Introduction
One of the most often debated issues in the context of human rights is whether they should be regarded as universal or relative. International human rights standards are universal, which is consistent with the nature of human rights. The process of universalizing human rights began following World War II with the establishment of the United Nations, whose Charter reaffirmed the belief in the core rights and principles of individuals, equal rights for men and women, and equality for nations large and small (Donnelly & Whelan, 2020).
The organization’s aims were reinforced by the creation of global documents such as the International Bill of Human Rights, which included the global Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, and the International Covenants on Human Rights, which were opened for signing on December 16, 1966, and other actions (Donnelly & Whelan, 2020). However, the origins of human rights, as well as their institutionalization and implementation, are more consistent with Western norms.
Opposition of Western Values to Eastern Values
Westerners find it difficult to comprehend that relatively contemporary ideals about the value of the person, respect for the individual, their rights, and freedom made little sense to the East. Eastern perspectives are opposed to the goals, purpose, and lifestyles of Western peoples worldwide (Mende, 2021). However, the concepts established since the start of the Bourgeois Revolutions are genuinely magnificent innovations brought to the globe by Europeans.
Eastern religious thought does not include the notion of the individual among its vital aspects of human existence; instead, it emphasizes the vast cosmic order that governs everything and assigns everyone their place. The law forbids personal choice, individual wants, or even one’s own judgment. The Eastern worldview, which dates back to the early Bronze Age, is still built on the notion of society as a reflection of the cosmic order to which everyone must conform.
In the East, where traditions were entrenched, law sprang organically from religious and moral values, enshrining their requirements as universally enforceable with the state’s assistance. It should be remembered that when it comes to establishing peace and order as the ultimate objective, legislation has always taken a back seat to religion, morality, and tradition. In Eastern countries, the legal norm had a religious basis (Lawson & Beckett, 2021). Thus, an infraction constituted both a moral and religious transgression. This is also linked to the Eastern view of human rights as a responsibility rather than an opportunity or a demand(Jurkovich, 2020). However, it is essential to note that the impact of moral and religious norms on law varied across Eastern countries.
As a result, religious teachings served as the foundation for both ancient Indian and Muslim law. For example, the writers of the Laws of Manu (the name of a mythological god) were Brahman priests from one of India’s oldest schools. Brahmans were the highest caste in ancient Indian civilization, with the only authority to teach holy books and execute religious ceremonies.
According to the Laws of Manu, God formed the Brahman from the most significant and purest portion of the body – his mouth – and hence, he has the highest position on earth as the monarch of all creatures (Shafique et al., 2023). The prevailing belief in the East is that man must identify himself until the end with the mask of the social position assigned to him, and then, when all the duties corresponding to that role have been perfectly fulfilled, disappear, or, to use a well-known analogy, dissolve like a drop in the ocean of the universal. In contrast to the widespread belief in Western Europe, the focus in the East is on the established social structure rather than the person.
Western Values
In turn, the dignity and value of the human individual are at the heart of all Western legal and governmental institutions, laws, and traditions. All Western nations are now social to some extent, acknowledge the value and need of individuals’ socioeconomic rights and the social role of the state, and conduct socioeconomic forecasting and planning to some extent (Mende, 2021). Human rights in Western nations are intrinsically linked to their economic, political, and social development and stability. The government is responsible and accountable to the people. People are aware of their rights, and the government must respect them.
By studying the writings of famous Western philosophers, one may identify in the West the carrier of the rational understanding of justice as equality, which dates back to the ideals of ancient rationalism. The Western concept of justice was primarily rational, legal in nature, and claimed universal significance (Mende, 2021). The idea of justice as equality, as a correspondence between deed and punishment, as a predictable and understood relationship between work and payment, between guilt and responsibility, allows for maximal human freedom.
Concept of Universality of Human Rights
People’s individual identities are being revitalized in the age of globalism. With the current trend of unity in the modern world, people’s desire to maintain their historical legacy and national or religious identity is evident (Freeman, 2022). Globalization’s objectively conditioned and unavoidable processes have not always resulted in the formation of a universal world culture based on the Western value system, as many Western politicians and sociologists believed (Maldonado-Torres, 2021). Attempts by the West to disseminate its concepts, such as democracy and liberalism, as universal human values, as well as to establish its economic interests, are almost always met with opposition from people of other cultures.
Proponents of human rights universality believe that certain universal human rights principles apply to all societies. Their stance is that human rights are not the product of a single culture but rather the outcome of collective efforts by the world community. Cultural relativism, on the other hand, maintains that each culture can be judged only by its own principles, not by universal criteria.
The human rights outlined in international treaties are implemented in a specific country while taking into consideration its cultural (national, religious) differences. In other words, various people’s historical traditions, psychology, and culture all impact how human rights are interpreted and practiced. Proponents of both ideologies present well-founded reasons for their claims.
Intensive integration processes are having an increasing impact on the universalization of human rights, reaching in one form or another into non-European regions. They are primarily determined by civilizational peculiarities, entrenched traditions, and customs, which prevent or reject the perception of internationally established human rights values and standards alien to a specific sociocultural system of existence, undermining the idea and principle of universality (Whyte, 2019). Researchers have identified challenges in implementing universal human rights across a variety of areas and nations, including China, Japan, India, and tropical Africa (Russo, 2020). However, it should be noted that industrialized nations have a particular level of cultural impact, beyond which there is a setback, a return to earlier sociocultural rules.
The concept of human rights has evolved, becoming richer with new rights and freedoms. However, in the twentieth century, human rights were regarded as the most essential value, as evidenced by the relevant international agreements. Religious ideologies and intellectual, political, and legal teachings from many ages all contribute to the present notion of human rights. With the ratification of the United Nations Charter in 1945, respect for human rights became one of the most essential concepts in international law (Allen, 2021). The universality of human rights has been firmly established and recognized by international law, mainly due to the United Nations’ ongoing efforts.
Human rights have a special place in the UN’s list of goals and objectives, as stated in Article 1 of its Charter. It states that one of the UN’s purposes is to achieve international cooperation in advocating and fostering a culture of respect for the rights and freedoms of all individuals, regardless of race, gender, language, or religion (Heyns & Viljoen, 2021). This is reiterated in Article 55 of the Charter, which stipulates that the UN must promote universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms for everyone (Donnelly & Whelan, 2020). The articles of the UN Charter were later concretized in international treaties, sometimes referred to as international human rights norms (Donnelly & Whelan, 2020). They are intended to provide a universal international legal framework for inter-state cooperation on human rights issues.
Conclusion
Despite the widespread acceptance of the notion of universal human rights, one cannot deny the reality that they are based on Western norms. As a result, changes in the West have influenced the modern notion of human rights. Respect for human beings as natural rights is at the heart of Western societies. It is also worth noting that all Western nations are now, to some extent, “social,” acknowledge the significance and need of individual socioeconomic rights and the social function of the state, and coordinate socioeconomic forecasting and planning to varying degrees. Despite this, the idea of natural law incorporates Eastern traditions and worldviews.
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