Lesson 1

At the end of the lesson, the student should be able to: Know the concepts of human
rights.

• Concept of Human Rights

Every individual has dignity. The principles of human rights were drawn up by human
beings as a way of ensuring that the dignity of everyone is properly and equally
respected, that is, to ensure that a human being will be able to fully develop and use
human qualities such as intelligence, talent and conscience and satisfy his or her
spiritual and other needs.
Dignity gives an individual a sense of value and worth. The existence of human rights
demonstrates that human beings are aware of each other’s worth.

Human dignity is not an individual, exclusive and isolated sense. It is a part of our
common humanity. Human rights enable us to respect each other and live with each
other. In other words, they are not only rights to be requested or demanded but rights to
be respected and be responsible for. The rights that apply to you also apply to others.
The denial of human rights and fundamental freedoms not only is an individual and
personal tragedy, but also creates conditions of social and political unrest, sowing the
seeds of violence and conflict within and between societies and nations.

• Meaning of Human Rights in The International and Municipal perspective

- Human Rights are the aggregate of privileges, claims, benefits, entitlements and
moral guarantees that pertain to man because of his humanity.

It was also defined by some notable persons and writers:

- Chilean Lawyer, Jose Zalaquette wrote that human rights are regarded as a
system of values or elements which are inherent to human dignity.
- In his book “The Rights of Man”, philosopher jean Jacques Maritain stressed why
man has rights. The human person, he said, possesses rights because of the
very fact that it is a person, a whole, master of itself, and of its acts, and which
consequently is not merely a means to an end, but an end which must be treated
as such.
- Pope John XXIII in his papal encyclical “Pacem In Terris”, he showed the
connection between a human person and his possession of rights. He wrote that
“any human society, if it is to be well-ordered and productive, must lay down as
foundation, this principle, namely that every human being is a person, that is
endowed with intelligence and full will.
- Human rights are also defined as “legal and moral entitlements that have evolved
as a basis for constructing how state power is used and particularly to limit its
use against the rights of citizens.
 - Human Rights lawyer and civil libertarian Jose W. Diokno said in 1981 that “no
cause is more worthy than the cause of human rights” and “they are what make
human.”

THREE PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN RIGHTS

UNIVERSALITY – means that rights belong to and are to be enjoyed by all human
beings without distinction of any kind. Human rights belong to everyone wherever they
are because they are human beings endowed with dignity.

It also means that the internationally- recognized human rights are the basic core
minimum to be observed everywhere without regional differences. These human rights
belong to everyone, everywhere, by virtue of being a human. No one, no group, no
place in the worlds should be denied the enjoyment of human rights.

INDIVISIBILITY and INTERDEPENDENCE – mean that the first generation of liberty

rights and the second generation of equality of rights are inter-related and are co-equal
in importance. They form an indivisible whole and only if these rights are guaranteed
that an individual can live decently and in dignity.

Human rights are interdependent and interrelated. Each one contributes to the
realization of a person’s human dignity through the satisfaction of his or her
developmental, physical, psychological and spiritual needs. The fulfilment of one right
often depends, wholly or in part, upon the fulfilment of others. For instance, fulfilment of
the right to health may depend, in certain circumstances, on fulfilment of the right to
development, to education or to information.

Other books provide for other principles such as

Equality and Non-discrimination: All individuals are equal as human beings and by
virtue of the inherent dignity of each human person. No one, therefore, should suffer
discrimination on the basis of race, colour, ethnicity, gender, age, language, sexual
orientation, religion, political or other opinion, national, social or geographical origin,
disability, property, birth or other status as established by human rights standards.

Participation and Inclusion: All people have the right to participate in and access
information relating to the decision-making processes that affect their lives and well-
being. Rights-based approaches require a high degree of participation by communities,
civil society, minorities, women, young people, indigenous peoples and other identified
groups.
Accountability and Rule of Law: States and other duty-bearers are answerable for the
observance of human rights. In this regard, they have to comply with the legal norms
and standards enshrined in international human rights instruments. Where they fail to
do so, aggrieved rights-holders are entitled to institute proceedings for appropriate
redress before a competent court or other adjudicator in accordance with the rules and
procedures provided by law. Individuals, the media, civil society and the international
community play important roles in holding governments accountable for their obligation
to uphold human rights.

CHARACTERISTICS
Human rights are inherent, inalienable and universal.

Inherent means that rights are the birthright of all human beings, existing independently
of the will of either an individual human being or group. They are not obtained and
granted through any human actions or intervention. When one is born, he carries with
him these rights. They cannot be separated or detached from him.

Inalienable means that no person can deprive any person there these rights and no
person can repudiate these rights by himself. It also means that these rights cannot be
subject of the commerce of man.

