History of Human Rights

We explain the history of human rights, its background, its role in the Modern and Contemporary ages and its universal declaration in 1948.

History of human rights

Human rights are rights inherent to all individuals that is, they belong to every person for the sole fact of being human. Therefore, they do not depend on any other criteria, such as ethnicity, nationality, language, gender, religion or socioeconomic position.

It is often thought that human rights are a modern Western invention, but the truth is that they have a history with numerous ancient and medieval antecedents. Therefore, there is some room for debate regarding its historical origin.

However, It was in the West where the idea of ​​natural rights began to have a relevant place. (antecedent of the concept of human rights), based on the political philosophy of the Modern Age. It was also there where the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen was approved, in the context of the French Revolution of 1789, and where The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was proclaimed in 1948.

Human rights background

The Ancient Age

existed important political and legal provisions in Antiquity that some historians consider as a precedent for human rights. The first known case is that of the Code of Hammurabi, from the 18th century BC. c written in Babylon during the reign of Hammurabi, which contained a list of possible crimes and their corresponding penalties. Thus, the Babylonian population could expect a somewhat impartial justice, oblivious to the whims of the monarch, although some historians maintain that this document had a more propagandistic objective.

Something similar happened centuries later, in the 6th century BC. C., after the conquest of Babylon by the Persian king Cyrus the Great. The Persians issued a document, known as the Cyrus Cylinder which allowed the return to their homes of people deported by the previous regime and guaranteed freedom of worship to all subjects in the territories annexed to the empire.

Although many of these ancient documents had the objective of legitimizing a new king or conqueror, who presented himself as a kind and exemplary ruler, their existence allows us to assume that already in Antiquity the importance of having just laws that They defended free people.

Later, he roman law introduced the idea of ​​natural rights, which were based on some sense of equality. Natural rights were those that all Roman citizens possessed. However, at that time not every individual was considered a citizen. For example, slaves, foreigners and enemies were not protected by these rights. Furthermore, women could be citizens, but their rights had limitations, especially in politics.

With the rise of religion Christian, whose dogma professed equality in the eyes of God the idea was promoted in some areas of the West that a person's origin did not matter, but rather their actions, and that Christians should promote charity and protect the weak and slaves. However, slavery did not disappear and inequalities and privileges continued to exist.

The Middle Ages

During the Middle Ages, the social order in Europe was based mainly on the privileges of the noble and ecclesiastical sectors to the detriment of serfs and peasants. Additionally, there were episodes of religious persecution conducted by the Inquisition, which today would be characterized as serious violations of human rights.

However, at that time there were also initiatives in other regions that some researchers identify as antecedents of human rights. One of them was the Manden Charter of the Mali Empire in West Africa, proclaimed in Kurukan Fuga in the 13th century. This letter established a series of rules for the organization of the empire in which an idea of human dignity similar to what we associate with human rights today.

At the same time, in Europe in the 13th and 14th centuries the ideas of some intellectuals began to spread who defended, on the one hand, the existence of rights inherent to human nature, and on the other, the freedom of individuals to do ( which is usually associated with subjective law and modern political freedom). These ideas paved the way for the revival of natural law in the West with the Renaissance.

Human rights in the Modern and Contemporary ages

The Modern Age brought with it the rise of a new social class, the wealthy but plebeian bourgeoisie, which through different revolutions imposed a liberal vision of society. The bourgeoisie did not base its wealth on birth and, therefore, sought greater equal opportunities regardless of the origin of the people or the mandates of the monarch.

Thinkers such as Voltaire (1694-1778), John Locke (1632-1704), Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) and Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), among many others, cemented a new vision of the world. Its main historical manifestation was the French Revolution in 1789, which violently put an end to the monarchy and established a republican order that aspired to three great principles: liberty, equality and fraternity.

In fact, were the French revolutionaries interested in transforming the system, who for the first time in history spoke of universal human rights. To this end, the newly formed National Assembly drafted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which in its first article established that “men are born and remain free and equal in rights.” However, this declaration excluded women from many rights, since the concept of citizen was reserved for men.

Although the regime of the French Revolution ended up falling before the monarchical restoration, things were never the same again. The idea of ​​human rights was taken up by liberal political movements in various parts of the world and also by socialist and trade unionist movements of the 19th century who, in the face of the industrial capitalist system, fought for social changes and new conditions of freedom and equality.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The 20th century was characterized by devastating and prolonged wars, such as the First and Second World Wars, in which military conflict was fought for the first time with industrial technology and caused horrors never before seen: the war use of gases and chemicals, Nazi extermination camps, the American atomic bombs on Japan, among others.

The effects of the Second World War were so traumatic that in 1945 the United Nations (UN) was born to ensure that nothing similar would happen again.

On December 10, 1948, the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was the first of many international documents on the subject, some of them with the character of international treaties, such as the European Convention on Human Rights of 1950, the International Covenants on Human Rights of 1966 or the American Convention on Human Rights of 1969 (also called Pact of San José of Costa Rica).

Under these international agreements, human rights are currently understood as universal (without discrimination based on any type of social, political, ethnic or religious criteria), inalienable (cannot be sold or assigned) and inalienable (you can't give them up). In short, they are common to any human being anywhere in the world.

These numerous agreements on human rights have not and do not prevent the fundamental rights of many people from continuing to be violated. But, even so, for the first time in history the concept of human dignity has international institutions that defend it.

Besides, Violation of human rights is currently considered a punishable crime anywhere in the world and in many cases it does not prescribe, which means that it does not matter how much time has passed since it was committed.

Continue with: Fundamental rights

References

• Flowers, N. (Ed.). (sf). A Short History of Human Rights. Human Rights Here and Now. Human Rights Educators' Network (Amnesty International), Human Rights Resource Center and Stanley Foundation. http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/
• Kennedy, P. (2007). The parliament of humanity. The history of the United Nations. Debate.
• United Nations. (sf). Human rights. https://www.un.org/es/
• United Nations. (sf). History of the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. https://www.un.org/es/
• Weston, B. H. (2024). Human Rights. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/