Resources

HUMAN RIGHTS

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rights-human

Human rights are entitlements to which individuals have a just claim. They include the right to be free from discrimination, torture, and arbitrary arrest; the right to obtain a minimum standard of living, be educated, own property, and express unpopular opinions; the right to participate equally with others in determining the rules that govern the society they live in; and a host of additional rights stipulated in The Core International Human Rights Treaties (http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/CoreTreatiesen.pdf) and other human rights documents.

HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES

Human rights issues arise because the rights of some category of individuals (e.g. children, civilians caught in war zones, gays, minorities, the poor, prisoners, refugees, women, and even the as yet unborn) are violated or are likely to be violated. So the issues have to do with finding a way to end violations that are taking place and to ensure violations do not take place in the future. Hence wars are a human rights issue. So is poverty. So are nuclear weapons since they violate the rights of individuals to live free of fear. So is climate change since it violates the rights of the unborn to live on a fecund planet. In short, human rights issues are legion and determining which deserve the most immediate attention is a matter of judgment. Before the 2012 Presidential election in the United States Freedom House and the Connect US Fund exercised that judgment in a paper entitled Ten Critical Human Rights Challenges For The Next American President.

KEY HUMAN RIGHTS DOCUMENTS

http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/instree/ainstls2.htm

AMERICAN DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF MAN
https://www.cidh.oas.org/Basicos/English/Basic2.American%20Declaration.htm

CHARTER OF THE UNITED NATIONS
http://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/

Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
http://www.un-documents.net/cppcg.htm

Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CAT.aspx
Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/OPCAT.aspx

Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine
https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168007cf98

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/text/econvention.htm
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N99/774/73/PDF/N9977473.pdf?OpenElement

Convention on the Rights of the Child
http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and
child pornography
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/OPSCCRC.aspx
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict
https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/mandate/optional-protocol/

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/

International Covenant On Civil And Political Rights
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CCPR.aspx

International Covenant On Economic, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CESCR.aspx

International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CERD.aspx

International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CMW.aspx

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/ccpr.aspx
Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/OPCCPR1.aspx
Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death
penalty
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/2ndOPCCPR.aspx

International Human Rights Funders Group
https://www.ihrfg.org/human-rights-funding

UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/

Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the World's Religions
http://gcwr2011.org/pdf/UDHRWR_en.pdf

HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_human_rights_organisations
Because human rights organizations have proliferated to such an extent that it is impossible to list them all, the list below is highly selective.

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Human Rights Coalition
https://www.aaas.org/program/science-human-rights-coalition

Amnesty International USA.
http://www.amnestyusa.org/home.html

The Carter Center Human Rights Program
https://www.cartercenter.org/peace/human_rights/

Danish Institute for Human Rights
http://www.humanrights.dk/about-us

Economists for Peace and Security
http://www.epsusa.org/

Food First
https://foodfirst.org/about-us/history/

Freedom House
https://freedomhouse.org/

Human Rights First
http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/about

Human Rights Watch.
http://www.hrw.org

International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life
http://www.brandeis.edu/ethics/

International Labour Organization (ILO)
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/index.htm

International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
http://www.ippnw.org/about-us.html

Lawyers Committee for Human Rights
http://www.lchr.org/

The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under the Law
http://brandeiscenter.com/about/

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
http://www.unhchr.ch/

Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees
http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home

Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
https://www.opcw.org/

Physicians for Human Rights
http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/about/

United for Human Rights
http://www.humanrights.com/about-us/what-is-united-for-human-rights.html

United Nations:

Commission on Human Rights
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CHR/Pages/CommissionOnHumanRights.aspx

Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
http://www.unifem.undp.org/index.html

Development Programme
http://www.undp.org/index.html

Foundation
http://www.unfoundation.org/

International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF)
http://www.unicef.org/

Population Fund (UNPF)
http://www.unfpa.org/index.htm

World Health Organization (WHO)
http://www.who.int/en/

HUMAN RIGHTS AND ACADEMIA

"Human rights is emerging as a leading academic concept for a new age of globalization and service…Graduate schools in unlikely disciplines like journalism, public health and education now offer human rights courses. Undergraduates have a growing array of choices, too: students can minor in it at Trinity College in Hartford, concentrate in it at Columbia and do a double major at Barnard." http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/14/education/blackboard-new-soldiers-in-the-fight-for-human-rights.html

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Syllabi on Science and Human Rights
https://www.aaas.org/page/syllabi-science-and-human-rights#General

Measuring Human Rights: High School Mathematics Unit
https://www.oercommons.org/authoring/6469-measuring-human-rights-high-school-mathematics-uni/2/view

Columbia University Human Rights Studies
http://gsas.columbia.edu/content/academic-programs/human-rights-studies

Harvard
http://hrp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/HumanRightsatHarvard1995Symposium.pdf
http://hrp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/HumanRightsatHarvard1997Symposium.pdf
http://humanrights.harvard.edu/about

Harvard Kennedy School Carr Center for Human Rights Policy
http://carrcenter.hks.harvard.edu/

Harvard Law School Human Rights Program
http://hrp.law.harvard.edu/

Human Rights First
http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/about

Human Rights Institute at the University of Connecticut
http://humanrights.uconn.edu/#

The Institute for the Study of Human Rights
http://www.humanrightscolumbia.org/about/about-our-institute

MIT Program on Human Rights and Justice
https://business-humanrights.org/en/mit-program-on-human-rights-and-justice

Schools with Human Rights Degree Programs
http://study.com/human_rights_schools.html

University of California Berkeley Human Rights Program
http://hrp.berkeley.edu/

University of Iowa Center for Human Rights (UICHR)
https://uichr.uiowa.edu/

Yale University Human Rights Program
http://humanrights.yale.edu/