Universal means that these rights belong to every human being, no matter what he or
she is like. Because rights are universal, its promotion and protection are duty of all
States, regardless of cultural, economic or political systems.

COMPONENTS

The four components of a human right are a subject or a right-holder, a duty holder, an
object and implementation.

A subject or a right-holder is an individual (natural person), a group of individuals or a

non-governmental organization entitled to rights under the law and can take legal action
to protect or to promote those rights.

A duty-holder is an entity, normally a State that is obliged to respect, to ensure and to

protect the subject’s rights and demands. In human rights, States are considered a
duty-holders rather than subjects though in international law the role of States as
subjects is recognized as incontestable.

State Obligation on Human Rights

All human rights—economic, civil, social, political and cultural—impose negative as well
as positive obligations on States, as is captured in the distinction between the duties to
respect, protect and fulfil. They are considered to be the three levels of obligation:
To respect a right means refraining from interfering with the enjoyment of
the right.
To protect the right means enacting laws that create mechanisms to prevent violation of
the right by state authorities or by non-state actors. This protection is to be granted
equally to all.
To fulfil the right means to take active steps to put in place institutions and procedures,
including the allocation of resources to enable people to enjoy the right. A rights-based
approach develops the capacity of duty-bearers to meet their obligations and
encourages rights holders to claim their rights.

An object is the content of any given right and any duty of the holder of the right and
the holder of the obligation

The implementation is a set of measures, approaches and initiatives designed to

realize the right concerned. This includes laws, administrative measures, legal writs and
mechanisms adopted by the three branches of the government, namely, Congress,
Executive and Judiciary.

STAGES of HUMAN RIGHTS

Idealization – means that notions about human rights have started in the realm of ideas
that reflect a consciousness against oppression, dehumanization or inadequate
performance by the State.

Positivization – is the second stage where support for the ideas became strong and the
stage is set to incorporate them into some legal instruments, whether domestic law or
international law.

Realization - is the last stage where these rights are enjoyed by the citizens of the
State by the transformation of the social, economic and political order.

SOURCES AND FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS LAW

The 1987 Constitution

The basic source of human rights law in the Philippines is the 1987 Constitution.
It has been the basis of laws passed by Congress dealing with the first generation of
rights like the Republic Act No. 7438 (Rights of Persons Arrested, Detained or Under
Custodial Investigation), Republic Act No. 8493 (Speedy Trial Act of 1998), Republic Act
No. 10350 (Anti-Enforced Disappearance), Republic Act No. 9745 (Penalizes Acts of
Torture), Republic Act No. 9851 (Penalizes Crime Against International Humanitarian
Law, etc.) and Republic Act No. 10386 (Creation of Human Rights Victims Claims
Board)

Those dealing with second generation of rights like the Republic Act No. 6657
(Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law), Republic Act No. 7279 (Urban Development
and Housing Act of 1992), Republic Act No. 8282 (Social Security Act of 1992)

Those dealing with third generation rights like RA No. 7192 (Women in Development
and Nation-Building Act), RA No. 8505 (Rape Victim Assistance and Protection Act of
1998), RA 6955 (Declares Unlawful the Practice of Matching Filipino Women for
Marriage to Foreign Nationals on a Mail Order Basis, RA 9710 (AN Act Providing for the
Magna Carta of Women, RA 7610 (An Act Providing for Stronger Deterrence and
Special Protection Against Child Abuse, etc.)

THE INTERNATIONAL BILL OF RIGHTS

The 1987 Constitution contains an Incorporation Clause found in its Article II Section 2,
stating “The Philippines renounces war as a instrument of national policy, adopts the
generally accepted principles of international law as part of the land…” this clause made
possible the application in the Philippines of the human rights principles state the
International Bill of Rights (composed of the threesome Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights).

PHILOSOPHY
Other sources of human rights are philosophy and religion.

The writings, exposition and discourses of John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Baron
de Montesquieu, Immanuel Kant, Thomas Hobbes, John Stuart Mill and others
influenced the development and enrichment of human rights.

John Locke – he wrote the Second Treatise of Government where he argues that
sovereignty resides in the people and explained the nature of the government in terms
of natural rights and social contract. He wrote that legitimate government is instituted by
the covenant of the governed and that this legitimate government is duty-bound to
preserve the rights of life, liberty, health and property of its citizens, and to prosecute
and punish those who violate the rights of others and to pursue the public good.

Another philosopher is Jean Jacques Rosseau – he authored “The Social Contract”.

Here, he postulated a social contract by which the citizens surrender their rights to the
“general will” of the people which must aim at the impartial good. Submission to the
authority of the general will of the people by the citizens who joined together into civils
society through the social contract and abandoning their claims of natural right, citizens
preserve themselves and remain free.
 KINDS OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Human rights were classified into three generations.

