section_path: Abstract
section_name: Abstract
paragraph_text: Human rights are moral principles or norms that establish standards of human behaviour and are regularly protected as substantive rights in municipal and international law. They are commonly understood as inalienable, fundamental rights "to which a person is inherently entitled simply because he or she is a human being" and which are "inherent in all human beings", regardless of age, ethnic origin, location, language, religion, ethnicity, or any other status. They are applicable everywhere and at all times in the sense of being universal, and they are egalitarian in the sense of being the same for everyone. They are regarded as requiring empathy and the rule of law, and imposing an obligation on individuals to respect the human rights of others; it is generally considered that they should not be taken away except as a result of due process based on specific circumstances.
  
  The doctrine of human rights has been highly influential within international law and global and regional institutions. The precise meaning of the term right is controversial and remains the subject of ongoing philosophical debate. While there is consensus that human rights encompass a wide variety of rights, such as the right to a fair trial, protection against enslavement, prohibition of genocide, free speech, and the right to education, there is disagreement about which of these particular rights should be included within the general framework of human rights. Some thinkers suggest that human rights should serve as a minimum requirement to avoid the worst-case abuses, while others see it as a higher standard.
  
  Many of the basic ideas that animated the human rights movement developed in the aftermath of the Second World War and the events of the Holocaust, culminating in the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Paris by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. Ancient peoples did not share the modern-day conception of universal human rights. The true forerunner of human rights discourse was the concept of natural rights, which first appeared as part of the medieval natural law tradition and developed in new directions during the European Enlightenment with philosophers such as John Locke, Francis Hutcheson, and Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui. This concept featured prominently in the political discourse of the American Revolution and the French Revolution. From this foundation, modern human rights arguments emerged over the latter half of the 20th century, possibly as a reaction to slavery, torture, genocide, and war crimes.