

According to the United Nations "human rights ensure that a human being is capable of fully developing and using human qualities such as intelligence, conscience and talent, to satisfy their needs, be they spiritual, material or otherwise".

10 reasons for the importance of human rights

1- They protect all people

Human rights are important because they reflect the minimum standards necessary for people to live in dignity. Human rights give people the right to choose how they want to live, how to express themselves and what kind of government they want to support, among other things.

Furthermore, human rights guarantee people that they will have the necessary means to satisfy their basic needs such as food, shelter and education, and that opportunities will be available to all.

They also guarantee life, equality, liberty and security and protect people against abuses by those in positions of greater power.

Human rights are important in the relationships that exist between individuals and the government that exercises power over them. The government has power over the people, but Human Rights express that this power is limited.

States must be concerned with meeting people's basic needs and protecting some of their freedoms. This is why human rights apply to all people, are protected by law, are internationally guaranteed and cannot be taken away from any person or group.

2- They are a historical legacy

Throughout history, the concepts of ethical behavior, human dignity, and justice have been fundamental to the development of human societies. These ideas can be found in all ancient civilizations from Babylon, India, and China.

They were the basis of the laws in developed societies such as the Greek and Roman and of course, they are central in the Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Islamic, Jewish doctrines and in Confucianism.

They have had the same importance in other societies and cultures, being transmitted through oral tradition, such as the aborigines in Australia and other indigenous societies around the world.

During the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, the ideas of justice took on special importance in the thinking of philosophers and politicians. An important branch of this approach was the natural law that exists above the laws of all men.

Here the concept that individuals have certain rights simply because they are human beings began to be considered.

In this way, in 1215 in England the King was forced to sign the "Magna Carta", the first document in history that limits the absolute power that monarchs had and makes him responsible towards his subjects.

In this “Magna Carta” there are some basic protection rights of citizens, such as the right to a trial.

During the times of revolutions that occurred between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, ideas that respect the identity of individuals, peoples and nations continued to develop.

In 1776, the Declaration of Independence of the United States was based on the understanding of these inalienable rights to human beings as "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness", which are fundamental for all people.

The same happened with the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens, which in 1789 challenged the authority of the aristocracy and the monarchy, recognizing "liberty, equality and fraternity" as the rights of all individuals.

Human rights began to take shape in times of many social problems such as the times of slavery, genocide and government oppression. The atrocities committed during World War II made it clear that previous attempts to protect human rights from government violations were neither adequate nor efficient.

Thus was created the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as part of the emergency of the United Nations. This was the first international document that specified the rights that all people should have.

These are the basic civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights that all human beings should be able to enjoy. This declaration was ratified unopposed by the United Nations General Assembly in December 1948.

When it was adopted, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was not legally binding, although it did carry significant moral weight. Therefore, to give this declaration legal weight, the United Nations prepared two treaties: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The division of these two pacts is artificial, this shows the division of ideologies during the Cold War. Although politicians avoided creating a unified treaty, the two covenants are interconnected and the rights contained in one covenant are necessary for the fulfillment of the rights contained in the other covenant.

These documents together are known as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is found in more than 500 languages.

3- They are respected internationally

Human rights are specifically compiled in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and must be respected by all nations in the world. This is essential as it allows people to be protected from all types of abuse, unequal treatment or discrimination.

It also makes it possible to avoid practices that go against the dignity of people such as torture, cruel or degrading punishment, slavery or servitude. These acts are prohibited in all their forms.

Article 30 of the International Declaration of Human Rights indicates that none of the points of the document can be interpreted by any State, person or group, nor can they engage in any activity or action that leads to the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms that are provided in the declaration.

4- They provide guarantees before justice to all people

Thanks to human rights, all people have the right to a fair trial in front of an independent and impartial court in the event of having been accused of committing a crime or offense against any law. This also provides rights and obligations to the person being tried.

Article 11 of the International Declaration of Human Rights explains that any person accused of a criminal offense has the right to be presumed innocent until proven otherwise, according to the laws in a public trial, where they also have all the necessary guarantees necessary for their defense.

