A BRIEF HISTORY OF

HUMAN RIGHTS
Professor & Lawyer
Puttu Guru Prasad
VVIT, Nambur,
93 94 96 98 98 , 807 444 95 39
The Cyrus Cylinder (539 B.C.)
In 539 B.C., the armies of Cyrus the Great, the first king
of ancient Persia, conquered the city of Babylon. But it
was his next actions that marked a major advance for
Man. He freed the slaves, declared that all people had
the right to choose their own religion, and established
racial equality.
These and other decrees were recorded on a baked-clay
cylinder in the Akkadian language with cuneiform
script.
The Magna Carta (1215)
In 1215, after King John of England violated a number of
ancient laws and customs by which England had been
governed, his subjects forced him to sign the Magna
Carta, which enumerates what later came to be thought
of as human rights. Among them was the right of the
church to be free from governmental interference, the
rights of all free citizens to own and inherit property
and to be protected from excessive taxes.
It established the right of widows who owned property
to choose not to remarry, and established principles of
due process and equality before the law. It also
contained provisions forbidding bribery and official
misconduct.
Petition of Right (1628)
The Petition of Right, initiated by Sir Edward Coke, was
based upon earlier statutes and charters and asserted
four principles: (1) No taxes may be levied without
consent of Parliament, (2) No subject may be
imprisoned without cause shown (reaffirmation of the
right of habeas corpus), (3) No soldiers may be
quartered upon the citizenry, and (4) Martial law may
not be used in time of peace.
Refusal by Parliament to finance the kings unpopular
foreign policy had caused his government to exact
forced loans and to quarter troops in subjects houses
as an economy measure. Arbitrary arrest and
imprisonment for opposing these policies had produced
in Parliament a violent hostility to Charles and to George
Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham.
United States Declaration of Independence (1776)
On July 4, 1776, the United States Congress approved
the Declaration of Independence. Its primary author,
Thomas Jefferson, wrote the Declaration as a formal
explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to
declare independence from Great Britain, more than a
year after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary
War, and as a statement announcing that the thirteen
American Colonies were no longer a part of the British
Empire.
Philosophically, the Declaration stressed two themes:
individual rights and the right of revolution. These ideas
became widely held by Americans and spread
internationally as well, influencing in particular the
French Revolution.
The Constitution of the United States of
America (1787) and Bill of Rights (1791)
The Bill of Rights protects freedom of speech,
freedom of religion, the right to keep and bear
arms, the freedom of assembly and the freedom
to petition. It also prohibits unreasonable search
and seizure, cruel and unusual punishment and
compelled self-incrimination.
The first ten amendments to the Constitution
the Bill of Rightscame into effect on December
15, 1791, limiting the powers of the federal
government of the United States and protecting
the rights of all citizens, residents and visitors in
American territory.
Declaration of the Rights of Man and
of the Citizen (1789)
In 1789 the people of France brought about the
abolishment of the absolute monarchy and set the
stage for the establishment of the first French Republic.
Just six weeks after the storming of the Bastille, and
barely three weeks after the abolition of feudalism, the
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
(French: La Dclaration des Droits de lHomme et du
Citoyen) was adopted by the National Constituent
Assembly as the first step toward writing a constitution
for the Republic of France.
The Declaration proclaims that all citizens are to be
guaranteed the rights of liberty, property, security, and
resistance to oppression
The First Geneva Convention (1864)
In 1864, sixteen European countries and several
American states attended a conference in Geneva, at
the invitation of the Swiss Federal Council, on the
initiative of the Geneva Committee. The diplomatic
conference was held for the purpose of adopting a
convention for the treatment of wounded soldiers in
combat.
The main principles laid down in the Convention and
maintained by the later Geneva Conventions provided for
the obligation to extend care without discrimination to
wounded and sick military personnel and respect for
and marking of medical personnel transports and
equipment with the distinctive sign of the red cross on
a white background.
The United Nations (1945)
World War II had raged from 1939 to 1945, and as the
end drew near, cities throughout Europe and Asia lay in
smoldering ruins. Millions of people were dead,
millions more were homeless or starving.
In April 1945, delegates from fifty countries met in San
Francisco full of optimism and hope. The goal of the
United Nations Conference on International Organization
was to fashion an international body to promote peace
and prevent future wars. The ideals of the organization
were stated in the preamble to its proposed charter:
We the peoples of the United Nations are determined
to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war,
which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow
to mankind.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
By 1948, the United Nations new Human Rights
Commission had captured the worlds attention.
Under the dynamic chairmanship of Eleanor
RooseveltPresident Franklin Roosevelts
widow, a human rights champion in her own
right and the United States delegate to the UN
the Commission set out to draft the document
that became the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. Roosevelt, credited with its
inspiration, referred to the Declaration as the
international Magna Carta for all mankind. It
was adopted by the United Nations on
December 10, 1948.
UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
The Declaration was drafted by representatives of all
regions of the world and encompassed all legal
traditions. Formally adopted by the United Nations on
December 10, 1948, it is the most universal human
rights document in existence, delineating the thirty
fundamental rights that form the basis for a democratic
society.

