Does respecting universal human rights mean that everyone must accept and adopt unified sociocultural values and practices? Clearly the answer is no. Yet at international level we see regular efforts to malign specific countries or societies based on their religious and cultural backgrounds. Despite a general agreement among scholars that present-day human rights are the common heritage of all civilisations, …

Basic human rights are universal and integral to human existence and the human experience. They relate to both material concerns such as food, clothing and shelter, and non-material concerns such as dignity, respect and affection. Whether it is denial of economic rights, repression of religious and ethnic identity, or the socio-political exclusion of minority groups, a sustained denial of human …