Abstract
This paper focuses on the significance of ethical factors on human rights to promote a universal culture of these rights with deeper roots and broader horizons. The research covers the introductory, historical and theoretical approach to the topic, defining the concept of human rights and how the framework was developed. Ethical principles like universality, equality, participation, interdependence, and the law’s rule are the basis. Ethical issues associated with human rights are described based on acknowledging human rights, dignity, and worth. Additionally, various moral values that should be implemented to resolve the prevalent ethical issues are discussed. It is essential to acknowledge human worth to understand the weight of human rights. Governments and other organizations should implement various strategies to improve the perception of human rights and how well they are followed.
Human Rights
The United Nations was formed following World War II, and universal human rights were established under international law focusing on member states’ responsibilities in protecting citizens’ rights. The human rights framework was initially articulated in a more detailed way in 1948 after adopting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the UN General Assembly in 1948. The declaration asserted the universality of human rights, acknowledging that these rights belong to the global population by virtue based on their humanity. Also, the declaration internationalized the debate acknowledging that all nations have a joint responsibility to uphold and protect these rights if an individual state involves in practices deemed to be gross violations (Ishay, 2020). Unfortunately, the current society is associated with several cases of non-compliance where individuals, institutions, and governments violate human rights with few repercussions. For this reason, human rights have been clouded with several ethical issues that must be addressed to ensure compliance.
Most of the general ideas that led to the establishment of human rights originated following the end of World War II and the subsequent events experienced during the Holocaust. The impact of these events culminated in creation and enactment of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights held in Paris (Ishay, 2020). Before the enactment of the U.N. human rights declaration, the ancient global community did not have the same understanding of the universal nature of human rights as in the modern-day. The earlier concept of natural rights has laid the foundation for human rights discourse. It formed a significant component of the medieval natural law tradition, which became significant during the European Enlightenment (Ten & Jean, 2009). The approach was also heavily prominent during the French Revolution and American Revolution through various political discourse. Following this foundation, the modern arguments on human rights emerged within the 20th century, following various reactions to torture, genocide, war crimes, and slavery (Ten & Jean, 2009). Therefore, the realization of humans’ intrinsic vulnerability is one of the main reasons behind the new concerns.
Similarly, most research defines human rights as the moral norms or principles relevant to human behavioral standards. Human rights are often protected by international and municipal law. These rights are always understood as fundamental and inalienable that a person is distinctly entitled to because they are human beings (Ishay, 2020). At the same time, human rights are intrinsic in all human beings despite their age, location, language, ethnicity, religion, or other factors determining their social status (Beauchamp et al., 2004). Also, human rights are applicable anywhere and are in effect since they are universal and egalitarian as they are applied similarly for everyone. According to Ten and Jean (2009), these rights require empathy and the rule of law principles. Therefore, everyone is obligated to respect human rights. For this reason, it should be considered that human rights cannot be taken away except for the cases where a due process has determined so on certain circumstances.
In addition, the establishment of the human rights framework has been enormously influential in the imposition of international law and regional and global institutions. Various actions led by governmental and independent organizations lay the foundation of public policy globally (Ishay, 2020). The ideology of human rights created the perception that the rights form the standard language for public discourse in promoting peace within the global society. However, the strong case developed by the human rights framework has brought up several debates and skepticism showing concerns on the nature, justifications, and content of these rights (Ten & Jean, 2009). The concerns highlight subjects like the precise definition of “right,” which has stirred controversial subjects promoting other philosophical debates. Nevertheless, a wide consensus acknowledges human rights to encompass a broader spectrum of rights. These rights comprise rights to fair trials, free speech, barring of genocide, protection from enslavement, and access to education, among other common rights.
On the other hand, there are disagreements on the rights to be included in the general human rights framework. In modern society, most philosophers and scholars agree that all human beings have various fundamental rights (at least in theory). The ideology is true, except for some cases where certain rights are isolated for the greater good of society. However, the late 19th and early 20th centuries were characterized by general acknowledgment of human rights among several nations, essentially being described as the beginning of universal and international recognition of fundamental human rights (Beauchamp et al., 2004). For example, all member states present in the charter forming the United Nations collectively pledged to join forces and implement other separate actions to ensure universal observance and respect for human rights and other fundamental freedoms for everyone without discrimination on sex, race, religion, or language.
