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Sometimes we say that human rights are the ethical standard that should be used to determine

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if a law is fair.

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What does this mean?

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As we have seen, the law can be unfair and unjust.

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So how do we know when the law is acceptable?

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Well, nowadays we think that a law is acceptable if it respects human rights.

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That's what we mean when we say that human rights are a normative ideal to determine

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when the legislation is legitimate.

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So this is a key aspect you can use in order to determine if the laws are valid or not.

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You are entitled to break the law when the law does not respect human rights.

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But who defends human rights in the world?

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Human rights are a common ethical frame for all humanity, but as we know, they are not

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always respected.

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Who defends them in the world?

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There are some important associations and organizations that defend human rights.

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Maybe you thought about the United Nations, who made the Declaration of Human Rights and

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who defend human rights worldwide.

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The United Nations, as you know, is formed by all the countries in the world and they

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have an international force that can be used in order to prevent serious violations of

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human rights.

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For example, when there is a war conflict.

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We can also go to the tribunals if we think that our human rights have been violated.

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First of all, you can go to your national tribunals if you are a Spanish citizen and

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you think that your human rights have been violated.

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You are protected by the law.

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You can go to a court and the tribunals will protect you.

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Nevertheless, sometimes the tribunals don't defend the rights of the citizens.

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For example, when their verdict goes against your case.

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In this situation, if you still think that your rights have been violated and this tribunal

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in Spain has ignored you, you can appeal and you can go to a higher court, which is called

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the European Court of Human Rights.

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This European Court of Human Rights is located in Strasbourg and it defends the human rights

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of European citizens who think that their rights have been violated and that they have

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not been protected by their national tribunals.

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There is also an international criminal court, which is located in The Hague in the Netherlands

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and which is responsible for very serious violations of human rights, such as cases

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of genocide or war crimes.

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But not only big institutions or the United Nations are there to protect your rights,

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you are also there to fight for the protection of human rights.

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So it is very important that the civil society made by associations created by citizens also

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defends human rights and is involved in the protection of our rights.

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There are many NGOs that defend human rights.

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You might have heard of some of them, for example, the Red Cross or Amnesty International

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or Human Rights Watch, which are very important, worldwide known, and that are committed with

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the defense of human rights.

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It is important to know that we should all participate in the defense of human rights.

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It is also our personal responsibility.