Baha'i perspective on international human rights

Bahá’u’lláh, the prophet-founder of the Bahá’í Faith, called for global agreement on human rights protection nearly eighty years before the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948. He taught that an “equal standard of human rights must be recognized and adopted.”

Bahá’u’lláh called for governments to protect the human rights of their populations and to ensure their welfare. To safeguard human rights, He urged global leaders to establish a world commonwealth that would include a system of collective security to protect populations against tyranny and oppression.

The Bahá’í Writings make clear that human rights are not merely a political or social concept that is contingent on recognition by governments. Rather, the Bahá’í perspective is that human rights exist with or without governments; indeed, they are a divine endowment flowing from the creation of all human beings with the potential to reflect the attributes of God. All human beings have for this reason an equal spiritual dignity. Accordingly, governments have a moral obligation to respect this divine endowment, an obligation that would exist even in the absence of treaties or customary legal norms obligating them to do so. Bahá’u’lláh impressed upon rulers this sacred duty: “For is it not your clear duty to restrain the tyranny of the oppressor, and to deal equitably with your subjects, that your high sense of justice may be fully demonstrated to all mankind? God hath committed into your hands the reins of the government of the people, that ye may rule with justice over them, safeguard the rights of the down-trodden, and punish the wrong-doers.” These are divinely-ordained responsibilities that no government can legitimately shirk. Bahá’u’lláh also teaches that because of this equal spiritual dignity, all human beings are members of a single human family that should be unified. This means that all should treat one another as brothers and sisters, and in turn honor and respect the rights of all other human beings, not only as co-equals, but as spiritual relatives. He declares, “Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch.” Recognition of this fundamental connectedness is a precondition, according to the Bahá’í teachings, for the full realization of human rights. Bahá’u’lláh asserts in this connection: “The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established.” Human Rights will remain no more than a morally admirable concept so long as they are not anchored in such an appreciation for human unity. That unity provides the impetus, the motivation, the will, to uphold and defend the rights of others. And it implies that human rights are the concern of everyone, not just governments.

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