Human Rights

UN & Human Rights

Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the UN

Created in in 1948

Guarantees the basic rights afforded to all human beings

List of rights contains 30 articles and a preamble

Background

After the world war 2 ended, several nations came together, and in 1945, formed an international peacekeeping organization called the UN

The entire goal of the UN was to prevent another global war from ever occurring again, and they promised to do this by promoting universal respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms

in 1946, they set up a commission to draft a universal declaration of rights, chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt that explained exactly what those fundamental rights and freedoms entailed

In 1948, the member states of the UN approved the declaration with a vote of 48-0, although 8 nations did abstain from voting for various reasons

Some thought that the declaration should only include natural rights, those granted by God or nature, such as the rights to happiness, safety, and health

Others favored positive rights, or rights agreed upon by people through institutions like the law (this includes things like protection from racial discrimination)

Significance and Impact

The entire goal of the Declaration was to define the terms ''fundamental freedoms'' and ''human rights,'' not to legally force nations to agree to any specific actions

In this regard, the Declaration has been incredibly influential, with parts of it being adopted into nearly every national constitution written since 1948, as well as most international laws, treaties, and other international agreements

People and nations are often held to standards that are not simply defined by law, rather, the Declaration defined a moral obligation that all members of the UN are expected to uphold, and there can be some pretty strong international pressure to do so

The International Bill of Human Rights, an official international treaty of human rights, contains the entire Declaration within it

To date, the United Nations has developed nine core international human rights treaties that oversee, implement, and enforce human rights across the world (all of these treaties are based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in one way or another)

UNDHR

Indian Vs. Pakistan's Constitution

India's Constitution

Right to equality

Right to Freedom

Right Against Exploitation

Right to Freedom of Religion

Cultural and Educational Rights

Right to Constitutional remedies

Pakistan's Constitution

freedom of speech

freedom of thought

freedom of information

freedom of religion

freedom of association

freedom of the press

freedom of assembly

right to bear arms

Differences Between Both Constitution

While the preamble to the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan begins with an invocation of “Almighty Allah” and mentions the “Founder of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah”, the Constituent Assembly of India had rejected any reference to God or to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi.

Pakistan’s constitution, unlike India’s, recognises the right to privacy (which was declared a fundamental right by the Supreme Court last year), and the right to education for children from ages 5 to 16. (The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, gave this right to Indian children between ages 6 and 14.)

Pakistan’s constitution guarantees the right to information (India passed The Right to Information Act in 2005), and declares human dignity as inviolable.