ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Islamic Views On Human Rights: Viewpoints of Iranian Scholars Human Rights Developments After The Second World War Dr. Bahram Mustaqimi Maryam Za’ir Introduction In the course of history, man has had an ongoing struggle for an expanding body of fundamental human rights for as many people as possible. Humanists and international lawyers have long endeavored to protect these rights.

They have discussed the position of the individual in international law in particular. Although it is universally acknowledged as a fact that the individual is the basic unit to whom any legal system is directed, discussions of this nature have often resulted in denying man of any position whatsoever. According to the classical international law, the individual as an object had no rights and duties.

However, the relationship between the individual and the society has undergone changes over the recent years. Since the Western view on human rights has prevailed in contemporary international society for a long time and can be traced back to medieval Europe, it seems appropriate to consider it as a historic point of departure for investigating that relationship.[^1] The Reformation and Renaissance movements provided scientific, religious and philosophical outlets for freedom and self-expression.

In medieval Europe, the ordinary individual was left beyond the jurisdiction of international law and was treated as a mere object. With the emergence of despotic regimes towards the close of the middle ages, the struggle for human rights commenced.

This struggle led to the great political revolutions of the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.[^2] Those facets of human rights that had, then, been encroached upon were formulated into declarations and bills of rights[^3] and written subsequently in national constitutions.[^4] During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the commercial activities of certain European States were expanded, and the need for protecting groups of nationals was deeply felt by these states.

They satisfied the exigeny by including specific clauses in their treaties with some non­European states. For example, the United Kingdom entered into several treaties with Morocco whereby the latter agreed, inter alia to treat its entire people alike no matter what religion they had.[^5] On the other hand, the participants in the Congress of Vienna (1815) showed deep concern for human rights at the international stage.