WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES AMONG CIVIL/POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL

RIGHTS? WHAT SPECIFIC AREAS OF HUMAN RIGHTS DOES EACH OF THESE

CONCEPTS COVER?

Human rights have pervaded much of the political discourse since the Second World
War. While the struggle for freedom from oppression and misery is probably as old as humanity
itself, it was the massive affront to human dignity pretreated during that War, and the need felt to
prevent such horror in the future, which put the human being back at the center and led to the
codification at the international level of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Human rights are the most fundamental rights of human beings. The key internationally
agreed definition of human rights is contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(UDHR), proclaimed in 1984 by the United Nations General Assembly. Human rights are
universal values. Human rights are the basic rights and freedom to which all humans are entitled
often held to include the right to life and liberty, freedom of thought and expression and equality
before the law. All member countries of UN which is develop and developing have endorsed the
UDHR where a document based on wide-ranging consultation across different cultures.

The concept of human rights has a long history. Human rights principles are found, for
example in the English Bill of Rights (1689), the American Bill of Rights (1789) and the French
Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789). They are found also as fundamental aspirations in
civilizations from many continents. Popular awareness of human rights issues is now growing
throughout the world, including in developing countries, as information is spread through the
media and the internet.

Implementation of human rights principles at a local level is not necessarily a clear or

simple issue. There may be disagreements between local people; each claiming the right to a
particular resource or holding incompatible vies about development. Rights may conflict with
each other (extremists for example ay abuse the right to free speech to incite persecution of
minorities). But this is not an argument against human rights, rather for understanding and
judiciously balancing competing demands.
 Many people associate human rights only with torture of political prisoners or other
abuses of power by governments. But human rights as defined in the UDHR also include civil
and political, economic, social and cultural rights.

Civil or Political Rights

Cari what is civil rights and political rights

In the area civil and political rights:

• Rights to life

• Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment

• Freedom from slavery, security and forced labor

• Right to liberty and security of person

• Right of detained persons to be treated with humanity

• Freedom of movement

• Right to a fair trial

• Prohibition of retroactive criminal laws

• Right to privacy

• Freedom of thought, conscience and religion

• Freedom of opinion and expression

• Prohibition of propaganda for war and of incitement to national, racial or religious hatred

• Freedom of assembly

• Freedom of association

• Right to marry and found a family

 • Right to take part in the conduct of public affairs, vote be selected and have access to
public office

• Right to equality before the law and non-discrimination

The right to life

The right to life is the most fundamental human right and cannot be subject to derogation
even in war on in states of emergency. Unlike the prohibition of torture or slavery, however, the
right to life is not absolute right. The death of combatants as a result of a “lawful act of war”
within the meaning of international humanitarian law does not constitute a violation of the right
to life. Similarly, if law enforcement agents take a person’s life that act may not violate the right
to life either, for example if the death results from a use of force that was absolutely necessary
for such legitimate purposes as self-defense or the defense of a third person, of from a lawful
arrest, or from actions taken to prevent the escape of a person legally detained or to put down a
riot on insurrection. Such absolute necessity can be determined only by a competent judicial
body, on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the principle of proportionality and in the final
instance, by a treat body. In additional the right to life cannot be considered absolute in legal
systems that authorize capital punishment.

Economic Rights

Economic rights can be defined as the rights of access to resources-such as land, labor, physical
and financial capital that are essential for the creation, legal appropriation and market exchange
of goods and services. Economic rights are self evident. However for their full recognition,
economic rights require at least three conditions. There are:

(i) They require knowledge of basic economic needs for a person to operate in the economic
world.

(ii) They require knowledge of their legal characteristic

(iii) They have to be fully integrated into the theory of justice.