Human Rights
Well what a busy weekend! At the same time most invigorating, especially with having the extra day to enable me to fit in so many things.
Yesterday’s holiday was to commemorate “Human Rights”. The basic unalienable rights of each and every human being.
What is Human Rights Day? Human Rights Day (21 March) is the day set aside to celebrate human rights and to remind all South Africans of their human rights.
What are human rights? Human rights are the rights that everyone has, simply because they are human beings. They are the rights we all have from the moment we are born. We do not have to earn them and they cannot easily be taken away from us.
The list of human rights protected in South Africa is the Bill of Rights, which is Chapter 2 of the Constitution. The Constitution is the highest law of South Africa. Everyone in South Africa, including the government, must follow it. The rules set out in a Constitution are very hard to change, and so the rights in the Bill of Rights are also very hard to change. This means that it is difficult for anyone to change your rights or to try and take them away from you.
Rights and responsibilities Because everyone has these rights regardless of their race, age or gender, we all have to respect other people’s rights as well. It is no good saying that you have these rights if you are doing things at the same time, which go against other people’s rights. And, we must all respect and follow the laws of the country as well.
Many of these rights are now included in our Bill of Rights, and include the rights to:
Equality (Section 9)
Human dignity (Section 10)
Freedom of expression (Section 16)
Assembly, demonstration, picket and petition (Section 17)
Freedom of association (Section 18) and
Freedom of movement and residence (Section 21).
We have come a long way in our country toward protecting Human Rights and hopefully we will strive even harder to defend and uphold these rights.
“Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed.”
“Storm Jameson”