In Defence of Human Rights

By Michael Hislop

As the 21st Century proceeds into Its second decade, what is perhaps most remarkable about Human Society, is our increasing lack of Humanity towards each and other.

In the face of this, I look desperately around, but I cannot see anywhere the Humanist Endeavour...

What happened to the Brotherhood of Man? What happened to Human Rights?

When did we wave The White Flag of surrender to untruths, incivility and blatant barbarism?

Only a brash and uninformed fool could call Humanity these days... Civilized... especially in the face of rife conflicts that kill more children and civilians than soldiers... and in a World where people routinely die from lack whilst We continue to lavish billions upon billions on ways and means to kill and dupe each other...

Still to this day, billions of Human Beings lack basic needs like clean water and food and access to education and employment... Not to mention lack of access to electricity and internet... Alwhilst, we commit to spending billions on Artificial Intelligence.

Imagine... If we spent just $500 Billion on securing achievement of the Sustainable Developmental Goals by 2030... Surely, You can see that this would mean actually beginning to Create a Better World here.

Alongside these worsening Problems, I again Listen to Governments and their coteries of Intellectuals wheeling out age-old Arguments against the Existence and Validity of Human Rights.

These being the same Governments and Intellectuals who profess to be Our Guardians.

And, I think to Myself... When Governments themselves become the greatest threat to Our Peace and Our Safety and Our Rights... We are really in trouble.

And, I Am reminded of Albert Camus in The Rebel writing ... “...But slave camps under the flag of freedom, massacres justified by philanthropy or the taste for the superhuman, cripple judgement. On the day when crime puts on the apparel of innocence, through a curious reversal peculiar to our age, it is innocence that is called on to justify itself.”

So, in resignation and deeply upset, I start to pen a 21st Century Defence of Human Rights...

And, contrary to ongoing claims, Conceptions of Human Rights and their inalienability and universality, are not just a product of certain strains of Western Liberalism. Though Their modern Expressions emerge from Here.

Rather, They have the same bases as The Golden Rule found in most cultures and creeds... Do thou unto another, as You wish done to You.

As Realist a perspective as any really, for normally it is Your own Deeds and Sins that claim You.

But simply put, the basis of Human Rights, is that every Human Being shares certain attributes and Rights that arise naturally from the Fact of Existence.

They are thus Inalienable from the Fact of Existence; They can’t be separated from Existence nor are They conferred from Outside of Existence. Their basis being the Natural Sovereignty and Intrinsic Dignity of each and every Human Being.

Noting to You that Natural Sovereignty is deemed Constitutionally or otherwise Delegated. The same isn’t True of Human Rights because of Their Inalienability.

They can be infringed and momentarily taken away, but They can’t be separated from Existence... They are a Part of the Dignity of being Human... If I Exist, They are There, and They are Mine.

Their inalienability puts Them in a special Legal Category above and beyond Jurisprudence... They are agreed Standards of Behaviour not just Laws or Ideals.

Thus, derogations from and infringements of Human Rights are deemed Jus Cogens in International Law... meaning They are on Their Own compelling and mandatory and above ordinary jurisprudence.

Yet because of a quirk of International Arrangements, protection and enforcement of Human Rights is left as a matter of domestic jurisprudence.

This Understanding of Human Rights demolishes Gilles Deleuze’s view that Human Rights are ordinary matters of jurisprudence. Every breach of Human Rights is real and serious, regardless of when and where it is possible to seek protection and enforcement of Them.

Furthermore, the fact that every Government of the World acknowledges the Existence of Human Rights, and moderates activities in line with some or all of Them, means that Human Rights are not mere empty abstractions as alleged by Gilles Deleuze.

As case to point, every single Country has ratified at least one of the nine Treaties relevant to Human Rights, most ratifying multiple Ones.

Further, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a Declaration passed by the United Nations General Assembly. Doesn’t sound like empty idealistic abstraction to Me.

It is often said “The Devil is in the cracks and crevices of the details”... And, the failings of the International Human Rights Regime stem largely from the peculiar Fact that Nations and Governments are largely left to decide whether to protect and enforce Them.

A Fact nigh criminal... In light of Their mandatory and compelling Nature... And, Their Purpose as a bulwark against the tyranny and oppression primarily of Governments and Rulers.

This is a situation, much like putting the cats in charge of ensuring the lives of local mice populations.

See, I Know that all Human Beings are Created equally, and endowed Naturally with certain shared attributes and Rights. I Know this by way of simple Thought Experiment...

Thinking solely for the Moment about The Right to Life... At a bare minimum... My Right to Breathe... Is not mere abstraction... It is a need and desire that is compelling and visceral, demanding of upholding and defending, and shared by all other Human Beings who are Existent. And, I will defend It with very Life if becomes necessary.

Thus are all Human Rights. And as Nelson Mandela observed... “To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.”