INTRODUCTION

The rights of marginalised persons in Nigeria must be protected and enforced in the face of criminalization, religious dogmas, and sociocultural bias, prejudice and indigence.

Parliamentarians, Policymakers, CSOs, HumanRights groups, Legal practitioners, religious and traditional leaders and other stakeholders play key role in the achievement of an environment favourable to everyone without any form legislative, cultural and or religious prejudices and bias

HUMAN RIGHTS

Human Rights are natural andinherent in all human beings andthe right to health is a fundamentalpart of human right as it borderson the most important aspect of ahuman being which is the qualityof life and necessary to protect,respect, promote, improve andfulfils.

However no particularaspect of human rights is moreimportant than the other.

COMPONENTS OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Human Rights are:

  1. Natural
  2. Universal
  3. Indivisible
  4. Interdependent
  5. Interrelated

LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

The international recognition of human rights principles emergedafter the horrors of the World War to avoid a repeatperformance of such atrocities. At the end of the war, the worldformed the United Nations (UN) which met in San Francisco in1945. There, Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) wasadopted by the UN General Assembly on 10th. December 1948.The UDHR consists of a Preamble and 30 Articles.

The UN created two additional documents, the InternationalCovenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) (1966) and theInternational Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights(ICESCR) (1966).

At the national level human rights provisions are incorporated innumerous laws but most importantly in the Constitution of theFederal Republic Nigeria.

HUMAN RIGHTS INSTRUMENTS

International human rights instruments canbe classified into two categories: declarations and Conventions.

Declarations which includes:

  1. Declaration of the Rights of the Child 1923
  2. Universal Declaration of Human Rights(UDHR) 1948
  3. African Union Solemn Declaration

Conventions which includes:

  1. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) (1966)
  2. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)(1966).
  3. African Charter on Human and People‘s Rights (ACHPR) 1981
  4. Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women
  5. Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination againstWomen (CEDAW) 1979
  6. Optional Protocol to The Convention On The Elimination of All Forms ofDiscrimination Against Women
  7. Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) 1989
  8. African Charter on the Rights of the Child
  9. Convention Against Torture (CAT)
  10. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination(ICERD)
  11. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006)

NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS INSTRUMENTS

  1. Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria(1999) (Chapter IV)
  2. ACHPR, Enforcement and Ratification Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria,2004.
  3. Child Rights Act (2003)
  4. Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act, 2014
  5. Compulsory Free Universal Basic Education Act,2004
  6. Compulsory Free Universal Basic Education Act,2004

CATEGORIES OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Civil and Political Rights: These are referred to as the first generation rights. Civil andpolitical rights are a class of rights and freedoms thatprotect individuals from unwarranted government actionand ensure one’s ability to participate in the civil andpolitical life of the State without discrimination orrepression.

These rights include, right to life, right to dignityof human person, right to personal liberty, right to fairhearing, right to private and family life, right to freedom ofthought, conscience and religion, right to freedom ofexpression and press, right to peaceful assembly andassociation, right to freedom of movement, right tofreedom from discrimination and right to own property.

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: These are referred to as second generation rights. They aresocio-economic human rights. They enable people to havesocial, economic and cultural security. They ensure differentmembers of the citizenry equal conditions and treatments.

These cover the right to employment, right to housing andshelter, right to health, right to food, right to education, right tosafe water, right to preservation of one‘s mother tongue andother symbols of cultural identity, right to safety and security,right to an adequate standard of living. Some societies areunwilling to enshrine purported economic, social and culturalrights as legal rights, seeing them only as needs that society orgovernment might provide if resources are available, but whichare not justiciable unless they are established by some contract.

Environment and Development Rights: These are called third generation rights. Theterm “third-generation human rights” remainslargely unofficial, and thus houses an extremelybroad spectrum of rights, including: right to self-determination, right to economic and socialdevelopment, right to a healthy environment,right to natural resources, right to communicateand communication rights, right to participationin cultural heritage, rights to intergenerationalequity and sustainability etc.

Special Group Rights:Some groups of people are vulnerable to discrimination andabuse. Group rights are the rights held by a group ratherthan by its members severally, or rights held only byindividuals within the specified group. More recentlythough, demanding group rights is seen as a way of activelyaddressing issues of marginalization and realizing equality.

This is where the group is regarded as being in a situationthat requires special protective rights if its members are toenjoy human rights on terms equal with the majority of thepopulation. Examples of such groups may includeindigenous peoples, ethnic minorities, women, children andpeople with disability.

Constitutional Rights: The constitutional rights are those aspects of human rightthat are guaranteed by the constitution of a country. InNigeria for instance, the civil and political rights areguaranteed under chapter four of the constitution of 1999and are therefore, justiciable or enforceable in a lawcourt.

On the other hand many of the socio-economic and cultural rights are recognized in chapter two of theconstitution but are not justiciable. Thus constitutionalrights can be classified into fundamental, guaranteed andjusticiable rights and recognized; and non-justiciablerightsrespectively.

It is the place of the paralegal to continue tofoster the human rights condition of marginalised individuals through

• Strategic Litigation,
• Fundamental Rights Enforcement Actions,
• Alternative Dispute Resolution,
• Traditional mediation and conciliation,
• Advocacy for decriminalization,
• Human Rights Education,
• Security, and
• Paralegal Services.