The Evolution of International Human Rights

Visions Seen

Paul Gordon Lauren

• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9780812209914
• Edition: 3
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Human Rights
• Index: Politics & International Relations

This widely acclaimed and highly regarded book, used extensively by students, scholars, policymakers, and activists, now appears in a new third edition. Focusing on the theme of visions seen by those who dreamed of what might be, Lauren explores the dramatic transformation of a world patterned by centuries of human rights abuses into a global community that now boldly proclaims that the way governments treat their own people is a matter of international concern—and sets the goal of human rights "for all peoples and all nations." He reveals the truly universal nature of this movement, places contemporary events within their broader historical contexts, and explains the relationship between individual cases and larger issues of human rights with insight.This new edition incorporates material from recently declassified documents and the most recent scholarship relating to the creation of the new Human Rights Council and its Universal Periodic Review, the International Criminal Court, the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), terrorism and torture, the impact of globalization and modern technology, and activists in NGOs devoted to human rights. It provides perceptive assessments of the process of change, the power of visions and visionaries, politics and political will, and the evolving meanings of sovereignty, security, and human rights themselves.

Chapter 1

My Brother’s and Sister’s Keeper

Visions and the Origins of Human Rights

Am I my brother’s keeper?

—Genesis 4:9

The historical origins of powerful visions capable of shaping world events and attitudes like those of international human rights are rarely simple. Instead, they emerge in complicated, interrelated, and sometimes paradoxical ways from the influence of many sources, forces, personalities, and conditions in different times and diverse settings. Sometimes together, sometimes overlapping, and sometimes at cross purposes, they each flow like tributaries into ever larger and mightier rivers. At times they flow gently through the calm meadows of religious meditation, prophetic inspiration, poetic expression, philosophic contemplation, or introspection. On other occasions, as we shall see, they smash through human events like torrents through precipitous canyons born of violence and pain from upheaval, enslavement, conquest, revolution, war, torture, and genocide.

Visions of human rights thus are not only complex, but also profound and disturbing. The reason for this is that they tend to strike at our very core and make us confront difficult and discomforting issues. They force us to critically examine ourselves as human beings: to explore our nature, to consider what it means to be fully human, to view both the best and the worst of behavior, to wrestle with how we ought to relate to others in society as a whole, to question the purposes of government and the exercise of power, and especially to assess our own values and deeds in response to those who suffer abuse.

One of the most agonizing issues presented by such visions, for example, is whether we have any responsibilities for other people in need or pain. Thoughtful individuals in many different times and places have pondered whether or not we should possess a concern beyond ourselves that extends to others. If so, they then had to ask further perplexing and age-old questions: who is my “brother” or “sister” and what exactly does it mean to be a “keeper”? That is, just how wide should be the circle of responsibility and what form should concern for others take? A sense of obligation to immediate family members or friends and immediate neighbors might be readily apparent, but what about those beyond the community, the tribe, the clan, the class, the race, the faith, or, particularly in the modern world, the nation? Are these duties merely local or are they universal? Are they individual or collective? Moreover, and equally troubling, are we obliged to simply express words of sympathy or sorrow over the fate of victims of human rights abuse, or do we have a responsibility to take concrete action to actually protect those who suffer?

The historical evolution of visions of international human rights that continues to this day started centuries ago with efforts attempting to address precisely these difficult and universal questions when ideas were communicated by oral traditions, inscribed on clay tablets, or written on papyrus or parchment. It began as soon as men and women abandoned nomadic existence and settled in organized societies, long before anyone had ever heard of the more recent expression, “human rights,” or before nation-states negotiated specific international treaties. Moreover, this evolution began not with assertions of entitlements or demands for human rights but instead with discussions of human duties.

Religious Visions: Brothers, Sisters, and Duties Beyond Borders

All the major religions of the world seek in one way or another to speak to the issue of human responsibility to others. Despite their many differences, complex contradictions, internal paradoxes, cultural variations, and susceptibility to conflicting interpretation, reinterpretation, and argumentation, all of the great religious traditions share a universal dissatisfaction with the world as it is and a determination to make it as it ought to be. They do this by addressing the value and the dignity of human life, and, consequently, the duties toward those who suffer. Each seeks to help us transcend our own self-centeredness and consider the needs of others by behaving toward them as we would have them behave toward us. This is approached through various revelations, narratives, poetry, edicts, laws, and commandments, and stories or parables dealing with right and wrong, moral responsibility, ethical principles of justice, compassion, the essential worth of the human person, and the kinship and common humanity of all.

