Joel Frienberg: Nature and Value of Rights

Ninth topic:

Human rights? What are the rights of people? I would like to share our human rights here in Philippines. According to Wikipedia:

“Human rights in the Philippines has been a subject of concern and controversy. According to U.S. Country Profile on the Philippines dated March 2006, the U.S. State Department reported in 2006 that Philippine security forces have been responsible for serious human rights abuses despite the efforts of civilian authorities to control them.^[1] The report found that although the government generally respected human rights, some security forces elements—particularly the Philippine National Police—practiced extrajudicial killings, vigilantism, disappearances, torture, and arbitrary arrest and detention in their battle against criminals and terrorists. Prison conditions were harsh, and the slow judicial process as well as corrupt police, judges, and prosecutors impaired due process and the rule of law Besides criminals and terrorists, human rights activists, atheists and agnostic, left-wing political activists, and Muslims were sometimes the victims of improper police conduct. Violence against women and abuse of children remained serious problems, and some children were pressed into slave labor and prostitution. “

For Frienberg, rights is one of the important for us people especially if your country has a democracy country like Philippines. Imagine that, even if the children has the rights such as right to go to schools and to be educated.  For him, when you do not value rights if the people, you cannot make moral claims because you stole justice and rights from them.

Full reading here and reference