In a culturally diverse word, the universality of human rights remains Assignment

In a culturally diverse word, the universality of human rights remains unsettled. Discuss - Assignment Example The UK has enacted several legislation that safeguard the human rights of its citizens such as the Human rights Act 1998 that introduced in to domestic law the human rights safeguarded by the international law like European Convention of Human Rights like the right to life, right to a fair trial, freedom of expression, right of education, freedom from slavery and forced labour and freedom of religion. Key development was the Declaration of Human rights in 1948 by about 50 of the United Nations member countries and subsequent ratifications by other countries. Other international conventions that followed aimed at expanding the doctrine of human rights to include civil and political rights, cultural rights, sociol-economic rights and prohibition of all forms of discriminations (Claude and Weston, 2006). For instance, the International Covenant on economic, social and cultural rights was adopted in 1966 and ratified by several states. Human rights refer to the recognition and respect of human dignity. Human rights entail a set of moral principles and legal guidelines that promote and protect the identity, values and abilities of individuals in order to enhance the standards of living (Claude and Weston, 2006). ... This paper will discuss the contents and principles of human rights, the universality versus cultural relativism of human rights and finally outline the current trend in protection of universal human rights. In the conclusion, the paper will offer a recommendation on whether universality can exist with cultural relativism and ensure universal human rights. Contents and principles of human rights The first guiding principle of human rights is equality and non-discrimination. Non-discrimination acts as the basis of international human right law and is outlined in all the human rights treaties. International human rights conventions such as the International Convention on the Elimination of discrimination especially racial and women discrimination requires all state governments to enact legislations that protect the citizens from such discrimination (Claude and Weston, 2006). This principle is applicable to all human beings regardless of non-exhaustive criteria that include sex, religio n and other identifiable status of the individuals. According to Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human rights, all human beings are born free and equality in their dignity should be respected (Talbott, 2005). The second content of human rights is interdependent and indivisible nature of human rights. This principle asserts that human rights are interrelated and interdependent since enforcement of one rights leads to advancement of the other rights and the ultimate increase in the general standards of living (Claude and Weston, 2006). Accordingly, civil rights such as the right to life and political rights lead to equal protection by the law and fair trial. In addition, a violation of one right such as the