Human Rights Define the following concepts Human rights

Human Rights

Define the following concepts: • Human rights – Supply TWO examples. • “Responsibility” in terms of human rights – Supply TWO examples. • The South African Constitution

Defining Concepts • Human rights are the basic rights that everyone has, simply because they are human, for example: the right to life, education, freedom of speech, etc. • All people have the responsibility to respect the rights of others, for example: to not take someone else life; to not disturb someone’s education; to not hurt someone by using your freedom of speech. • South African Constitution is the highest law in our country. It contains the list of human rights protected in the Bill of Rights, Chapter 2.

Remember: ALL RIGHTS CAN BE LIMITED IF IT WOULD BE FAIR TO DO SO (Sec. 36 of Constitution) Why? • People have competing and conflicting rights. • One person's right to dignity, for example, may clash with another's right to freedom of expression. • One citizen's right to be protected from violent suspected criminals will conflict with that suspect's right to freedom of movement.

What are human rights violations? • If someone ignores or abuses your rights, it is called a violation of those rights. • For example, if someone treats a person differently because of his or her race, gender, age or ethnic group, that person's right to equality is being abused or violated.

Bill of Rights Can you guess the top 5 rights that are violated in South Africa?

Interesting According to South African Human Rights Commission: Top 5 rights violations reported to the Commission (2012 -2017) 1 2 3 4 5 Equality (race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, belief, culture, language) Health care, food, water and social security Arrested, detained and accused persons Labour relations Just administrative action

Key term Trade union - An association of workers forming a legal unit which acts as an agent and legal representative for a unit of employees in all matters of law. • Counter Strategy – any strategy designed to go against something. • Counter Strategy in human rights violations: • John is fired from his job based on the fact that he has HIV/aids. (His right to equality is being discriminated against. ) • He contacts his trade union to deal with the situation. • This is a counter strategy of a human rights violation.

ENTITY HOW they could help Journalists and the Journalists investigate human rights abuses then write about them and expose human rights abusers. Media Musicians and Other Celebrities Bringing awareness of human rights violations through their art. They have a large following, which means a lot of people are influenced by their messages. Religious Leaders Religious leaders use their influence over people and government to campaign for human rights, especially religious freedom and respect for indigenous cultures. Entrepreneurs People like Bill Gates and Mark Shuttleworth donate time and money to worthy causes. Legal Methods Putting abusers in trial; sentencing them with jail time, etc. Social Networking Internet activists have organized protests via Twitter and Facebook and are using You. Tube and Flickr to post videos and photos, to bring awareness.

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