Jose Nery Azeredo
Brazil

The modern notion of human rights is inseparable from the idea that society is capable of ensuring justice by means of the Law and the State. Such notion cannot be severed from the principles that sustain society in philosophical and political terms: the universality and natural right to life, freedom, and thought.

In fact, it was modern society that inaugurated the political practice of drafting declarations to assure rights, in view of the fact that they are not acknowledged by everyone. Such rights need therefore both social and political consent.

Declarations also record precise historical situations. They aim at securing achievements resulting from major social changes or revolutionary landmarks, such as the Declaration of Rights of the English Revolution (1640-1688); the American Independence; the French Revolution (1789); and the Russian Revolution (1917).  Declarations aim at protecting humanity from violence, after episodes of great trauma, such as the Second World War, Fascism, and Nazism. These instances led to the Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.

The modern configuration of human rights represents an important advance for the human developmental process. The praxis of human rights replaces conscious actions directed to fight inequality. The fight for human rights is based on ethical and political principles and values that are rational, universal, and directed to freedom and justice. This fight incorporated achievements that do not belong exclusively to the bourgeoisie. They are also part of the human wealth produced by the human gender throughout its historical development since ancient times.