4. HUMAN RIGHTS
Concept of Human Rights
Human rights refer to the basic and fundamental rights that all human being are entitled to because they are human being and no one should interfere with. Human rights are the basic needs and freedom that every person has from birth to death. That rights, include right to life, right to worship, right to work etc. human rights should be given to everyone just because of his or her humanity. In most countries in the world, human rights are based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights On 10th December 1948, the United Nations introduces the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The aim of the Declaration was to make sure that human rights are universally recognized and all countries adapt, promote and protect them. Most countries included the Human Rights in their constitutions as the Bill of Rights. Bill of Rights shows the right and the freedom that people have in their country.
TYPES OF HUMAN RIGHTS
There are two types of Human rights which were included by Universal Declaration of Human Rights
a. Legal rights. These are individual and group entitlements which are recognized by the constitution of a nation and which can be enforced in the court of law. Example right to life
b. Moral rights. These are the values and freedom which are recognized by certain societies or communities; they cannot be proved or claimed in the court of law, since they are only socially recognized. Example rights to be treated with respect
Categories of legal human rights
The categories of legal human rights are;
i. Civil and Political rights
These are the rights and privileges that give the citizens liberty and equality and allow the citizens to participate in the political life in the communities. These include the following; Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression, Freedom of association, Freedom of assembly
ii. Economic, cultural and social rights
These are the rights that give the citizens the opportunity to participate in economic, social and cultural life in their communities. They also concerned with the provision of basic needs such as food, shelter, health care and education. They divided into two categories, social rights and economic rights.
i. Social rights may include right to get education, right to get security, right to rest, recreation and health care, right to get marriage and right to have a family.
ii. Economic rights may include right to work, right to own property, right to reasonable standard of living and pension
iii. Environmental and developmental rights
These are the rights that give people the right to live in the environment that are clean and free from pollution. The environment should be safe to the people. Environmental pollution may include;
i. Air pollution
ii. Water pollution
iii. Noise pollution
Importance of Human rights
i. Human rights reduce crimes. Human rights reduce the rate of crime in the societies like killing one another, example right to life.
ii. Human rights help people to secure education. Human rights enable people to get education and reduce the number of illiterate people in the societies.
iii. Human rights bring equality to all people. Human rights enable all citizens to be treated equally regardless their race, religion, social status or tribe.
iv. Human rights bring free movement of people. Human rights allow people to move from one place to another that help people to build social relationship with other countries.
v. Human rights bring freedom to the people. Human rights help people to exercise their freedom in the societies, like exchanging ideas and providing their opinions freely.
vi. Human rights promote the right to life. This is important in any society because people will respect other's right to life and let them live free.
PROMOTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Promotion of Human Rights
Human rights promotion is the acts which are done by the government and other different organizations to encourage people to respect and value human rights. Promotion of human rights is done by both government and other different organizations
Roles of the government in promoting human rights in Tanzania
i. To set up the commission on human rights and good governance. The Government of Tanzania established the human rights commission and good governance, this ensure the promoting and protecting human rights
ii. Including them in Constitution. The government of Tanzania always promotes and protects the human rights by recognizing and including them in the constitution
iii. Accept international obligation. The government accepts and respect international obligation on human rights. Tanzania accepts various international agreements on human rights. Example Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
iv. Ensuring employment opportunities. The government ensures the employment opportunities to its citizens that enable people to access their living.
v. Allowing non- governmental organization. The government of Tanzania allows the existence of Non- Government Organizations (NGOs) to operate in the country that promote Human Rights. Examples of organizations TAMWA, TAWLA, TGNP etc.
vi. Practicing the rule of laws. The government of Tanzania promotes human rights by practicing the rule of laws. This means that no one is guilty until he or she has been proven guilty by court of law. It also means that all people are under the law and nobody is above the law
Roles of the NGOs in promoting human rights in Tanzania
i. Help people to fight against violence in the society. Some of these NGOs promote the human rights by helping the people to fight against violence in a society. Example TAMWA helps women to fight against violence
ii. Provision of mass education to the people about their rights. Also NGOs promote human rights through the provision of education to the people about their rights
iii. Provision of legal advice to the people. NGOs also promote human rights through provision of legal advice to the people. For example, TAMWA has set up advisory center where women gp for legal advice
iv. Conduct research on human rights practices in Tanzania. NGOs promote human rights by conducting the research on human rights practices in Tanzania. For example Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) conducts research and publishes reports on human rights practice in Tanzania.
v. Empowering and strengthening human rights and good governance. Also NGOs promote human rights by strengthening good governance. for example LHRC is responsible for empowering, promoting strengthening and maintaining human rights and good governance.
vi. Provide legal assistance to the people. NGOs also promote human rights through providing legal assistance. For example TAWLA provides legal assistance to women and society at large
Individual rights
These are the natural rights that all human being are born with and they cannot be taken away by any one and the government should protect them. They are also referred to as unchallengeable rights because they are God-given rights and cannot be taken away either by a government or by other people in a society. Examples of these rights are; Right to life, Right to worship, Right to equality, Right to liberty etc.
