Difference Between Civil Rights and Human Rights

Difference Between Civil Rights and Human Rights

Every other day we find residents protesting that their rights were infringed upon. They make newspaper headlines the next day. Rightfully so. There are concerns about abuse across the various war zones in Middle East and Africa. While most of these incidents are brought to notice, there are many others that remain in the oblivion.

While penning their thoughts, bloggers, as well as journalists, use these terms interchangeably. While it may seem that these terms are same, little are they mindful about the delicate variance between these two terms. So, let us now grasp what is the difference between civil rights and human rights?

Definition of Civil Rights

Let us initiate with the definition of civil rights. Civil rights are the liberty that anyone can enjoy by virtue of being born in that country. The civil rights are instrumental in defending the folks from injustice by others. While the core may be necessarily the same, there may be differences in the enactments that are laid down in each nation.

Each nation has demographics that are significantly different from another. Keeping this in mind, the statutes are different as may be laid down by each nation. Civil rights are fully dependent on the enactments in the nation and pertain to the different religious and ethnic standards that may be prevalent in the nation.

Definition of Human Rights

Now let us find out what the definition of human rights are. No one can deny you these rights. You inherit these rights from the day you were born. These are the vital liberations that have been provided to you as a human.

These are universally accepted irrespective of any race, faith or nation you are from. Some of the human rights are the right to live, the right to learning, etc. Towards the protection of these benefits, the United Nations ahs also undertaken a declaration.

Civil Rights vs Human Rights Comparison Table

Basis of ComparisonCivil rightsHuman rights
MeaningRights you enjoy by being a citizen of a countryRights you enjoy being born as a human
Does it varyYes. Varies across countriesNo
Laid down by the United NationsNoYes. The United Nations has laid down a declaration
Global natureCountry specificAccepted globally

Conclusion of the Main Difference Between Civil Right vs Human Rights

We have now gone through the difference between human rights and civil rights. You acquire human rights from the day you were born irrespective of any nation. However, your civil rights will depend on the nation you belong to. So, human rights are universally accepted.

This is the reason why the world body is able to intervene in the internal affairs of any nation when they feel that human rights are being violated. Of course, after resolutions are passed in the General Assembly. We sincerely hope you have been able to grasp the variance between civil rights vs human rights.