Universal, Inalienable, Indivisible: Core Principles

Three words appear again and again in rights documents. 'Universal' means rights apply to everyone everywhere, regardless of nationality, sex, race, religion or status. 'Inalienable' means they cannot be sold, given away or permanently taken, even if a person agrees, which is why no one can legally sell themselves into slavery. 'Indivisible' means different kinds of rights depend on each other: the right to vote means little to someone who cannot read or who is starving.

The 1993 Vienna Declaration, agreed by 171 states, declared all human rights universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated. These principles are ideals, and critics point out that states often treat some rights as more important than others or argue that universality ignores cultural difference. Still, the principles give people a standard to measure governments against, which is why they matter even when they are not fully met.