In Hinduism, the world’s oldest living religious tradition, for example, the ancient texts of the Vedas and Upanishads, some written over three thousand years ago in what is now India, stress that divine truth is universal, that life is sacred, and that religious belief must lead to works or paths of action. Although highly diverse, these rich scriptures address good and evil, the virtues of tolerance and compassion, and especially the importance of devout adherence to duty (dharma), justice and moral action (karma), and good conduct (sadāchāra) toward others. They enjoin believers to fulfill faithfully their earthly life journey of moral responsibilities to people beyond the self by practicing selfless concern for their pain, particularly for the hungry, the sick, the homeless, and those who suffer, as discussed in the pivotal text Manava Dharma Sastra. All human life, despite the vast differences and stratification between individuals, is considered sacred and a part of a great chain of being that manifests the divine, and thus should be loved, respected, and allowed to enjoy freedom from suffering. For this reason, Mahatma Gandhi, who in the twentieth century, as we shall see, regarded himself as a deeply orthodox Hindu, emphasized the absolute principle of not harming others. The edict is stated directly and universally: “Noninjury (ahimsā) is not causing pain to any living being at any time through the actions of one’s mind, speech, or body.”¹

Genesis, the first book of Judaism’s Torah written two millennia ago in the Middle East, begins by telling of the shared fatherhood of God to all people. The scriptures teach of God’s will being worked out in human history, of the sacredness of life, and of explicitly defined responsibilities of individuals toward each other. The story of two siblings dramatizes the issue of obligation and autonomous individual moral judgment. When Abel cannot be found, Cain is asked about his brother’s whereabouts and well-being. Attempting to avoid blame for murder, he denies knowing and then seeks refuge by posing a universal and enduring question: “Am I my brother’s keeper?”² His question, of course, is completely disingenuous and false. This sets the stage for teachings about ethical behavior, the agony of slavery and release from bondage, mercy and social justice, and instructions that government decrees contrary to divine commands should be disregarded. Further passages address the rights of foreigners in one’s own land and the importance of following the law that establishes responsibilities toward others (including six of the Ten Commandments), whether friend or enemy, free or slave, man or woman, young or old, rich or poor.³ The instructions in Leviticus are clear: “You shall not oppress. You shall do no injustice. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”⁴ The prophets spoke out and challenged kings when abuses occurred, as seen in “The Vision of Isaiah” with the charge “to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the tongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free . . . to share your bread with the hungry, and to bring the homeless poor into your house,” and thereby “bring justice to the nations.”⁵ These commands established a religious tradition that told believers to extend beyond themselves and take action on behalf of others in this world, observes Jewish theologian Martin Buber in I and Thou. Such a process, he writes, “is a matter of leavening the human race in all places with genuine We-ness. Man will not persist in existence if he does not learn anew to persist in it as a genuine We.”⁶

The principles of Buddhism were established approximately 2,500 years ago in India by Siddhartha Gautama, who gave up his own position of royal privilege and spent the rest of his life teaching about universal human relationships, profound respect for the interconnectedness of the lives of each person, and empathy and compassion to relieve the suffering of fellow human beings. Indeed, he taught that only when we learn to empathize and feel the suffering of others do we become truly and fully human ourselves. He explicitly attacked the entrenched and rigid caste system of his day by opening his order to both men and women, stressing the unique value of all individuals as physical and spiritual beings, and urging his followers to renounce differences “of caste and rank and become the members of one and the same society.”⁷ The Tripitaka scriptures address the enduring problem of human misery and suffering (dukkha) and stress that one’s duty is to overcome selfish desires and private fulfillment by practicing charity (dana), lovingkindness (metta), and compassion (karunā) toward others. This ethic forms a part of Buddhism’s Ten Duties of Kings and the Noble Eightfold Path instructing believers to practice right thought, right speech, right action, and right effort toward “all beings.” It also creates the religious tradition necessary to appreciate the Dalai Lama’s more contemporary pronouncement that the world’s problems will be solved only by respecting the human rights of all mankind and treating one another “as brothers and sisters.”⁸

