Home | Intervention Overview | Human Rights and Equal Dignity
Human Rights and Equal Dignity (HRED)
HumanDHS is primarily grounded in academic work. We are independent of any religious or political agenda. However, we wish to bring academic work into "real life." Our research focuses on topics such as dignity (with humiliation as its violation), or, more precisely, on respect for equal dignity for all human beings in the world. This is not only our research topic, but also our core value, in line with Article 1 of the Human Rights Declaration that states that every human being is born with equal dignity (that ought not be humiliated).
We agree with Professor Shibley Telhami, who advocates the building of bridges from academia as follows, "I have always believed that good scholarship can be relevant and consequential for public policy. It is possible to affect public policy without being an advocate; to be passionate about peace without losing analytical rigor; to be moved by what is just while conceding that no one has a monopoly on justice." We would like to add that we believe that good scholarship can be relevant and consequential not only for public policy, but for raising awareness in general.
We look for interested people, who would like to develop our HRED page. Please see our Call for Creativity.
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 states that "all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights."
When the Declaration was drawn up, there it was discussed whether to place this sentence into the preamble. However, this was rejected by those who argued that this sentence represented not just a lofty ideal for a preamble, but had to have more binding force. Therefore this sentence was placed in the first Article (personal communication with Tore Lindholm, October 2004, Oslo, Norway).
The Universal Human Rights Index
The Universal Human Rights Index provides instant access for all countries to human rights information from the United Nations system. The index is based on the observations and recommendations of the following international expert bodies: the seven Treaty Bodies monitoring the implementation of the core international human rights treaties (since 2000) the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council (since 2006).
Health and Human Rights Info
Health and Human Rights Info makes practical information and material on mental health and human rights more available. Our aim is to give you access to organisations, publications, guidelines and manuals regarding the effects of human rights violations on mental health in the contexts of violence, conflict and disaster on individual as well as community level. This website contains a database with links to selected materials, divided into three categories and thematic pages. Health and Human Rights Info is a project initiated by the International Society for Health and Human Rights (ISHHR) . and funded by the Norwegian NGO Mental Health Project.
The International Society for Health and Human Rights (ISHHR)
Please see the work by The International Society for Health and Human Rights (ISHHR), whose aim is to contribute to the promotion and improvement of aid to persons who have experienced gross violations of human rights, and to contribute to the world-wide eradication of gross violations of human rights. ISHHR has members in almost 50 countries worldwide. Please read on the ISHHR website: "The human rights issue is a very important one for health workers, and as health professionals we deal with this in many different ways. We live in a world where these rights are being violated and challenged every single day. In this situation we hope to contribute with our share, namely by strengthening the communication between professionals in this area and by emphasising the need for an active defense for human rights."
Links
UN reform proposals put forward as action plan by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on March 21, 2005
Towards Development, Security and Human Rights for All
Executive Summary
III. Freedom to live in dignity
In the Millennium Declaration, Member States said they would spare no effort to promote democracy and strengthen the rule of law, as well as respect for all internationally recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms. And over the last six decades, an impressive treaty-based normative framework has been advanced.
But without implementation, these declarations ring hollow. Without action, promises are meaningless. People who face war crimes find no solace in the unimplemented words of the Geneva Conventions. Treaties prohibiting torture are cold comfort to prisoners abused by their captors, particularly if the international human rights machinery enables those responsible to hide behind friends in high places. War-weary populations despair when, even though a peace agreement has been signed, there is little progress towards government under the rule of law. Solemn commitments to strengthen democracy remain empty words to those who have never voted for their rulers, and who see no sign that things are changing.
Therefore, the normative framework that has been so impressively advanced over the last six decades must be strengthened. Even more important, concrete steps are required to reduce selective application, arbitrary enforcement and breach without consequence. The world must move from an era of legislation to implementation.
Action is called for in the following priority areas:
.. Rule of law: The international community should embrace the “responsibility to protect”, as a basis for collective action against genocide, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. All treaties relating to the protection of civilians should be ratified and implemented. Steps should be taken to strengthen cooperation with the International Criminal Court and other international or mixed war crimes tribunals, and to strengthen the International Court of Justice. The Secretary-General also intends to strengthen the Secretariat’s capacity to assist national efforts to re-establish the rule of law in conflict and post-conflict societies.
.. Human rights: The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights should be strengthened with more resources and staff, and should play a more active role in the deliberations of the Security Council and of the proposed Peacebuilding Commission. The human rights treaty bodies of the UN system should also be rendered more effective and responsive.
.. Democracy: A Democracy Fund should be created at the UN to provide
assistance to countries seeking to establish or strengthen their democracy.
Micheline R. Ishay
Dr. Micheline R. Ishay, University of Denver, Denver, CO 80208, USA.
Hurisearch: Search Engine Aids Rights Workers
Human rights groups around the world are creating a search engine to help co-ordinate campaigns against abuse.
The database behind the search system pools data about dissidents, the abuse they have suffered, and campaigns that highlight when freedoms are restricted.
More than 3,000 groups around the world are contributing information to the database.
It has been set up because rights groups say they are not well served by current search engines.
Work on the search system is being co-ordinated by Huridocs - a non-profit group set up to help human rights groups, non-governmental groups and researchers do a better job of cataloguing and sharing information.
The project began by indexing documents and data prepared by large campaigning groups such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Anti-Slavery International.
Now these have been joined by thousands of other organisations around the world who upload information into the database ready for searching.
Before its creation much of the detailed local information about rights abuses could have been overlooked.
Huridocs estimates that the system now holds more than 2.5 million pages from more than 3,000 separate websites. Users can search the database in 77 languages.
Work on the system, called Hurisearch, started in 2003 and now it is completed it is due to get its official launch on 10 December - Human Rights Day.
please read the entire article at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/technology/6198244.stm.
UN Elects New Human Rights Body
Several nations considered by activists to have poor human rights records have won election to the newly formed UN Human Rights Council. China, Cuba, Pakistan, Russia and Saudi Arabia were among 44 states confirmed on the 47-strong council, elected by the UN General Assembly. The new body replaces the Human Rights Commission, discredited for having members with terrible rights records.
Please read the entire article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4754169.stm.
