Human Rights
Human rights are based on the principle of respect for the individual. Their fundamental assumption is that each person is a moral and rational being who deserves to be treated with dignity. They are called human rights because they are universal. Whereas nations or specialised groups enjoy specific rights that apply only to them, human rights apply to everyone.
Human Rights in Guernsey
The States of Guernsey is due to consider the Prevention of Discrimination (Guernsey) Ordinance, 2022 on 28th September 2022. This builds on the Prevention of Discrimination (Enabling Provisions) (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2004 and the Human Rights (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2000. The Human Rights law reflects the European Convention on Human Rights, giving islanders protection of human rights that are recognised around the world, and requires all public bodies to act in a way that’s consistent with those rights. Find out more on the States of Guernsey website.
Human rights are everyone’s rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a milestone document in the history of human rights. Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, it set out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected. The Declaration was adopted by the UN General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948.
Progressing Human Rights in Guernsey
Progressing Human Rights has been painfully slow in Guernsey.
- Race has been waiting more than 50 years to be realised
- Women than 18 years
- Disability than 8 years
- ……..
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What are Human Rights?
“The basic rights and freedoms to which all human beings are entitled, often held to include the right to life and liberty, freedom of thought and expression, and equality before the law”
Human rights are based on the principle of respect for the individual. Their fundamental assumption is that each person is a moral and rational being who deserves to be treated with dignity. They are called human rights because they are universal. Whereas nations or specialised groups enjoy specific rights that apply only to them, human rights apply to everyone.
The full scope of human rights is very broad. They mean choice and opportunity. They mean the freedom to obtain a job, adopt a career, select a partner of one’s choice and raise children. They include the right to travel widely and the right to work gainfully without harassment, abuse and threat of arbitrary dismissal. They even embrace the right to leisure. Ultimately, human rights are the basis of everything people cherish about their way of life. Long before the term “human rights” came into existence, men and women struggled, fought and died for these principles.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the world’s premier human rights instrument. Its opening paragraph is a powerful affirmation of the principles that lie at the heart of the modern human rights system:
“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.”
Yet a wide gap exists between the articulation of these goals and their accomplishment. Millions are not free. Justice is often inequitable. And peace continues to elude many regions of the world. Bridging the enormous gulf between the ideal of universal human rights and the reality of widespread human rights violations is the challenge that drives human rights advocates.
“Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home – so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. … Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerned citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
