Civil Rights (Advanced Concepts)

These civil rights form the core of the various declarations of human rights. No one can derogate from these rights. Everyone must respect them.

In civil law, four types of freedom are recognised:

• Physical freedom: going where you want, doing what you want;
• Spiritual freedom: freely expressing one's thoughts, living in accordance with one's vision of the world;
• National freedom: identifying with the other members of your people, living in community with them;
• Political freedom: to live in one's own land under a government of one's choice.

Several variants of equality are taken into account in civil law:

• Moral equality: dignity, respect for freedom (above all other equalities);
• Civic equality: opposition to the system of privileges;
• Social equality: equal means and conditions of existence;
• Political equality: equality in relation to government and the political system;
• Equality of opportunity: concept put forward by liberalism: everyone has the same opportunities to succeed, provided they take action.

The concept of equality can fluctuate from one vision to another and from one person to another. Several types of equality have been proposed throughout history:

• Everyone gets what they need (Aristotle's philosophy);
• Everyone receives the same thing (communitarian philosophy, communism);
• Everyone receives according to their merit.

Equality should not be confused with identity, justice or equity, which are not quite the same thing.

Democratisation means that a service or product is accessible to as many people as possible, if not to everyone.

Civil rights were developed to reduce discrimination.

When people are treated unequally and unfavourably (on the basis of their origin, name, sex, physical appearance, religion, membership of a group, etc.) they are discriminated against.

Segregation is a radical form of discrimination.

When a whole group is segregated, it means that another group discriminates against it on the basis of ethnic origin, skin colour, age, sex, wealth, religion or morals.

Racial segregation was rife in several countries (South Africa, United States). Organised and generally supported by the laws in force, this segregation took place between different groups, according to skin colour, such as blacks versus whites in the same country. In addition to suffering discriminatory judgements (hiring, renting, civil rights), blacks were simply denied access to certain public places (transport network, restaurants, etc.).

In South Africa, apartheid was systematic and institutionalised racial segregation.

External censorship is that exercised by an authority (government, censorship board, Church, etc.). It attempts to regulate literary, artistic and cinematographic works that do not meet their standards. It can be exercised preventively (before the work is published). In this case, the government examines books, newspapers, drawings, shows, films and websites before authorising their public publication. The selection criteria may be based on political, philosophical or moral ideologies.

Censorship can also be exercised after the fact. In this case, the authorities may ban a work that has already been published. For a long time, the Church was responsible for censorship. With lists of works placed on the Index, religious censors decided which works people could read and teach.

Repression is the action of taking punitive measures against attitudes that contravene the law. In certain more repressive regimes, these punitive measures are also used to deal with attitudes that contravene the political power in place.

Repression can thus prevent any act of protest or political uprising through coercion and violence.

Dissent implies refusing to recognise the legitimacy of authority, challenging the political system by breaking away from it. Dissidents are not part of the political system and do not form parties. In repressive totalitarian regimes, dissidents are often harassed, imprisoned, tortured or executed.

The concept of civil law, in the legal and universal sense that we know it today, is fairly recent in human history. However, a number of notions of equity, rights and justice have been developed over the centuries. Here is a brief overview.

• 1750 BC: equitable sentences are written (suggested conduct in certain circumstances);
• Antiquity: slavery is considered normal. The slave was not a citizen, but a domesticated tool. Even according to Aristotle, slavery was part of the normal order of things;
• Beginning of Christianity: Jesus' message that all men are equal before God;
• Middle Ages: individual rights are suppressed in favour of collective freedoms. The Church plays an important role;
• 16^th century: Humanism: human dignity and freedom are emphasised;
• 16^th and 17^th centuries: indigenous peoples enslaved during colonisation. Philosophy similar to that of Aristotle with regard to slavery;
• 15 June 1512: Magna Carta in England: judicial guarantees. Influences all future declarations;
• 1679: Habeas Corpus: recognition of individual freedom against arbitrary justice;
• 18^th century: Philosophy of the Enlightenment: highlights individual freedoms, reason and progress;
• 1776: American Revolution: Declaration of Independence in the name of liberty: influences future declarations of rights;
• 1789: French Revolution: Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen: men are born free and equal in rights;
• 1794: Abolition of slavery in Haiti;
• 1848: People's Spring: universal suffrage, abolition of slavery, right to work;
• 1945: creation of the UN: desire to build peace in the world. Five world powers join forces to create the United Nations. The aim of this international organisation is to find peaceful solutions to conflicts;
• 12 December 1948: Ratification of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
• 1953-1968: Martin Luther King fights for equality for blacks in the southern United States. He fought against racial segregation of blacks and for the recognition of black civil rights;
• May 1968: Student strikes and general strikes challenge the established order;
• 1970: paternal authority replaced by parental authority;
• 1972: contraception legalised, termination of pregnancy authorised;
• 1975: right to divorce by mutual consent, ban on sex discrimination in recruitment, family rights; women's rights;
• 1989: International Convention on the Rights of the Child;
• 1998: 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Observation: the principles are still flouted in many place

After the Second World War, five powerful nations founded the United Nations Organisation (UNO): United States, China, United Kingdom, France, USSR.

These nations were determined to combat oppression and discrimination around the world, with the aim of building peace. One of the UN's missions was to find peaceful solutions to armed conflicts. This was to prevent the worst acts of the 1939-1945 war from happening again.

This is why the member countries of the UN undertook to draft a declaration of rights that would apply to everyone, in every country in the world. The challenge for the drafters was to draft universal rights, while respecting diversity (political ideology, religion, traditions, culture, economy, etc.). The text of the declaration had to incorporate all the values shared by different peoples. The Declaration thus became the expression of a collective vision, fairer and more just, representative of what countries value and respect.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was officially adopted on 12 December 1948 by the United Nations General Assembly. The text was then translated into 250 languages and still serves as a model for universal treaties and declarations. The UN Declaration of Rights has also influenced the constitutions, laws and declarations of rights of several countries.

In 1966, two covenants were added to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This declaration and these two covenants together form the International Bill of Human Rights. These two covenants concern civil and political rights as well as economic, social and cultural rights.

On 20 November 1989, the International Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted. By signing it, countries undertook to implement the measures needed to respect it. Since then, 192 countries (out of a total of 194) have signed this declaration inspired by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Directly aimed at all children under the age of 18 anywhere in the world, the International Convention on the Rights of the Child has a philosophical and political aspect. Children benefit from the human rights set out in the Declaration of Human Rights, but certain rights specific to children have been developed in this Convention.

Firstly, a new definition of the child was proposed in the text of the Convention. Children must be protected, must benefit from specific services and must be the main protagonists in their own lives. In this conception, it is essential to consider the child as a being in the making. For the first time, thanks to this Convention, the child was considered as a being in its own right in an international context. All the articles of the Convention aim to defend the general interests of the child. Firstly, all children must be protected (their physical integrity must be respected).

Secondly, children are entitled to certain special benefits: access to healthcare, access to education, access to social security. In addition, children must participate in their own lives: acting on their own initiative within their means, participating in decisions that concern them and their lives, freedom of thought, freedom of expression, freedom of information and freedom of association.