Can there be a universal conception of human rights? Give your arguments. (UPSC CSE Mains 2021 - Political Science and International Relations, Paper 1)
- Human rights are universal and inalienable; indivisible; interdependent and interrelated. They are universal because everyone is born with and possesses the same rights, regardless of where they live, their gender or race, or their religious, cultural or ethnic background. Inalienable because people’s rights can never be taken away. Indivisible and interdependent because all rights – political, civil, social, cultural and economic – are equal in importance and none can be fully enjoyed without the others. They apply to all equally, and all have the right to participate in decisions that affect their lives. They are upheld by the rule of law and strengthened through legitimate claims for duty-bearers to be accountable to international standards.
- The universality of human rights is encompassed in the words of Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”
- However, there are two reasons some people find it hard to accept. The first is the appeal of relativism. That appeal is all the greater now, when cultural diversity is more present than ever in one’s neighbourhood, on television, and across the internet. It’s a short step from identifying differences in cultural values to identifying justice itself as culturally constructed. The second reason for doubt is also a response to the radically diverse ways of life in the world, but a simpler one: a belief that human rights universality is implausible. Even if there are moral universals, one might think them too few or too vague, and the settings of their operation too diverse, to generate anything as specific as human rights.
- For example, of what is accepted as torture by some and not by others, namely male and female circumcision. The Western world thinks that male circumcision is good for health-related reasons. But many people in the Asian world do not agree. On the other hand, female circumcision is a cultural tradition (not on health grounds) in many African nations. This act is considered barbaric and reprehensible by the ''civilised'' world, in recent years several African countries have passed laws against female circumcision.)
- Both the UN sponsored international conferences on Human Rights at Tehran (1968) and at Vienna (1993) have underlined the universality of the human rights. The Vienna Declaration, coming after 25 years, represents a global consensus on the nature of human rights. This is an agreed opinion of the world.
- The first paragraph of the Vienna Declaration states without ambiguity: ''The universal nature I of these rights and freedoms is beyond question.'' The provisions of the Vienna Declaration lead to the following conclusions:
- They state once and for all that dignity is the common basis of all human rights.
- They proclaim the universal character of those rights.
- However, important to note is a need for taking note of national and regional peculiarities and of various historical, cultural and religious heritages as we accept the universal nature of the human rights.
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