Instrument For Human Rights Research Articles

Western and Muslim Perceptions of Universal Human Rights

In this paper, first the evolution of the Western human rights standpoint and its theoretical underpinnings are traced. Next, the current internationally-approved instruments of human rights are critiqued in terms of their relevance to the needs of individuals and groups in Third World societies. Thirdly, a review of the Islamic view of human rights is attempted. Finally, the human rights situation and Muslim responses to it is examined in the contexts of Africa, Asia and Europe. Studying the human rights situation in regions where Muslims are in a majority and dominate the state, as in some African and Asian societies, and in areas where they are a minority, as in Europe, helps us arrive at a better understanding of the practical implications of the human rights package, approved by the United Nations and other related agencies, for a religious community which faces theological and philosophical difficulties in coming to terms with it. KEY WORDS: Africa, Asia, colonialism, democracy, Europe, Islamic state, non-Muslims, secularism, Sharia, women

Western and Muslim Perceptions of Universal Human Rights

In this paper, first the evolution of the Western human rights standpoint and its theoretical underpinnings are traced. Next, the current internationally-approved instruments of human rights are critiqued in terms of their relevance to the needs of individuals and groups in Third World societies. Thirdly, a review of the Islamic view of human rights is attempted. Finally, the human rights situation and Muslim responses to it is examined in the contexts of Africa, Asia and Europe. Studying the human rights situation in regions where Muslims are in a majority and dominate the state, as in some African and Asian societies, and in areas where they are a minority, as in Europe, helps us arrive at a better understanding of the practical implications of the human rights package, approved by the United Nations and other related agencies, for a religious community which faces theological and philosophical difficulties in coming to terms with it.

Country-Related and Thematic Developments at the 1988 Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights is the principal and most important political organ of the United Nations concerned principally with human rights.'; The Commission meets for six weeks every year in February and March. This year, for example, it met from 1 February through 11 March 1988.2 The Commission is comprised of forty-three government representatives who are elected by the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. The Economic and Social Council is, in turn, a subsidiary body of the United Nations General Assembly. When the UN Charter was written in 1945, the subject of human rights was so important that the Charter in Article 68 specifically prescribes that a Commission on Human Rights should be established. The forty-three governments which are members of the Commission on Human Rights differ significantly, from countries which are known for their respect for human rights to countries which have very different reputations. It is remarkable, therefore, that the Commission has historically been the author of the principal norm-setting instruments of human rights. The Commission in its earliest days under the leadership of Eleanor Roosevelt drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,3 which provides the most widely