Protection of Individual Rights
Human rights protection are the acts that ensuring that human rights are not abused. Individual Human rights are protected by all people because;
i. They regulate and control the power and actions of the government
ii. They are foundation of justice, peace and freedom
iii. They promote democracy
iv. They encourage people's participation in economic, social, political and cultural activities.
v. They bring about social equality and discourage any form of discrimination.
Ways of Protecting Individual Rights
i. Having the constitution and institution which ensure equal and practice of people. The constitution must include the individual rights and establish legal institutions advocating for individual rights. In Tanzania for instance all individual rights are included in the constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania
ii. The press informs the public about violation of human rights. The media plays a significant role in promoting the protection of individual rights. It inform the public about the violation of individual rights for the relevant institutions to act accordingly
iii. Presence of organization that deal with protection of human rights. There are some organization such as Amnesty International that protects individual rights.
iv. Presence of government institution that deal with human rights. The establishment of government institutions that deal with human rights protection is another way of protecting individual rights. The commission for Human Rights and Good Governance helps to protect individual rights.
v. Practicing the rule of laws. The government protect individual rights by practicing the rule of laws to make sure that all people including the leaders are equal under the law and no one is above the law.
Limiting Individual rights
Concept of Human rights limitation
Human rights limitations are the boundaries to the extent of practicing individual human rights. Every person has the rights to exercise his or her things accordingly; there is no absolute freedom as all freedom within certain boundaries. The main reason for setting boundaries within which human rights are exercised is to protect the interests of other people. Everyone is free to enjoy his or her rights, but in so doing one should not interfere with the rights of others. Examples of human rights limitations include the following;
1.Right to equality should be exercised in fairness. All people should be treated equally regardless their races, religion or sex.
2.Freedom of speech or expression should be limited to some extent. Freedom of speech or expression does not mean that a person is allowed to insult others, shouting a thief while there is no thief.
3.Right to personal freedom should be limited to some extent. Just because one has the right to personal freedom does not mean that can do things that offend others such as walking naked.
4.Freedom of assembly should be limited to some extent. People have the right to make assembly, but if an assembly is likely to harm other people must be limited.
5.Freedom of association should be limited to some extent. People who have bad intensions such as criminals cannot be allowed to associate with the public as their actions are likely to harm others.
6.Right to work should be limited according to the age and health status. Children with below 18 years are not allowed to work, and people who are not mentally fit are not allowed to work.
7.Right to vote should be limited according to the age. Children below 18 years are not allowed to vote.
Purpose of Limiting Individual Rights
i. To protect the rights of others. This happens when the conflicts of rights occurs, certain rights sometimes need to be limited in order to protect the rights of others
ii. To protect the public health. Some rights must be limited to some extent in order to protect the public health, for example, some people who suffer from epidemic disease may have their freedom of movement restricted in order to protect other people from such disease.
iii. National security. Freedom of movement may be restricted if it interferes with the protection of the state's security. Similarly, publishing government secrets, in exercise of freedom of expression, can be harmful to state security.
iv. To protect public morals. Protecting public morals is sometimes cited as a reason to limit individual's right. For example, it may be used to limit freedom of expression in the interests of regulating inappropriate films.
v. Maintain social peace and harmony. Peace and harmony can bring a peaceful and stable order to society and they are a necessary condition for survival and development of mankind.
Conditions which hinder the implementation of Individual rights
i. Presence of war and insecurity. An individual may fail to exercise one's rights when there is a war or insecurity in a society or community
ii. Lack of integrity and decline of professional ethics on the part of the judicial personnel
iii. Bias and unfair treatment from the decision making machinery. Sometimes this situation may occur at an individual level on the basis of race, religion, tribe and economic status
iv. Lack of awareness about human rights which could enable an individual to recognize and fight for his or her rights
v. Corruption practices which may deny people's rights
vi. Ignorant of the legal procedures and appropriate steps to be taken
vii. Inadequate political rights. This may happen when citizens are denied their rights to participate in voting and in public affairs.
HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE
Human rights abuse is the unlawful prevention of a person enjoyment of his or her rights as outlined in the constitution. Human rights abuse may include raping women and children, child labor, increase of corruption, forced marriages, early marriages, etc.
Parents can abuse the rights of their children by;
1. Denying them education
2. Not providing basic needs
3. Forcing them to marry against their wishes
4. Giving their children severe punishment Societies can be abuse individual rights by;
5. Beating and killing suspected criminals
6. Abounding children in the streets
7. Stigmatizing less fortunate members of the societies such as disabled people and people living with HIV/AIDS
An individual can abuse human rights through;
1. Taking corruption
2. Practicing social crime like stealing
3. Abuse of power.
Government can abuse human rights by;
1. Making oppressive laws that limit individual rights
2.Discriminating against some citizens
3.Failure to include Bill of Rights in the constitution
4.Failure to maintain the rule of laws
Nowadays the human rights abuse in Tanzania includes the following;
1.Beating and killing suspected criminals like thieves
2.Increase of social crimes like raping and robbery
3.Increase of stigmatizing the less fortunate people like people living with HIV/AIDS
4.Presence of early marriages in the societies
5. Presence of corruption and abuse of power
6.Presence of severe punishment from the parents to their children.
Effects of Human Rights Abuse
i. Occurrence of conflicts. Human rights abuse in the society may lead to the rise of conflicts and misunderstanding among the people in a community
ii. Increase of crimes and poverty. Also existence of acts that indicate human rights abuse lead to the increase of crimes such as stealing, robbery etc
iii. Rise of political instability in the state. Due to human rights abuse in a community, may lead to misunderstanding which ultimately lead to political conflicts in a country.
iv. May denies people to secure the basic social services. Human rights abuse may make the citizens not to get their basic needs and social services properly
v. Increase of oppression and humiliation. Oppression and humiliation may increase, especially to the less fortunate members in the society.
Ways of Combating Human Rights Abuse
i. Enhance the rule of laws and good governance. The government has to maintain the rule of laws in the state
ii. Provision of public education. Government and non-governmental organizations should educate citizens about their rights
iii. To maintain respect in a community. The society has to respect all people in the country regardless their background such as races, religion or tribe
iv. Ensuring the justice to all people. The court of laws should enforce them in a just manner and punish those who abuse the rights
v. There should be the system of controlling the activities of the government. This will make the government to be transparent in its activities.
QUESTIONS
1. Choose the correct answer from the following questions
i. The boundaries to the extent of practicing individual rights is known as
A. Human rights abuse
B. Human rights limitations
C. Human rights protection
D. Human rights promotion
ii. Which of the following is not an example of human rights abuse?
A. Child labor
B. Early marriages
C. Proper behavior
D. Raping of women and girls
iii. Which of the following sets describe better about economic and social rights?
A. Freedom of association and expression
B. Right to life and worship
C. Right to equality and movement
D. Right to work and right to get education
iv. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was officially introduced in
A. 1948
B. 1961
C. 1964
D. 1998
v. The organ that deals with the human rights worldwide is called
A. Tanzania Gender Networking Program (TGNP)
B. Amnesty International
2. Define the following terms
A. Human rights
B. Human rights limitations
C. Human rights promotion
D. Human rights protection
E. Human rights abuse
F. Individual human rights
3. Differentiate between legal rights and moral rights
4. Tanzania is the signatory of practicing human rights to its citizens. In five points, explain the roles of the government of Tanzania in promoting and protecting the human rights
5. Assume you are the member of Amnesty International, explain to a community by giving five points, why the government of Tanzania and other organizations put the efforts to promote and protect the human rights in the country?
6. Every person in Tanzania is obliged to practice his or her human rights accordingly without annoying others. In the light of this statement provide five reasons why the government of Tanzania put some limitations in practicing individuals' rights?
7. Despite of good human rights record in the country, Tanzania still suffer from the problem of human rights abuse. Verify this statement by giving five points
8. Although the presence of human rights in Tanzania ensure the justice to the people in the country, but there is the problem of human rights abuse in many societies in the country. Provide five factors that signify the impacts of this problem in Tanzania.
9. Despite of good human rights records in the country, Tanzania still suffer from the problem of human rights abuse. You as a member from amnesty international, propose five ways of combating with this problem in Tanzania.