Similarly, during the Universal Declaration of Human rights, various representatives from different cultures acknowledged the rights contained in this framework as they were set as common standards of achievements for everyone and every nation (Ishay, 2020). Other delegations such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic and Cultural Rights, as approved by the UN General Assembly, joined forces to ensure that human rights were upheld and maintained. The efforts from international bodies aim to ensure that human rights are universally promoted across nations (Ward et al., 2009). Despite their status background, human beings are accorded these rights to promote equality in all aspects that determine living standards and wellbeing. For this reason, ethical values have been determined to be important in ensuring the non-violation of human rights across major platforms locally and internationally.
Ethical Principles to Human Rights
The debates and arguments on the universality of human rights led to new approaches to understanding human rights. The primary focus of the new initiatives focus on the general welfare of individuals and how states and various organizations can help improve the perspectives on the extent and weight of human rights (Beauchamp et al., 2004). One of the developed powerful strategies incorporated the aspects of ethics into the framework, adding another layer on how human rights should be upheld locally and within the international community. For this reason, five significant ethics were developed to act as guiding principles associated with human rights.
Universality
The universality of human rights is considered the fundamental piece is defining the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The concept of universality declares human rights to be universal and can be applied anywhere to anyone regardless of their status, culture, and country (Bell & Coicaud, 2006). As the UDHR declared the universal nature of human rights, the concept is described to have existed long before establishing this framework. For instance, years before the declaration of UDHR, various religious leaders, philosophers, and others believed in human beings’ intrinsic dignity and nature. The dignity and intrinsic nature of humans were often referred to as natural rights, forming the basic foundation that led to the development of UHDR (Gauthier, 2009). Therefore, this ethical principle is significant because it sets standards on the concept of human rights, discouraging exclusion or omission based on background information.
Equality
Equality is another fundamental ethical principle of human rights. It forms the foundation of all rights contained in this framework. The principle dictates that an individual, institution, or state cannot exclude equality from the basic concept of human rights (Gauthier, 2009). The principle of equality promotes recognition of human dignity and inalienable rights. In this case, the promotion of human rights provides the foundation for peace, justice, and freedom globally (Bell & Coicaud, 2006). Thus, the idea of equality discourages discrimination among various groups. In this case, no one should be favored or treated in a particular matter because they belong to different ethnicity, race, gender, age, color, religion, languages, national origins, sexual orientations, and ethnicities (Beauchamp et al., 2004). However, equality ceases to exist whenever there is discrimination targeting a particular group of persons due to the social and cultural affiliations.
Similarly, the principle encourages various efforts that aim to promote equality. Encouraging equity shows that different groups of people have been extensively privileged by society while other groups are being discriminated against (Bell & Coicaud, 2006). Therefore, achieving equality is essential in modern global society as it promotes unity and development. At the same time, equality can be achieved by encouraging social factors that center on historically disadvantaged groups to help promote them to levels that allow them to enjoy the privileges once denied, such as access to various resources like education.
Participation
The principle of participation promotes the freedom of participation in various decisions that affect an individual’s life and the well-being of an individual. Participation involves public and political participation, which are essential to promoting economic development, democratic governance, and social inclusion (Gauthier, 2009). However, human rights are violated when a group is limited from participating in such processes while other groups are allowed. For this reason, a decision or a process that could benefit a particular group can be detrimental to another (Miller & Blackler, 2017). Therefore, allowing participation from everyone ensures that all the associated issues are identified and addressed to prevent any case of injustice.
In addition, participation is heavily linked with various rights such as freedom of expression, access to information, and the right to assembly. Several obstacles to participation have been identified. For example, lack of better education has contributed to the omission of various individuals from critical processes or decisions since they are not taken seriously (Gauthier, 2009). The barriers to access to equal educational opportunities can be associated with direct and indirect discrimination. For example, a policy can be implemented to apply to everyone; however, it disadvantages a particular group of people (Miller & Blackler, 2017). With this principle at play, society must consistently examine various barriers to ensure they are discouraged from society.
