What do human rights mean?
Introduction
Now take a moment to reflect on what you’ve learnt so far. Consider each of these questions and then click on the ‘Answer’ buttons for some possible responses.
Question 1
Where do human rights come from?
Answer
We get human rights because we are human. No one can give them to you and no one can take them away – but they can be violated.
Question2
Who is entitled to human rights?
Answer
Everyone. Human rights are universal and apply to all of us all equally.
Question 3
Who can violate human rights?
Answer
Anybody can violate the rights of human beings. States have a duty under international law to uphold human rights, and we all have a responsibility to respect the rights of others.
Question 4
How much food is a human right?
Answer
A human right implies a certain standard, the right to life with dignity. Human rights guarantee more than survival: they identify the minimum standards for living with dignity. The Sphere minimum standards attempt to quantify and qualify that right, at least in disasters. So, Sphere general nutrition support standard 1, its guidance notes, and the related appendix 7 would describe how much food can be considered to be a human right in a humanitarian emergency.
Question 5
Who has the responsibility for ensuring people achieve their rights?
Answer
States and warring parties have legal responsibilities under international law, although we all have the moral duty to respect other people’s rights.
It is essential to distinguish between ‘legal’ and ‘moral’ rights. Human rights, in the context of international human rights law, entail a corresponding duty for a state to protect those rights through national structures, services and enforcement mechanisms. This means that a ‘right to’ something always means that a state has the 'duty of’ protecting that right. However, we all have moral duties to help people achieve their human rights by virtue of the fact we are part of civil society.