Radwan Ziadeh

Many definitions have been proposed in order to define this term ‘Human Rights”. Among these definitions is that proposed by René Cassin, one of the drafters of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1968. He defined it on the basis that the science of human rights is a special branch of the social sciences whose subject It is the study of the relationships existing between people according to human dignity, while defining the rights and choices necessary to develop the personality of every human being. Therefore, this definition assumes the establishment of a modern science called the science of human rights, so that the criterion of this science is human dignity.

However, in 1973, a group of researchers, led by Mr. Karel Vasak, famous for his research and work in the field of human rights, created about five thousand words used in the field of human rights and entered them into the computer, and obtained the following definition according to this technical method: “Human rights are A science that concerns every person, especially the working person who lives within the framework of a particular state, and who, if he is accused of breaking the law or a victim of a state of war, must benefit from the protection of national and international law, and his rights, especially the right to equality, must be consistent with the necessities of maintaining public order”.

This definition assumes that the human worker is the first addressee according to this perspective, and that the principle of equality stipulated by the law is the one that takes priority.

In 1976, the Frenchman Yves Madieu published his book Human Rights and Public Liberties and put forward the following definition: The subject of human rights is the study of personal rights that are recognized nationally and internationally and which, under a certain civilization, guarantee a combination of affirming and protecting human dignity on the one hand and maintaining public order on the other hand.

All these definitions share in approaching the issue within the modern perspective of rights and law. They assume the existence of a modern state in which the law prevails. This law must guarantee freedom, dignity, equality, and justice for all citizens. However, Leah Levin tried to see the issue from another angle, and she sees that the concept of human rights two basic meanings: the first is that a human being (just because he is a human) has fixed and natural rights, and these are (moral rights) stemming from the humanity of every human being and aiming to guarantee his dignity. 

As for the second meaning of human rights, it is related to (legal rights) that were established in accordance with law-making processes in both national and international communities. These rights are based on the consent of the governed, that is, the consent of the owners of these rights, and not on a natural order as exists in the first sense. 

To this first meaning, the definition of the dictionary of political thought drawn up by a group of specialists leads to the fact that they are the rights that a human being possesses simply because he is a human being. Accordingly, human rights are defined within the state of nature, which is the state of freedom and equality that people are in before an authority arises among them that limits their right to exercise it.

According to the legal aspect, human rights are defined as an outcome acquired through human struggle over a long history, and their graph is rising with the development of the political and social conditions of the person.

But is it possible to talk about abstract natural rights of a person? Then how can these natural rights be defined and determined?

The term “human rights” is a relatively recent term, while natural rights are a term that was popular in previous centuries, specifically in the Middle Ages in relation to European development. We can say that human rights are the rights guaranteed to the human being, and related to his nature, such as his right to life, equality, and other rights related to the same human nature mentioned in international conventions and declarations.

The insistence on natural right stems from the desire to give a universal formula to these rights and not to link them to the law or the constitution, which makes them subject to the will of the authority or the state. In addition, this definition assumes mentioning the rights that coincided with the term and its emergence as a defined concept. This does not mean at all Denying the existence of human rights before it appeared as a term, as denying this is tantamount to affirming that before drawing the circle, not all rays were equal, in the words of Muhammad Si Nasser.