Today, the Declaration is a living document that has

been accepted as a contract between a government and
its people throughout the world. According to the
Guinness Book of World Records, it is the most translated
document in the world.
PREAMBLE
Whereas recognition of 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,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have
resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the
conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in
which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and
belief and freedom from fear and want has been
proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common
people,
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to
have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against
tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be
protected by the rule of law,
U D H R OFFICIAL DOCUMENT
Article 1.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and
rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and
should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Article 2.
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth
in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as
race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other
opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other
status.
Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of
the political, jurisdictional or international status of the
country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it
be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any
other limitation of sovereignty.
U D H R.OFFICIAL DOCUMENT
Article 3.
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Article 4.
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave
trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
Article 5.
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 6.
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before
the law.
Article 7.
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any
discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to
equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this
Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.
Article 8.
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent
national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted
him by the constitution or by law.
U D H R OFFICIAL DOCUMENT
Article 9.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
Article 10.
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by
an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his
rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
Article 11.
Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be
presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public
trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his
defence.
No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any
act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under
national or international law, at the time when it was committed.
Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was
applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.
U D H R .OFFICIAL DOCUMENT
Article 12.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his
privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon
his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the
protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
Article 13.
Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and
residence within the borders of each State.
Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his
own, and to return to his country.
Article 14.
Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other
countries asylum from persecution.
This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions
genuinely arising from nonpolitical crimes or from acts
contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
U D H R .OFFICIAL DOCUMENT
Article 15.
Everyone has the right to a nationality.
No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied
the right to change his nationality.
Article 16.
Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race,
nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family.
They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and
at its dissolution.
Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent
of the intending spouses.
The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society
and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
Article 17.
Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in
association with others.
No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
U D H R .OFFICIAL DOCUMENT
Article 19.
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression;
this right includes freedom to hold opinions without
interference and to seek, receive and impart information and
ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
Article 20.
Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and
association.
No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
Article 21.
Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his
country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
Everyone has the right to equal access to public service in his
country.
The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of
government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine
elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and
shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting
procedures.
 U D H R .OFFICIAL DOCUMENT
Article 22.
Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is
entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-
operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each
State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his
dignity and the free development of his personality.
Article 23.
Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and
favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal
work.
Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration
ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity,
and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection
of his interests.
Article 24.
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation
of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
 U D H R .OFFICIAL DOCUMENT
Article 25.
Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health
and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing,
housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to
security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood,
old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All
children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social
protection.
Article 26.
Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in
the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be
compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made
generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to
all on the basis of merit.
Education shall be directed to the full development of the human
personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and
fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and
friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further
the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be
given to their children.
U D H R .OFFICIAL DOCUMENT
Article 27.
Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community,
to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests
resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the
author.
Article 28.
Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and
freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.
Article 29.
Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full
development of his personality is possible.
In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such
limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due
recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the
just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a
democratic society.
These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes
and principles of the United Nations.
Article 30.
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group
or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the
destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.
 Chronology of events regarding human rights in India

The practice of sati was formally abolished by Governor

General William Bentick after years of campaigning by Hindu reform
1829 movements such as the Brahmo Samaj of Ram Mohan Roy against
this orthodox Hindu funeral custom of self-immolation of widows
after the death of their husbands.

Child Marriage Restraint Act, prohibiting marriage of minors under

1929
14 years of age is passed.
1947 India achieves political independence from the British Raj.

The Constitution of India establishes a sovereign democratic

republic with universal adult franchise. Part 3 of the Constitution
contains a Bill of Fundamental Rights enforceable by the Supreme
1950
Court and the High Courts. It also provides for reservations for
previously disadvantaged sections in education, employment and
political representation.
Chronology of events regarding human rights in India

Criminal Tribes Acts repealed by government, former

1952 "criminal tribes" categorized as "denotified" and Habitual
Offenders Act (1952) enacted.

Reform of family law concerning Hindus gives more

1955
rights to Hindu women.
1958 Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958[6]

Supreme Court of India rules in Kesavananda Bharati

case that the basic structure of the Constitution (including
1973 many fundamental rights) is unalterable by a constitutional
amendment.

State of Emergency in India

1975-77
extensive rights violations take place.
Chronology of events regarding human rights in India

SC rules in Menaka Gandhi v. Union of India that the right to life

1978 under Article 21 of the Constitution cannot be suspended even in
an emergency.

1978 Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978[7][8]

1984 Operation Blue Star and the subsequent 1984 Anti-Sikh riots

1984 2006 Extrajudicial disappearances in Punjab by the police

The Shah Bano case, where the Supreme Court recognised the
1985- Muslim woman's right to maintenance upon divorce, sparks
protests from Muslim clergy. To nullify the decision of the
86 Supreme Court, the Rajiv Gandhi government enacted The
Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act 1986
Chronology of events regarding human rights in India
1987 Hashimpura massacre during communal riots in Meerut.
Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,
1989
1989 is passed.
Kashmiri insurgency sees ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits,
1989
desecrating Hindu temples, killing of Hindus and Sikhs, and abductions
present of foreign tourists and government functionaries.
A constitutional amendment establishes Local Self-Government
(Panchayati Raj) as a third tier of governance at the village level, with
1992
one-third of the seats reserved for women. Reservations were provided
for scheduled castes and tribes as well.
Babri Masjid demolished by Hindu mobs, resulting in riots across the
1992
country.
National Human Rights Commission is established under the Protection
1993
of Human Rights Act.
2001 Supreme Court passes extensive orders to implement the right to food.
2002 Gujarat riots which claimed several thousand lives of Muslims and
2002
Hindus.
Chronology of events regarding human rights in India
A powerful Right to Information Act is passed to give citizen's
2005
access to information held by public authorities.

National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) guarantees

2005
universal right to employment.
Disappearance of Jaswant Singh Khalra by the Punjab Police
2005 (Khalra brought to light the extrajudicial disappearances in
Punjab)
Supreme Court orders police reforms in response to the poor
2006
human rights record of Indian police.

Delhi High Court declares that Section 377 of the Indian Penal
Code, which outlaws a range of unspecified "unnatural" sex acts,
2009 is unconstitutional when applied to homosexual acts between
private consenting individuals, effectively decriminalizing
homosexual relationships in India.
Thanking you all
Professor & Lawyer
Puttu Guru Prasad
VVIT, Nambur,
93 94 96 98 98
807 444 95 39