Human Rights Issues in the 21st Century

Human rights refers to "the basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled, people sometimes take advantage of these, often held to include the right to life and liberty, freedom of thought and expression, and equality before the law." The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood." The idea of human rights descended from the philosophical idea of natural rights that are provided by God; some recognise virtually no difference between the two and regard both as labels for the same thing while others choose to keep the terms separate to eliminate association with some features traditionally associated with natural rights. This book presents new ideas on human rights issues from an international standpoint.