How to defend human rights

Universal human rights are a list of 30 fundamental rights common and recognized to all human beingsregardless of sex, race, religion, origin, etc., by the mere fact of having been born, hence its universality. These rights establish a series of conditions that are essential to guarantee that all of us can live with dignity as human beings in a free, fair and peaceful environment.

These 30 rights are included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rightsa document proclaimed at the United Nations General Assembly in Paris (1948). This document was created as a consequence of the events that occurred following World War II. However, even though these rights may seem the most basic and indispensable to us, there are many places in the world where these rights are violated and violated every day.

The 30 universal human rights are collected and detailed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As a summary, we can say that these rights touch, among others, on issues related to equality, freedom of expression or the right to life, education, housing and health.

The list of the 30 articles on human rights collected in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in summary, is the following:

1. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
2. Everyone has all the rights and freedoms of the Declaration.
3. Right to life
4. Right to freedom, no one will be subjected to slavery or servitude.
5. No one will be subjected to torture.
6. Right to a legal personality.
7. Equality before the law.
8. Right to defense before a court.
9. No one may be arbitrarily detained or exiled.
10. Right to a fair trial.
11. Right to the presumption of innocence.
12. Right to privacy.
13. Right to freedom of movement.
14. Right to asylum.
15. Right to nationality.
16. Right to marriage without restrictions of race, nationality or religion.
17. Right to individual and collective property.
18. Right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
19. Right to freedom of opinion and expression.
20. Right to freedom of assembly and association.
21. Right to democracy.
22. Right to social security.
23. Right to work, equal pay and the formation of unions.
24. Right to rest and leisure.
25. Right to an adequate standard of living that ensures health, well-being, food, clothing, housing, medical assistance and social services.
26. Right to free education, at least in the basic training stages.
27. Right to culture.
28. Right to social and international order.
29. Right to enjoy their freedoms and duties regarding the community.
30. Impossibility of eliminating any of these rights and freedoms included in the Declaration to confer any right to the State, a group or a person to undertake and develop activities or acts aimed at their suppression.

Throughout history, events have occurred in which it has been necessary to defend these rights that all human beings have. To this end, citizen participation has been crucial to guarantee compliance with these rights. Buthow to defend human rights in a more concrete way?

First of all, it is crucial that be informed and know your rights. The best asset of those who may want to play with them to take them from us is ignorance, so this is the first step to detect when someone is trying to rape them.

Once you know your rights, you must protect them in your personal life, accepting the responsibility that this entails, as it is not just an issue that concerns large organizations such as the United Nations or governments. We are all responsible for protecting, promoting and defending human rights in a proactive way. For this there are various activities that you can developas can be:

• Participate in local activities that are developed in favor of human rights or attend events sponsored by organizations whose main function is to defend these rights.
• Intervene in the defense of human rights by signing petitionsor even preparing them, related to matters that concern human rights, such as cases in which unjust actions are being violated, or that you consider are attempting to act against these fundamental rights.

What can we do to ensure that human rights are fulfilled?

If you detect any irregularity that is being committed against human rights, record it and report it to organizations who work in defense of human rights. First identify the article that is suffering from the irregularity and detail it in detail, including data such as date, time and place, who is causing the violation of the right if you know them, witnesses… Anything that may be important. Next, report this data to organizations such as, for example, there are various organizations, Amnesty International, The Center for Human Rights Action or The Children’s Defense Fund.

If you consider that these are very serious human rights violations and you do not know who to turn to, you can report the case directly to the United Nations Subcommittee on Human Rights. In this case you will have to prepare a very detailed written complaint indicating who is making the complaint, or clearly state if you wish to remain anonymous. The pattern of correctly documented rights violations, the victims, the violators, evidence of the violation (may be testimonies of the victim, doctors, etc.), what rights have been violated, and, above all, it must be demonstrated that other available resources have been exhausted before reaching, as one might say, this extreme.

Likewise, you can dedicate yourself to protecting your rights and those of others also throughout your professional life, training and becoming a human rights lawyersince it is through national and international laws that these rights should be guaranteed and protected. With this function, you can be part of organizations that fight and protect human rights.

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