THE VALENCIA DECLARATION
How often do we speak up when we witness the rights of another person being violated on our streets, in the work places, in our schools, and even in our homes?
Any nation or person, by claiming something as a Human Right is
simultaneously undertaking the responsibility to recognize the
claims of others to the same right.
Book: Canadian Human Rights Law
It is often said that participants in the human rights movement talk
about rights while ignoring the equally important domain of human
duties and responsibilities.
There is a duty placed on every person and organ of society to strive through teaching and education, to promote respect for the rights and freedoms that we claim under the Human Rights Act. Article 29(1) binds every member of a society to the community and country they live in through the Act.
The concept of personal "duty" to uphold these rights through action is central to the very idea of human rights. This is unlike the notion of rights and duties where the responsibility to report a violation rests on someone else. With human rights, each one of us must assume the responsibility to uphold our laws of freedom and justice.
As the holders of human rights and fundamental freedoms, all individuals, peoples and communities in the exercise of their rights and freedoms, have the duty and responsibility to respect those of others, and a duty to strive for the promotion and observance thereof.
(Declaration of Human Duties and Responsibilities)
Reference: Stanley M. Corbet & Geraldine Sadoway - Canadian Human Rights Law
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Article by Dharmendra Singh