The Dystopian world of Human Rights

The concept of human rights is not a new one. It began as early as 539 B.C. with "Cyrus the great" freeing the slaves and giving the people of Babylon the right to choose their religion. This idea was revolutionary and spread like wildfire. In 27 B.C. the Romans realized that all humans follow certain laws naturally without being told to do so. They named this "Natural Law" but this idea kept being ignored and destroyed by those in power.

In 1215 abuses by King John caused a revolt by the nobles who made the king recognize rights for both noblemen and the English. This agreement gained significant importance as it introduced the concept of "rule of law" in the world. Then came the Petition of the Right, 1628. This was an English document which helped promote the civil rights of the subjects of King Charles I.

The concept of human rights was furthered by the 1776 American Declaration of Independence. The declaration emphasized upon two themes, individual rights and the right of revolution. These ideas spread widely and inspired the french revolution. The American Constitution (1787) and the American Bill of Rights (1791) increased the scope of human rights. Then came the French Revolution which led to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens (1789).

This converted the roman concept of "Natural Law" to "Natural Rights" . However, this was short-lived as in 1800 Napoleon decided to over-through the French democracy and assume the title of the emperor of the world. Till the European nations came together and defeated Napoleon. This led to allocation of basic rights to all European nations.

Finally after numerous international agreements, two world wars, and the death of 90 million people. The countries of the world united to form the United Nations with the main aim "to reform faith in fundamental human rights, in dignity and worth of the human person".

In 1956 a uniform definition of human rights found legal recognition under the supervision of Eleanor Roosevelt and the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" which gave recognition to a set 3o human Rights which were deemed inalienable and were allocated to all humans irrespective of class, creed, gender, nationality, race etc.

So, that was it right the battle for Human Rights was won? Except despite the UDHR and other conventions coming into force they have negligible enforceability .

The Dystopian Reality of Human Rights aims to analyse the reality of the rights guaranteed to all and hopefully, inspire change by educating the public on these issues.