“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

Human rights are commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights “to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being,” and which are inherent in all human beings regardless of their nation, location, language, religion, ethnic origin or any other status. They are applicable everywhere and at every time in the sense of being universal, and they are egalitarian in the sense of being the same for everyone. They require empathy and the rule of law and impose an obligation on persons to respect the human rights of others. They should not be taken away except as a result of due process based on specific circumstances, and require freedom from unlawful imprisonment, torture, and execution.

One of the oldest Western philosophies of human rights is that they are a product of a natural law, stemming from different philosophical or religious grounds. Other theories hold that human rights codify moral behavior which is a human social product developed by a process of biological and social evolution. Human rights are also described as a sociological pattern of rule setting. These approaches include the notion that individuals in a society accept rules from legitimate authority in exchange for security and economic advantage – a social contract.

Many of the basic ideas that animated the human rights movement developed in the aftermath of the Second World War and the atrocities of The Holocaust, culminating in the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Paris by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. Ancient peoples did not have the same modern-day conception of universal human rights. The true forerunner of human rights discourse was the concept of natural rights which appeared as part of the medieval natural law tradition that became prominent during the Enlightenment with many philosophers and theorists.

17th-century English philosopher John Locke discussed natural rights in his work, identifying them as being “life, liberty, and estate “, and argued that such fundamental rights could not be surrendered in the social contract.

The modern sense of human rights can be traced to Renaissance Europe and the Protestant Reformation, alongside the disappearance of the feudal authoritarianism and religious conservativism that dominated the middle Ages. One theory is that human rights were developed during the early Modern period.

Martin Luther was one of the best-know advocates for non-violent social change and a civil rights pivotal figure – who played a crucial role in the middle age. He fought tooth and nail against discrimination and racial inequality. He strived to overcome injustice and never got tired of trying to end segregation laws – laws that prevented blacks from entering certain places, such as restaurants, hotels, and public schools. He also did all he could to make people realize that “all men are created equal.” As a result, he stated in his famous speech “I Have a Dream” as, “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Moreover, he pointed finger at America for defaulting on Declaration of Independence after signing it. This instrument was a promise that all men, including black and white, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life”, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” So, when the Negro suffered strong discrimination and found “himself an exile on his own land”, Martin Luther reacted with iron determination. Since, the King’s role is prominent in advocating human rights; I deemed it suitable to mention his role. 

Anyhow, in the aftermath of the atrocities of World War II, there was increased concern for the social and legal protection of human rights as fundamental freedoms. The foundation of the United Nations and the provisions of the United Nations Charter provided a basis for a comprehensive system of international law and practice for the protection of human rights. Since then, international human rights law has been characterized by a linked system of conventions, treaties, organizations, and political bodies, rather than any single entity or set of laws. However, analyst Pierre Leval suggested that respect for fundamental human rights in the world today is “dismal” within some nations saying, “Despotic regimes murder, mutilate, and rape civilian populations and arbitrarily imprison and torture political opponents. Human traffickers, almost invariably operating with the protection of corrupt local officials and police, enslave children and young women in the sex trade. So long as the regimes that sponsor and protect these criminals remain in power, their crimes go unrecognized.”