Philosophers can argue endlessly about the nature of human rights, but the international community has already expressed its unwavering commitment to human rights by adopting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Since then, the international community has enshrined the effective principles of the UDHR in numerous international, regional and national legal instruments. The UDHR was not drafted as a legally binding instrument, but through the incorporation of its norms in numerous subsequent legally binding treaties (known as “conventions” or “agreements”), the legal status of these norms is unquestionable today.
Human rights are inalienable. This means that you cannot lose them, because they relate to the very fact of human existence, they are inherent in all human beings. Under certain circumstances, some of them, though not all, may be suspended or limited. For example, if someone is convicted of a crime, he or she may be deprived of liberty; or a country’s government may declare a state of emergency by declaring it publicly and then may revoke certain rights, such as restricting freedom of movement by imposing curfews.
They are indivisible, interdependent, and interrelated. This means that the various human rights are essentially linked and cannot be considered in isolation. The exercise of one right depends on the exercise of many other rights, and there is no one right that is more important than the others.
Human rights are universal, which means that they apply equally to all people everywhere in the world, and without time limitations. Everyone is entitled to enjoy human rights without distinction as to race, ethnicity, color, sex, sexual orientation, disability, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, birth, property or other status.
It should be noted that the universality of human rights in no way threatens the rich diversity of identities or cultural differences. “Universality” and “uniformity” are not synonymous. Diversity implies a world in which all are equal and equally deserving of respect. Human rights act as minimum standards applicable to all people; each state or society is free to set and apply higher or more specific standards. For example, we see that in the areas of economy, social life, and culture there is talk of the need to take steps toward the progressive realization of rights, but there is no clear position on raising taxes to achieve this goal. And then it is up to each country and each society to make policy decisions according to domestic conditions.