In the second section of the same article, the Declaration of Human Rights continues and states that no person should be detained or accused of any criminal offense or act of omission that does not constitute a criminal offense under national or international laws, at the time it was task.

Nor should punishments or penalties be applied that are more severe than those that apply correspondingly to the case of the criminal offense.

5- They protect freedom of religion

One of the rights that people have according to the Declaration of Human Rights is freedom of religion. The religious beliefs and thoughts of all individuals should not be questioned, prohibited or ridiculed.

According to article 18 of the International Declaration of Human Rights, this includes the freedom of thought and conscience and of being able to express and manifest one's beliefs individually or in community, publicly or privately.

It is also permitted to teach their religion, practice it, observe its rules and practice its worship rites.

6- They provide protection to vulnerable sectors of the population

The International Declaration of Human Rights establishes that no person should be subjected to unjust or inhuman treatment, that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, such as the right to life, security and liberty.

This is especially important in parts of the world where dangerous situations are still experienced by some sectors of the population, such as women and children who constantly live suffering harassment, trafficking, abuse and rape.

It is in these places, where the work of the United Nations is fundamental through its Human Rights Council, to try to protect these people and obtain their freedom, respect and dignity in all its diversity and expression.

This is achieved through destabilizing tactics of repression, sectarianism and violence in countries where these practices are still carried out regularly, as is the case in Africa and conflict zones in the Middle East.

7- They gather all the values ​​that are fundamental to live in society

The Declaration of Human Rights specifies values ​​of tolerance, respect and equality that can help reduce the tensions and frictions that regularly occur in society.

Putting human rights into practice begins to build the type of society in which we all want to live, where brotherhood and the well-being of all people prevail.

In the past century, especially within the World Wars, grotesque violations of human rights were experienced, as occurred in the Holocaust with the creation of concentration camps, where thousands of people considered "inferior" by the German Nazi regime were forced to work in conditions of slavery or exterminated.

Jews, homosexuals, communists, opponents of the ideas of the regime, children, the elderly were eliminated just for their existence.

In fact, World War II ended with the destruction of thousands of lives when atomic bombs were used for the first time in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. To this must be added the millions of people who died as a result of the war, the homeless refugees and the countries devastated during the conflict.

This is why, within that period, Human Rights petitions became very present, such as the declaration of the "Four Freedoms" by the President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt in 1941, in which four aspects were mentioned that everyone he had to enjoy: freedom of speech and belief and freedom of needs and fear.

After this, the creation of the United Nations arose to guarantee fish and security, promote economic development, support international law and ensure respect and compliance with Human Rights.

Since then, it has been considered that the protection of human rights helps to ensure freedom, justice and peace for all people in the future, preventing the occurrence of abuses, damages and attacks on groups or individuals such as those mentioned above.

8- Human rights cannot be withdrawn

No person - regardless of their condition or actions - can have their Human Rights taken away. No person, state or group has the power to do this.

This, however, does not mean that human rights abuses and violations do not occur. Sadly, we see tragic stories of violence, racism, murder, poverty, abuse and discrimination in newspapers and on television every day.

But it does not mean that human rights are just noble aspirations, but legal principles that have even been incorporated into the legal systems of many governments.

This gives people the opportunity to be treated according to the precepts of human rights in their own countries. Laws must always protect people.

9- An international committee can intervene in complaints of human rights abuses and / or violations

The influence of human rights is so important that an individual or a group of people can file a complaint with the United Nations, denouncing the violation of human rights, which must be reviewed and investigated by the relevant committee.

10- They ensure democracy

A functional democracy, which accommodates the diversity of opinions and people, has a lot to do with human rights. To avoid that power is concentrated in the hands of a few people and with this abuses and abuses arise, the democratic system is the best option.

Most nations have chosen democracy as their preferred form of government. However, the challenge is to continue improving this system, so that it not only manifests itself during the electoral process but also manages to become a joint venture between the people and their government.

References

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3. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Recovered from un.org.
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5. The importance of human rights leadership. Recovered from humanrights.gov.
6. An introduction to human rights. Recovered from somethingincommon.humanrights.gov.au.
7. The importance of human rights to democracy, governance and development. Recovered from parliamentarystrengthening.org.