UGC-NET (NTA) Human Rights and Duties, JUNE-2025

The German Ideology (1846) was jointly authored by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It is considered the first systematic exposition of Historical Materialism, where they argue that the economic structure of society determines its political, legal, and cultural institutions. The book also criticises Feuerbach and explains that human history is shaped by material conditions, not by ideas alone.
This text laid the foundation of Scientific Socialism and became one of the most influential works in modern political philosophy.

The concept of Positive Liberty-the freedom that requires enabling conditions such as education, economic security, and social welfare-is strongly supported by Harold Laski.
According to him, liberty is meaningful only when individuals are provided with opportunities to develop their capabilities.
Laski argued that the state must ensure welfare provisions, because without social and economic support, real freedom cannot be exercised. His view shaped the idea of the Welfare State in the 20th century and expanded the traditional understanding of liberty.

Jeremy Bentham propounded the theory of Legal Rights, rejecting natural or inherent rights. He famously stated that "Natural rights are nonsense upon stilts," asserting that rights come only from law and can be guaranteed only by the state.
According to Bentham, rights exist to promote maximum happiness of the maximum number, and therefore they must be created, defined, and protected by legal institutions. His view became the basis of Legal Positivism, influencing modern legal
theory.

The 1993 Vienna World Conference on Human Rights declared that "Democracy, Development and respect for Human Rights are interdependent and mutually reinforcing.
" This was a landmark statement that highlighted the inseparable relationship between political freedom, economic progress, and human dignity.
The Vienna Declaration also strengthened women's rights, minority rights, and child rights as integral to universal human rights. The conference further recommended the creation of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, shaping global human rights governance.

"Rights are the external conditions necessary for the greatest possible development of the capacities of the personality.": This statement is given by Sir Ernest Barker, a leading English political scientist of the Idealist school. Barker emphasised that rights are not merely legal permissions but essential social and political conditions that allow human personality to flourish.
According to him, the purpose of rights is to create an environment where individuals can develop their fullest capabilities-moral, intellectual, and social.
He linked rights directly to the Idealist belief that the state exists to promote the moral development of its citizens. In this view, rights ensure the necessary framework for self-realisation, thereby enabling individuals to achieve the highest form of personal and social growth.

The Commission on Human Rights was created in 1946 as a functional commission under the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). As one of the earliest UN bodies dedicated to human rights protection, it drafted foundational documents such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948).
ECOSOC supervised its functioning because this council is responsible for promoting international economic, social, cultural, educational, and health-related cooperation, within which human rights fall as a core mandate.
The Commission served as the UN's principal human rights body until it was replaced by the UN Human Rights Council in 2006.

The United Nations Security Council established the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in 1994, and it was located in Arusha, Tanzania. It was created through UNSC Resolution 955 to prosecute individuals responsible for genocide and other serious violations of international humanitarian law committed during the Rwandan genocide of April-July 1994.
Arusha was chosen because of its political stability, infrastructure, and proximity to Rwanda, enabling smoother investigation and witness participation. ICTR played a historic role by issuing the first-ever conviction for genocide under international law.

The African Charter on Human and People's Rights, commonly known as the Banjul Charter, was formally adopted by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in Nairobi, Kenya, on 27 June 1981.
Although the drafting and finalisation of the text took place earlier in Banjul, Gambia, the official adoption occurred during the OAU's 18th Summit in Nairobi, where all member states unanimously approved the Charter.
The Charter is distinctive for recognising both individual and collective ("peoples'") rights, reflecting African traditions and socio-political contexts. It entered into force on 21 October 1986, marking a significant milestone in Africa's regional human rights framework.

The word "genocide" was coined in 1944 by the Polish-Jewish jurist Raphael Lemkin. He combined the Greek word genos (race or tribe) and the Latin -cide (killing) to describe the systematic extermination of groups, as seen in the Holocaust.
Lemkin's work directly inspired the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948). His efforts transformed genocide from a descriptive term into a recognised international crime, shaping post-World War II human rights law.

KSSP, a prominent people's science movement in Kerala, played a major role in the Silent Valley Movement in the Palakkad district during the 1970s-80s. The movement opposed a hydroelectric dam project that threatened the ecologically fragile Silent Valley rainforest, one of the last tracts of tropical evergreen forest in India.
KSSP mobilised scientific studies, public awareness campaigns, and grassroots activism to highlight ecological damage, leading to the project's cancellation in 1983. The movement is considered a landmark in India's environmental history.