How are Human Rights Protected?

The Rights are protected Through various international organizations or laws of a universal character.

Thus, these rights are privileges that all individuals possess, regardless of the color of the skin, nationality, sex, ethnic origin, religion or social stratum to which they belong.

In 1948, the United Nations General Assembly introduced the Declaration of Human Rights; A list of rights inherent in humans, among which they stand out as basic: the right to life, equality and freedom.

These rights are neither gained nor denied to the subject since they are intrinsically linked to the condition of being a person. However, most of these jurisprudences are violated by other individuals, nations or governments.

Although there are Organizations Which uphold and promote these legalities, such as the United Nations.

There are also a number of national and international regulations that are devoted to the protection of these rights, such as the aforementioned Universal Declaration of Human Rights, or the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Covenant International Civil and Political Rights,

In general, it should be noted that any individual can promote the protection of these rights by participating as an activist or by assisting in some non-governmental organization.

Ways to protect human rights

1- Action by the United Nations Organization

The United Nations (UN) is an international body, founded in 1945, after the Second World War. It is made up of 193 Member States.

The mission of this organization is contained in the Charter of the United Nations. Because of its international character, the UN has the capacity to intervene in matters concerning societies around the world such as peace and security of nations, economic development, disarmament, human rights, among others.

This organization delegates its functions to a group of entities. Therefore, in terms of human rights, the UN, presents different sub-organizations responsible for protecting and promoting the rights of all individuals. These organs are:

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). This body reports to the UN General Secretariat and was established in 1993 to protect and promote the rights set out in the Charter of the United Nations and other international treaties relating to human rights.

• The Human Rights Council. This council was created in 2006 to replace the Commission on Human Rights and is an intergovernmental body charged with assessing and monitoring nations in the field of human rights.

• Human rights bodies. They are independent expert committees responsible for monitoring compliance with international human rights treaties.

• Special Advisor to the UN for the Prevention of Genocide. His special advisers are charged with raising awareness of genocide, its causes and consequences throughout the world. Similarly, representatives can mobilize competent authorities when they consider that there is a danger of genocide.

2- Laws that protect human rights

The main legal instruments in the field of human rights and that constitute the International Charter of Human Rights are:

• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
• The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

However, the protection of human rights is not the sole task of the UN; All nations have a duty to guarantee the human rights of an individual.

That is why a number of laws have been put in place to protect these basic rights, such as international human rights law, humanitarian law and refugee law.

These laws aim to safeguard the integrity of human beings and ensure political, social and economic stability.

Other ways of protecting human rights

Just as nations have a duty to protect human rights, individuals can also participate in the protection of these rights. In this sense, some ways of protecting human rights at regional and local level are:

1. Participate in local events sponsored by organizations that defend human rights; In this way, the actions of multiple individuals will converge.

2. Sign or create petitions aimed at creating laws that defend human rights at the local, regional or national level.

3. If a human rights violation is known, report it to the competent authorities.

On the other hand, to report a case of human rights violations, the following must be known:

• The article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that was or is being violated.

• The facts related to the violation in question (in chronological order, if possible).

• The names of the victim and the perpetrator.

Education

Human rights education should be part of the educational training of all individuals in order to train people capable of defending their own rights and recognizing the violations that may occur around them.

Favor the vulnerable population

War victims, people with physical and / or cognitive commitments, Aborigines, immigrants, women, children, and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community are more prone to their rights being violated . These people are under what is called Minority groups .

They must therefore receive additional support in order to increase their ability to defend themselves and to advocate for themselves.

References

1. Maiese, Michelle (2004). What are Human Rights? Retrieved on March 8, 2017, from: beyondintractability.org.
2. Protecting Human Rights. Retrieved on March 8, 2017, from: usaid.gov.
3. Protect Human Rights. Retrieved on March 8, 2017, from: un.org.
4. How to Take Steps to Protect Human Rights. Retrieved on March 8, 2017, from: wikihow.com.
5. 10 Ways to Defend Human Rights on International Human Rights Day. Retrieved on March 8, 2017, from: earthrights.org.
6. How to defend human rights in the Trump era. Retrieved on March 8, 2017, from: bostonglobe.com.
7. Defending Human Rights. Retrieved on March 8, 2017, from: amnesty.org.