Chapter 2: Charter of the Commons' Convention
2.4. Contents of the Charter of the Commons' Convention -Part2-
In the previous article, I mentioned "universal human rights" as one of the three pillar principles of the World Commonwealth Charter. Here is some additional information on this principle.
I pointed out that universal human rights are the culmination of the human rights that are currently concentrated in the International Covenants on Human Rights, but there is a continuum and a disconnect between these "international human rights" and "universal human rights.
First, from the perspective of continuity, universal human rights are a collection of fundamental rights enjoyed by people in general, and are themselves legal norms that are judicially applied and enforced. In terms of such practical legal effects, they are continuous and common with international human rights.
However, the ultimate basis of universal human rights is not the theory of innate human rights that people are born free. Communist laws do not rely on natural law, natural rights, or any other transcendental or theological conception, but is thoroughly secular, man-made laws. Therefore, the basis for universal human rights is the common human rights pact with mankind, and without participation in this pact, universal human rights will not arise.
Since the Charter of the World Commonwealth, which includes human rights provisions, also serves as a human rights treaty, universal human rights are established with the conclusion of the Charter. This means that universal human rights do not apply to individuals and groups in regions that do not participate in the World Community, but individuals and groups who individually wish to participate and take refuge within the juridiction of the World Commonwealth are entitled to universal human rights and legal protection by the World Commonwealth.
The fact that these human rights are not innate human rights but covenant human rights leads to the conclusion that social rights (droits sociaux) are systematically prior to civil liberties. Above all, the right to existence. This is because "without existence, there is no freedom." This is a natural conclusion, given that the purpose of the establishment of the World Commonwealth is the peaceful coexistence of humankind.
However, this does not mean disrespecting the civil liberties represented by freedom of expression. Social rights and civil liberties are two inseparable wheels of universal human rights, and there is no superiority or inferiority relationship between them. It is just a logical order relationship.
Another disconnect is that universal human rights do not presuppose state sovereignty. International human rights are the product of efforts to impose human rights beyond national borders while presupposing state sovereignty, but they are therefore destined to be blocked in their application by state sovereignty. Universal human rights, which presuppose a world without states, have no such obstacles and extend universally throughout the world.
Therefore, universal human rights do not presuppose a situation of confrontation between the state and the individual. International human rights are meant to protect individuals from state power, but in a communist society, the state as a political entity does not exist in the first place, and the transition to rule through Commons' Conventions is made, so it is assumed that the situation of confrontation between the state and the individual has already been subdued.
The rule of the Commons' Convention is essentially a rule based on human rights, and it can be said that "commons' sovereignty", the first pillar principle in the World Commonwealth Charter, and "universal human rights" are two sides of the same coin. In other words, there can be no Commons' Convention that ignores human rights.
👉The papers published on this blog are meant to expand upon my On Communism.
