human rights by eguriase s. m. okaka
HUMAN RIGHTS
By Eguriase S. M. Okaka
Meaning of Human Rights
Human beings have been on this earth for over 4,000 years. They had always lived together in communities, nations or countries. Some of these people in these communities or nations are poor and weak while others are rich and strong. The need to prevent oppression and intimidation among the people and make them continue to live together happily in peace and harmony led to the concept of human rights.
Human rights are rights that people possess by virtue of being human beings, and are neither created nor can be abrogated by any government. All individuals belong to a society; and such, becomes citizens of that society where they freely exercise their rights. In other words, the rights of citizens of a country are those entitlements they enjoy as citizens of that country.
Human rights can also be define as rights people are entitled to by reason of being human beings regardless of their race, religion, sex, nationality, etc. these rights are fundamental rights in the sense that they are inalienable. This means these rights cannot be taken away from human beings under normal circumstances because they are God-given.
Human rights are universal as they are defined in international law. United Nations (U.N) in its declaration of human rights mandated all member-nations to document human rights laws in their constitutions and ensures its observance or compliance. Nigeria as a member of United Nations Organization (U.N.O) has domesticated the human rights declaration in her constitution.
Characteristics of Human Rights
Constitutionalism of Human Rights: Human rights must be enshrined (written down) in every country’s constitution and ensure its observance/compliance. Constitutionalism means that government and citizens must work within the confines of the constitution.
Universality of Human Rights: Human rights are rights generally accepted, obeyed, and practiced by individuals, groups and organization of the world over. Universality of human rights means all countries of the world as mandated by United Nations (UN) must document human rights laws in their constitution and also ensure its compliance.
Inalienability of Human Rights: Human rights cannot be taken away from any person under normal circumstance irrespective of the person’s place of birth, residence, sex, race, religion, nationality, etc., because they are freely given by God.
Types of Human Rights
The rights of human beings in any nation can be categorized into the following:
• Fundamental rights
• Civic rights
• Political rights
• Environmental rights
• Legal rights
Fundamental Human Rights
These are rights that are basic for an individual to possess which makes him or her a human being. Fundamental human rights are enshrined in every country’s constitution and violating them amount to breach of the constitution. The following are some of the fundamental human rights of Nigerian citizens as enshrined in the constitution.
• Right to life
• Right to freedom of movement
• Right to peaceful assembly and association
• Right to freedom of expression
• Right to fair hearing
• Right to personal liberty
• Right to shelter and education
• Right to properties
• Right to freedom of worship (religion)
• Right to human dignity
• Right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion
• Right to vote and be voted for in an election.
Civic Rights: These are rights the citizens enjoy from government such as adequate protection of life and properties, provision of basic amenities i.e. portable water, good roads, school electricity, etc.
Political Rights: These are rights that enable citizens to participate in the exercise of political power in the country as entrenched in the constitution. These rights allows citizens to have political participation such as the right to vote during elections (exercise one’s franchise), right to be voted for, right to serve in public offices and right to advice or criticize government.
Economic Rights: These are rights citizens have to practice and do lawful vocation or businesses to earn a living. Under this set of rights, citizen can enter into any valid contracts buy and sell goods and commodities. Also, in these economic rights, a citizen is entitled to his salary and wages commensurate with the work done. Economic rights also include:
• Freedom to own a private business.
• Freedom to practice any vocation of your interest.
• Fair remuneration (entitled to fair salary or wages commensurate with the work done.
• Freedom to work and earn a living.
• Freedom to own a property.
FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS
Right to freedom of expression: Nigeria is operating a democratic government. Democracy allows freedom of expression (speech). In Nigeria, every citizen has the right to express his views, feelings, and opinions on issues or matters concerning government and organization on social media, electronic media and print media anywhere without fear. The press are free to air out news of any activity happening in the country on radio, newspapers, televisions, etc. for example, ITV television does broadcast incidents of fighting in the State House of Assembly and other important news.
Right to Fair Hearing: Every accused citizen or person has right to fair hearing in a competent court, and has the right to defend himself legally before judgment can be passed on him or her. An accused person is not guilty of an offence unless tried and found guilty by a competent law court.
Right to Peaceful Assembly and Association: Every person or citizen has the right to associate with any individual, social, cultural, religious and political group he wishes to associate with provided it does not have negative effects on the society.
Right to Human Dignity: Every human being has the right to be treated rightly and must not be subjected to in-human torture, slavery or compulsory labor.
Environmental Rights: This is the right that enables citizen to enjoy peaceful, calm, neat and noiseless environment.
Legal Rights: It is the right citizens enjoy by having free access to the law courts of the land. For example, when a citizen’s right is infringed upon, he seeks redress in the court instead of taking the law into his hands.
Steps Necessary for the Protection of Human Rights
These are some of the steps required to be taken to protect human rights from been abused or violated in a country:
• Enactment and implementation of good laws.
• Independence of the judiciary
• Freedom of the press
• Stable and good democratic government
• Freedom of Speech
• Respect and adherence to the country’s constitution
• Stable economic, etc.
Importance of Knowing and having our rights in a Country
• It brings peace, happiness and harmony among the people living in the country.
• It brings progress, orderliness and good governance.
• It guarantees freedom and ensure good welfare for the people.
• It aids in the growth and development of the country politically, economically, socially, etc.
