2.2. Human Rights

Human rights are those rights which are considered so fundamental to human dignity and well- being that every person should possess these rights. These are plural, universal and high- priority rights that aspire to protect all people everywhere from severe political, legal, and social abuses. Examples of human rights are the right to freedom of religion, the right to a fair trial when charged with a crime, the right not to be tortured, and the right to education.

It is a common assumption that natural rights theory underlines the contemporary human rights doctrine. Consequently, many scholars tend to conflate Human Rights with Natural Rights. Additionally, the formulation of ‘rights of man’ creates further confusion. However, there are subtle differences between the three.

Natural rights stress upon a grounding in only human nature and lay emphasis on the endowment of humans with rights by nature. The ‘rights of man’ suggests man as the source of rights and hence, views man not only as merely natural but also rational and moral.

In contrast, Human Rights like ‘rights of man’ suggest derivation of rights from the complex moral notion of humanity, but not as explicitly. The normative justification of human rights is rather more complex in the sense that these rights are thought to be grounded in multiple aspects like prudential reasons, practical reasons, morality, human well-being, fundamental interests, human needs, agency and autonomy, dignity, fairness, equality and positive freedom.