The founding of Confucianism by Kong Qiu in China at approximately the same time as the emergence of Buddhism brought similar reflections on human nature and responsible behavior. Indeed, Confucian thought articulated in the Analects, Doctrine of the Mean, and Great Learning focused much more on how individuals should live and interact with each other, the perfectability of each individual within the collective, and living an ethical life on earth rather than a divine or spiritual realm beyond. Harmony exists when people overcome their self-interest and egotism, fulfill their responsibility not to harm each other, treat all others as having worth and “moral force,” and acknowledge their common humanity and that “within the four seas, all men are brothers.”⁹ Human nature is viewed as inherently good, and harsh warnings are given about oppressive or despotic governments that rule by force or exploit their people. When the sage was asked whether there existed any single saying that one could act on all day and every day, he answered: “Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire.”¹⁰ The basis of all the teachings can be found by following The Way (Jen), etymologically a combination of the character for “man” and for “two” that names the ideal and universal relationship between humans beings. It has been variously translated as goodness, benevolence, love, and human-heartedness. It represents the virtue of all virtues and the condition of being fully human in dealing with others, involving the display of human capacities at their very best and extending far beyond immediate personal or family relationships to include the world as a whole. As the well-known Confucian dictum explains: “If there be righteousness in the heart, there will be beauty in the character. If there is beauty in the character, there will be harmony in the home. If there is harmony in the home, there will be order in the nation. If there be order in the nation, there will be peace in the world.”¹¹

Christianity extended this theme of responsibility even further. During his ministry two thousand years ago, Jesus taught his followers first to receive God’s abiding love and then to let it flow outward toward others. He preached about living a life of love, justice, peace, and compassion by the giving of one’s self to others. Jesus thus instructed believers to clothe the naked, to heal the sick, to feed the hungry, to welcome the stranger, to provide hope to the hopeless, and to care for the poor and the oppressed of the world. He challenged the existing order of his day and demonstrated a level of respect for women, children, outcasts, and outsiders that many at the time found completely inappropriate. In this regard, he used one of his best known teaching parables to address one of the most profound and provocative of all possible questions of living life with other people: “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus responded by telling of a man who fell among robbers. They stripped him and beat him, and left him nearly dead. A priest journeying along the same road saw the victim, yet instead of stopping to help the poor man, turned his eyes away and walked on the other side of the road. A passing Levite did the same. But a Samaritan, regarded as an outcast in the community, came upon the man and had compassion. He stopped, bound up his wounds, and carried him to an inn where he paid all the expenses until the victim recovered. Jesus then asked which of these three proved to be the neighbor. The man who asked the initial question replied, “The one who showed mercy on him.” But rather than simply stating that this answer was correct, Jesus more forcefully said to him: “Go and do likewise.”¹² Lest there be any doubt on this matter, the apostle Paul admonished believers to “clothe yourselves in compassion” and break down all ethnic, class, and gender divisions by recognizing that “there is neither Greek nor Jew, nor slave nor free, nor man nor woman, but we are all one in Christ.”¹³

The tenets of Islam, founded five hundred years after the lifetime of Jesus and revealed through the writings of Muhammed, also address responsibilities toward others. This begins with that of the duty (fard) to practice charity and to protect the weakest members of society. The scripture of the Qur’an speaks to social justice, the sanctity of life, personal safety, mercy, compassion, and respect for all human beings as rooted in the obligations owed by believers to Allah, or God. Moreover, since Muhammed was not only a prophet and teacher, but also a government administrator and statesman, it is hardly surprising that Islam would recognize the connections between religious faith and the political community. In a society riven with class distinctions, oppression, and the tyranny of vested interests, he preached a message of freedom from the various chains that bind, urging the reduction of injustices born of special privilege or race, and insisting that religious believers be treated equally. Muhammed’s establishment of the Constitution of Medina and its proclamation that “Jews [and later Christians] who attach themselves to our commonwealth shall be protected . . . they shall have an equal right with our own people . . . and shall practice their religion as freely as the Muslims,” for example, has even been described as “the first charter of freedom of conscience in human history.”¹⁴

These many and various religious visions—like all visions—expressed ideals rather than reality. They attempted to address, with various levels of simplicity or sophistication, the best of possible human relationships with compassion and ...