Interdependence
The principle of interdependence defines human rights to be an interdependent and interrelated. In this case, people cannot choose or pick the human rights that matter the most and those which do not. At the same time, the principle treats all human rights as necessary and significant for society to thrive and for people to live in peace with utmost safety (Gauthier, 2009). For instance, a person’s right to freedom from discrimination affects one’s access to healthcare and education (Gruskin & Dickens, 2006). Also, the right to access information and education impacts the right to participation in the government. These examples show how various rights interact when an individual right is not obeyed. It starts a domino effect that will impact other rights. Hence, everyone needs to recognize the interdependence of all human rights to protect them. Similarly, governments cannot ignore any violations of specific human rights because of the belief that such rights are not as necessary as other rights.
The Rule of Law
The rule of law is the ethics of governance that dictates the functions of people, institutions, and governments, holding them responsible for human rights laws. In case of violations of fundamental rights, the standards for international human rights demand that the abuser be held responsible. The rule of law is a significant ethic since it develops universal rights from a mere idea into a reality (Gauthier, 2009). It acts as the primary mechanism for enforcement. Also, fairness, equality, transparency, and participation are all significant elements of the processes involved in law-making and enforcement.
Similarly, the rule of law ensures international security, peace, social progress, and economic development. Applicable laws must be imposed to resolve various ethical issues. However, without proper laws, human rights violations cannot be established effectively, thus lacking frameworks to promote rights such as healthcare, education, security, and fair justice (Gauthier, 2009). Therefore, all the five basic ethics on human rights must be applied together to ensure that various ethical issues related to human rights are resolved.
Ethical Values
Public protection from various criminal activities is a fundamental obligation to be accomplished by the state. However, while executing this obligation, measures should be implemented to ensure respect for various ethical values fundamental to society and legislations on human rights in the modern era. Mantelero (2018) explains that following the prevalence of various ethical concerns related to human rights, governments need to implement appropriate approaches such as forensic databases in terms of legal rights and ethical values to ensure adherence.
Similarly, ethical values such as liberty, privacy, autonomy, equality, and informed consent are fundamental to ensuring adherence to human rights and preventing various ethical issues related to human rights (Bell & Coicaud, 2006). It is important to note that these values are not absolute, and several strong presumptions within liberal democracies are advocating against these values. However, these presumptions can be resolved by applying the principles circumscribed through reliable empirical evidence. Several considerations can be implemented to help solve these issues, such as investigation, conviction, and prosecution of the abusers who engage in criminal acts that violate human rights, among other laws (Gauthier, 2009). Also, governments can seek to promote the values of liberty for their populations to promote ethical practices in all significant activities.
In addition, multiple methods can be used to balance ethical values and moral goods. Some of the approaches include utilitarian, duty-based, and rights-based approaches. Most studies have determined the rights-based approach to be the most effective in the case of ethical issues associated with human rights (Gauthier, 2009). The approach recognizes the significance of human rights regarding their liberty, privacy, need, and autonomy in inappropriate situations. Also, it acknowledges the need to restrict the rights with intentions to protect other rights or in the more general interest (Gruskin & Dickens, 2006). The principles associated with proportionality, relevant in legal and ethical debates, form the foundation of several recommendations to solve issues associated with human rights delegation.
Conclusion
Despite the ongoing debates on a different perspective of human rights, governments and various organizations must develop various strategies that can be used to promote a better conceptualization of human rights. Further efforts should be directed to ethical issues that have impacted human rights delegation in some countries. Some human rights such as the right to a fair trial, respect for personal and family life, and equal treatment have extensively been violated over the past decades, regardless of efforts to help reduce their prevalence. At the same time, there has been constant discrimination of various groups based on their color, ethnicity, and religious background. Such violations should be dealt with to promote equality and promotion of all human rights.
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