6 - Human rights

Summary

RIGHTS AND REALITY

The first main area of need and justice is that of human rights in its broadest sense. Recent claims have included the right to walk the streets naked, women's absolute rights over their embryos, parents' claim to choose the gender of their children, gay and lesbian couples' demand to be able to adopt children, the right to privacy and to a good night's sleep under the flight path to a nearby airport, the right of women and ethnic minorities to equal treatment at work, children's right not to be smacked, the right to paid employment, and to choose the time of death. Campaigning groups make claims on behalf of asylum seekers or refugees in terms of intrinsic human rights. The founding fathers of the USA saw the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as inalienable. The UN Universal Declaration on Human Rights recognized the equal dignity and rights of all people and their right to life, liberty, personal security and the right not to be tortured (Articles 1, 3 and 5).

The right to life itself, from conception to natural death, is a long way from being achieved. Many countries continue the practice of executions for certain crimes and Amnesty International has reported clear evidence of torture by state authorities in many countries. The World Bank reported that the mortality rate of children under five in developing countries was over twelve times that in high income countries.