Limitation to Human Rights
As human rights are enshrined in the constitution, so are the limitations to those rights also enshrined in the constitution? These include:
• Freedom of movement could be limited when one is insane or of unsound mind as he or she is restricted to a place for the interest of the public. Also a person with a disease such Ebola virus or an illness that can be contacted by touching the patient can be quarantined and treated for the interest of the public.
• When a state of emergency is declared by government, people are deprived of freedom of movements and association; or when a curfew is imposed, people’s movements are restricted thereby denying them the right of movement.
• Freedom of expression and the press could be limited by laws of slander, libel, etc.
• Freedom of association and assembly may be limited or denied based on ban on public assembly in order to restore peace, law and order to a disorderly state.
• Right to life may be denied when a citizen is condemned and sentenced to death by the law court for grievous offences committed such as murder, armed robbery, etc.
• A citizen loses his right to liberty if he is found guilty of an offence and sentenced to prison.
• A citizen may be denied his right to own a property if he is found guilty by the law court for embezzling public fund, and his properties are seized by government, etc.
• War leads to limitations to fundamental human rights. In period of war, most aspects of laws are suspended and human rights are deprived.
• Rights to peaceful assembly and association of citizens are also denied in times of emergencies just as there could also be killing and torturing of some citizens.
• In a coup ‘d’ etat: This is when a government is removed from office or toppled by force especially by the military in order to bring in either a civilian or military government. When this happen, the constitution is suspended and replaced with decrees which deprived citizens of their fundamental human rights.
Human Right Abuse
Human right abuse means when individuals are violated and denied their entitled fundamental human rights. These human rights include civic, economic, political, social, fundamental rights, etc.
Types of Human Rights Abuse
Below are the different kinds of human right abuses:
• Forced marriage
• Forced migration
• Slavery
• Human torturing
• Rape
• Police brutality
• Deliberate starvation
• Forced labor, etc.
Forced Marriage: A Forced marriage take place when the bride and the groom do not want to get married to each other, but they are forced to be married by others; usually by their families. People could also be forced into marriage by being physically threatened or emotionally blackmailed to do so. Forced married is a violation of fundament human rights. In this kind of marriage, there is no freedom of choice and the individuals concerned may end up being depress which may even sometimes lead to suicide.
Forced migration: It refers to the movement of refugees and internally displaced persons as a result of conflicts within their country of origin. Forced migration could also be seen as when people are made to leave their home or homeland as a result of war, conflict, natural or environmental disasters, etc. example of forced migration are people that have left the North East area of Nigeria as a result of Boko Haram attacks to seek refuge in other states.
Human slavery: The modern form of human slavery is human trafficking. This involves recruiting and transporting people for the purpose of exploitation, using violence, threats, deceit or coercion.
Forced labor: This is any kind of work or service people are forced to do against their will or under threat of punishment. Most children that are trafficked abroad or within are compelled to work against their will.
Human torture: Many human beings have their rights abused when they inflict pains on them physically or mentally in the process of trying to get information or a confession from them. They are punished for an act committed by another person. This human torture is mostly carried out by the law enforcement agencies such as the police force.
Rape: Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration. The rape of any woman or child is a sexual abuse which can result in serious and long term psychological trauma. Raping is an abuse on the fundamental human rights of the victim that is raped; and rape as well as rape-related issues must be treated seriously by government and the punishment should be grave.
Police brutality: This is when police officers exercise undue force on human beings when dealing with suspects and civilians.
Effects of Human Rights Abuses on Individuals and the Society
• It creates low self-esteem: The person whose right is abused may lack self confidence and feeling badly about his or herself. The feeling, thoughts and behavior of the abused are negatively affected, which sometimes lead to negative self-image.
• Psychological effects: Psychology is the science of behavior and mind. People whose rights are abused have their minds affected negatively and their behaviors are also affected. Some of these persons become depressed, feel helpless isolated, lack self-esteem, etc.
• Create conflict and disorderliness: When the rights of individuals and groups abused, the effects on the society are violence, disorderliness, confusion, fighting, killing destruction of properties, etc.
• Lead to underdevelopment: When rights of citizens are denied or abused, it causes a lot of disaffection on individuals and society, thereby reducing their inputs into the development of the community or state. Today in Nigeria, many of our states are not developed because individual and societal rights are being denied or abused.
• Abusing human rights make the people to get involved in crimes and other vices.
Ways of Preventing Human Rights Abuses
The ways of preventing human rights abuse are as follow:
• Educating citizens on their rights and how to protect and defend such rights.
• Enforcing human rights by government, the law court and others based on the constitution.
• Through the activities of human rights organizations such as NGOs.
• By imposition of sanctions on those who abuse other person’s rights either by sentencing them to prison or a suspect convicted especially in the case of sexual abuse.
• Through the mass media: The mass media usually expose instances of abuses on citizen’s right by individuals, government, etc. with the help of the media in exposing human rights abuses in the country. Consequently, government and others becomes careful about abusing the rights of the citizens.
• By the establishment of public complaint commission to receive complaints from abused citizens of the country and deal decisively with the complaints.
Questions
• Explain the meaning of human rights.
• List two types human right.
• Define fundamental human rights.
• State six fundamental human rights enshrined in the Nigeria constitution.
• State four limitations of human rights.
• What is human right abused?
• State three kinds of human rights abuse.
• State five effects of human rights abuses on individuals and the society.
• State four ways of preventing human rights abuses.
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