This article addresses the differences between civil liberties, civil rights, and human rights, approaching the subject from a multidisciplinary and global perspective. Among other aspects, the entry focuses on three fundamental tensions in this field: the tension between the philosophical origins of these concepts and their political and historical manifestations and influences, the tension between culture and universalism, and the ironic or ambivalent relationship between rights and state power. A concluding section discusses the special problem of terrorism and rights.