Human Rights Violations are violations of human rights.
Human rights are the “fundamental rights and privileges to which all humans are entitled.” Human Rights Violations can be committed against individuals, groups, or even entire populations. The term also describes international standards that call for these basic liberties to be upheld.
A more in-depth definition would include the following: “human” means any being who has been born or naturalized into citizenship in a given country; “rights” refers not only to moral principles but also legal entitlements conferred on individuals by law; “violation” includes both direct violence against people and destruction of their property as well as actions that impede their ability to enjoy their human rights.
A few examples of human rights violations would be slavery, torture, genocide, and state-sanctioned executions. If you think your human rights are violated and if you want to take legal action against it, Human rights solicitors London can be your guide throughout the procedure.
Table of Contents
The Definition of Human Rights
Basically, human rights are the freedoms to which people should be entitled. The term ‘human rights’ was coined at the beginning of the 20th century. It is considered a modern concept because there were no unconditional rules for humanity during that time. People can’t just go out and demand their basic freedoms because they could always get easily oppressed by others. Moreover, before human rights were recognized, no one could say anything against the authority. However, during the Second World War (1939-1945), people started to look at these developments more critically and demanded a change.
Contact Human rights solicitors London immediately if you think your human rights have been breached by an individual or an organization. If you want someone to assist you to make a claim, use our Find a Lawyer service.
Origin of Human Rights Violations
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) in 1948 and is today translated into more than 500 languages. It was the first international document to create a foundation for human rights. However, violating fundamental rights can be found as early as ancient times. For example, torture was mostly used as a method to secure confessions even though it happened long before the modern era.
There was also a lot of prejudice against certain groups, such as women and minorities. In the Middle Ages, people who were considered enemies of society could be punished with death even though it is hard to tell whether this was actually lawful or not because the legal system back then was very different compared to what we have today.
Types of Human Rights Violations
There are many types of human rights violations.
For example, there is the denial of fundamental rights such as freedom of movement or fair trial. Apart from this, torture became an essential topic in the 20th century because although it was already forbidden by law, it still happened regularly. Another type of violation is discrimination, which can also be found in history books. It has always been an effective way to suppress others and prevent them from demanding their fundamental freedoms.
Human rights violations can happen within one country or even internationally by states, for example, when someone’s life is threatened only because the person belongs to a particular group.
Examples of Human Rights Violations
There have been many examples of human rights violations in history that range from ancient times until today. For instance, in ancient Greece, women were not allowed to participate in politics because they had only been seen as childbearing vessels at that time. However, when it comes to human trafficking, slavery was a big topic during the 19th century because people could be kidnapped and later sold to different owners. As a result, many people were forced to work in fields or mines without getting paid for the services. Moreover, there was also a lot of sexual abuse against slaves back then.
As we already said, torture has been a standard method to punish people and force them to confess crimes they didn’t even commit. It was widespread during the Middle Ages when there were no written laws, but only rules enforced by an almighty ruler or simply taken from tradition. For example, if a person committed a crime, he could be punished through physical torments such as cutting off fingers, hands, or even feet. Other forms of torture included burning at the stake, starvation, and putting the convict in a vat filled with insects.
Human rights violations can also happen through discrimination by state authorities such as Russia during World War II when millions of people were killed for political reasons only. Even though the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights was established in 1948, this did not stop many countries from violating human rights. Today, there are still countless examples of human rights violations that include genocide, mass killings, or even child labor.
Conclusion
In summary, there are different types of human rights violations, and they have been found as early as ancient times. There have been many examples throughout history, most recorded in history books, thus allowing us to look back at the past with a critical eye.
