Human Rights and Citizenship

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The concept of human rights, as well as citizenship, was created with the aim of guaranteeing that all human beings have a decent life.

It is understood that to have a full existence, with conditions to develop in all its human capacity, the individual needs, among other things, housing, education, freedom, security, basic sanitation and work.

On the other hand, he must practice citizenship by complying with the law, voting and taking care of public spaces.

How can we understand human rights and citizenship?

It is called human rights a set of rights that all people should have access to, regardless of their financial status, ethnicity, belief, skin color, sexual orientation or any other factor.

Such rights include the guarantee of basic human needs, freedom of thought and expression, and the idea that everyone is equal before the law.

already the citizenship it is understood as the exercise of a person's rights and duties in society.

Thus, when it is exercised harmoniously, it allows individuals to act and participate in decisions regarding the place in which they live, thus relating to the concept of democracy.

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According to the Brazilian jurist and professor Dalmo de Abreu Dallari:

Citizenship expresses a set of rights that give people the possibility to actively participate in the life and government of their people.

To learn more about the subject, read: Citizenship.

How did the concept of "human rights" come about?

You human rights as we know it today were conceived in the 1940s, after World War II, by the United Nations. However, they are the result of a longer trajectory in humanity seeking to minimize the various injustices committed against people.

The world had gone through many wars and genocides, because of this, there was already a certain concern to ensure the right to life since the beginning of the Modern Age (after the medieval period).

An important step in the fight for human rights was the creation of Habeas Corpus, in 1679, in the United Kingdom. The legal action is intended to ensure the individual's freedom of movement in a situation of abuse of power.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

In 1776, when the United States became independent, they issued a declaration valuing the freedom and right to life of its citizens.

Later, with the French Revolution (1789-1799) the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was created. It is in this context that the term "human rights" appears.

But it was after the atrocities committed in World War I and later by Hitler's Nazi government in Second World War that it was decided to create a world organization aiming to ensure peace and common good of beings humans. This entity is the United Nations (UN).

The UN was born in 1945 and three years later it drew up the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The document has 30 articles that aim to guarantee freedom and the right to life to all people, without distinction. In this way, the purpose is to contain wars and strengthen brotherhood.

Below, see the preliminary text that precedes the document:

Considering that the peoples of the United Nations reaffirmed, in the UN Charter, their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and value of being human rights and equality of rights between men and women, and who decided to promote social progress and better living conditions in a more broad, … the General Assembly proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the common ideal to be attained by all peoples and all nations…

Institutions and activists that address human rights and citizenship

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is an important document to guide the actions of social movements and institutions.

In addition, it contributes greatly to intellectuals and activists to elaborate an argument based on the search for social justice.

This was the case, for example, of Martin Luther King Jr, Malcom X and Angela Davis, who led anti-racist movements in the US at a time of extreme discrimination against the black population.

In Brazil, there were also and there are many thinkers and activists whose purpose is to promote human rights. This is the case of Rio de Janeiro city councilor, Marielle Franco, executed in March 2018.

We can also mention Dorothy Mae Stang, a nun who worked in the Amazon in favor of the peasant struggle and was murdered in 2005, aged 73.

There are several institutions that work to promote citizenship and human rights, such as the Amnesty International Foundation, created in 1961, present in over 150 countries.

In Brazil, the number of associations that follow this line is also large, each with specific agendas. We can mention, for example, the non-governmental organization Olodum, in Bahia, which works on racial and cultural issues.

There is also the OPAN (Operation Amazônia Ativa), an entity dedicated to dealing with indigenous issues in Mato Grosso. The Life Valuation Center (CVV) is an organization that offers emotional support to people with suicidal tendencies.

How are Human Rights in Brazil?

In Brazilian territory, human rights are guaranteed in the 1988 Constitution. This document became known as the "Citizen Constitution", being created after the period of the military dictatorship (1964-1985), where several rights were violated.

Note that Brazil is one of the countries where non-compliance with human rights reaches very high levels.

We can cite the black, peripheral and indigenous population as targets of constant threats and extermination in the country, as well as peasant and agrarian activists.

For a society in which human rights are, in fact, respected, many changes are needed, starting with the guarantee of education, the reduction of social inequality, etc.

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