1. First Generation of civil and political rights (First Generation of Liberty Rights) –
these rights serve as a protection of the individuals from arbitrary exercise of
police power.

Read the following:

a. Bill of Rights of the 1987 Constitution
b. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR): Origin and Organization
c. Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International
Humanitarian Law
d. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
e. Article 13 of the 1987 Constitution
f. Social Justice (Calalang vs. Williams)
g. Articles 22 to27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
h. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Civil Rights – they are those rights which the law will enforce at the instance of private
individuals for the purpose of securing to them the enjoyment of their means of
happiness (rights to due process and equal protection of the laws; the rights against
involuntary servitude and imprisonment for non-payment of debt or a poll tax;
constitutional rights of the accused; religious freedom; liberty of abode and of changing
the same; and the right against impairment of obligation of contract.

Freedom of speech, of expression or of the press, the right of assembly and

petition, and the right to form associations.

Political Rights - rights of the citizens which give them the power to participate, directly
and indirectly in the establishment or administration of the government. Right to
citizenship, right to suffrage, right to information on matters of public concern.

Civil and Political rights are individual rights against the state and are partly
seen as negative rights because they prevent the state from the performance of
certain things that are considered harmful

Examples: right to life, liberty and security of person;

Right against torture;
Right to equal protection against any discrimination;
Right against arbitrary arrest and detention;
Right to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial
Tribunal
 Right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty;
Right to privacy
Freedom of opinion and expression

Where can we find the enumeration of civil and political rights?

1. Bill of rights in the 1987 Constitution
The Bill of Rights is an enumeration of civil and political rights that are self-
executing (no need of implementing legislation) Also, these rights enumerated
under the Bill of Rights serve as restrictions upon the powers of the State.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR): Origin and Organization

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a declaration adopted by the

United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948 at the Palais de Chaillot,
Paris. The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and
represents the first global expression of what many believe are the rights to which all
human beings are inherently entitled. The UDHR urges member nations to promote a
number of human, civil, economic, and social rights, asserting these rights are part of
the “foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.” It aims to recognize, “the
inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human
family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.”

The UDHR was framed by members of the Human Rights Commission, with Eleanor
Roosevelt as Chair, who began to discuss an International Bill of Rights in 1947. The
Declaration consists of thirty articles which, although not legally binding, have been
elaborated in subsequent international treaties, economic transfers, regional human
rights instruments, national constitutions, and other laws, thereby making many of their
principles legally binding in various nations.

While not a treaty itself, the Declaration was explicitly adopted for the purpose of
defining the meaning of the words “fundamental freedoms” and “human rights”
appearing in the United Nations Charter, which is binding on all member states. For this
reason, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a fundamental constitutive
document of the United Nations.

The 1968 United Nations International Conference on Human Rights advised that the
Declaration “constitutes an obligation for the members of the international
community” to all persons. The Declaration has served as the foundation for two
binding UN human rights covenants: the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights. The principles of the Declaration are elaborated in international treaties such as
the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination,
the International Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, the
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the United Nations Convention
Against Torture, and many more. The Declaration continues to be widely cited by
governments, academics, advocates, and constitutional courts, as well as by individuals
who appeal to its principles for the protection of their recognized human rights.

Is the Universal Declaration legally binding?

The Universal Declaration is not a treaty, so it does not directly create legal obligations
for countries.

However, it is an expression of the fundamental values which are shared by all

members of the international community. And it has had a profound influence on the
development of international human rights law. Some argue that because countries
have consistently invoked the Declaration for more than sixty years, it has become
binding as a part of customary international law.

Article 3 to Article 21 of the Declaration contains the catalogue of civil and political rights
of the first generation. These are the right to life, liberty and security; freedom from
slavery and servitude; freedom from torture and inhuman treatment or punishment; the
right to recognition as a person before the law; freedom from arbitrary arrest, detention
or exile; the right to equal protection of the law; the right to effective remedy; the right to
a fair trial; the right to privacy; freedom from movement and residence; the right to
nationality; freedom of thought, conscience and religion; freedom of opinion and
expression, the right to property; the right to participate in the government, etc.

 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

This covenant was adopted unanimously by 106 States and entered into force in 1976.
It is divided into a Preamble and six parts. Parts I to III (Articles1 to 27) contain all
substantial rights and some general provisions like prohibition of discrimination and
misuse, gender equality, a derogations and a savings clause. Parts IV to VI (Articles 28
to 53) contain the international monitoring provisions, some principles of interpretation
and final clauses.

The individual rights enumerated in Part III include right to life (Article 6), the prohibition
of torture and inhuman prison conditions (Articles 7 and 10), the prohibitions of slavery
(Article 8), the right to personal liberty and security, including prohibition o detention for
debt (Articles 9 and 11), freedom of movement and protection of aliens against arbitrary
expulsion (Articles 12 and 13), procedural guarantees in civil and criminal trials
including prohibition of retroactive criminal laws (Articles 14 and 15), recognition of legal
personality.

 Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International

Humanitarian Law
This is the first substantive agreement signed by the Negotiating Panels of the
Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front on
March 16, 1998 in the Hague, the Netherlands. It took many years of peace talks
between the two panels at various venues at The Netherlands and of consultations with
their principals before the draft was completed and signed.

This Comprehensive Agreement consist of seven parts. They are: 1) the Preamble
which introduces the Agreement and articulates the reasons for and the intention of the
parties in entering into Agreement; 2) Declaration of Principles; 3) Bases, Scope, and
Applicability; 4) Respect for Human Rights; 5) Respect for International Humanitarian
Law; 6) Joint Monitoring Committee; and 7) Final Provisions.

The three principles of human rights namely, Universality, Indivisibility and

Interdependence are enunciated in the Agreement through numerous rights like the
right of the people to oppose oppression and tyranny; the right of the victims and their
families to adequate compensation and indemnification, restitution and rehabilitation;
the right to effective sanctions and guarantees against repetition of human rights
violations and impunity; the rights against summary executions and involuntary
disappearances; the right not to be subjected to physical and mental torture, solitary
confinement, rape and sexual abuse; the equal right of women in all fields of endeavor;
the right of children and disabled protection, care and a home; the rights of the minority
communities in the Philippines to autonomy, to their ancestral lands and natural
resources in these lands.

2. Second Generation of economic, social and cultural rights (Second Generation of

Equality Rights)
Those rights which are intended to insure the well-being and economic security of the
individual. (rights on the promotion of social justice right to property and just
compensation; conservation and utilization of natural resources; promotion of education
Right to work
Right to social security
Right to form and join trade unions
Right to education
Right to rest and leisure
Right to health
Right to shelter
SECOND GENERATION OF RIGHTS
ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS

Readings
a. Article 13 of the 1987 Constitution
 b. Social Justice (Calalang vs. Williams)
c. Articles 22 to27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
d. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Social justice is "neither communism, nor despotism, nor atomism, nor anarchy,"
but the humanization of laws and the equalization of social and economic forces
by the State so that justice in its rational and objectively secular conception may
at least be approximated.

Social justice means the promotion of the welfare of all the people, the adoption
by the Government of measures calculated to insure economic stability of all the
competent elements of society, through the maintenance of a proper economic
and social equilibrium in the interrelations of the members of the community,
constitutionally, through the adoption of measures legally justifiable, or extra-
constitutionally, through the exercise of powers underlying the existence of all
governments on the time-honored principle of salus populi est suprema lex.

Social justice, therefore, must be founded on the recognition of the necessity of

interdependence among divers and diverse units of a society and of the
protection that should be equally and evenly extended to all groups as a
combined force in our social and economic life, consistent with the fundamental
and paramount objective of the state of promoting the health, comfort, and quiet
of all persons, and of bringing about "the greatest good to the greatest number."

Article 13 of the 1987 Constitution on Social Justice and Human Rights contains a rich
inventory of economic, social and cultural rights like rights of all workers to self-
organization, collective bargaining and negotiations and peaceful concerted activities;
right to security of tenure, humane conditions of work and a living wage; right to
agrarian and natural resources reform; right to urban land reform and housing; right to
health; right or working women by providing the safe and healthful working conditions.

ARTICLES 22 to 27 of UDHR

Enumerates the rights as the right to social security, the right to work, the right to rest
and leisure, the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to education, and the
right to an adequate standard of living, the right to education and the tight to participate
in the cultural life.

INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS

This covenant is the sister covenant of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights. The two sister covenants were adopted by 106 States.
The covenant consists of 31 Articles contained in six sections: the Preamble and Parts I
to V. The meat of the covenant is found in Part III that lists the rights to be protected.
These rights are the right to work (Article 6), the right to fair conditions of employment
(Article 7), the right to join and form trade unions (Article 8), the right to social security
(Article 9), the right to an adequate standard of living, including the right to food, clothing
and housing (Article 11) and the right to culture (Article 15).

3. Third Generation of solidary rights or collective rights – intended to benefit

individuals, groups and peoples and its realization will need global cooperation
based on international solidarity.
Right to peace
Right to development
Environmental rights
Right of self-determination,
Right to food
Rights of women
Rights of children,
Right to humanitarian relief