What is the difference between human rights and civil liberties? In what controversial ways do human rights intersect with Homeland Security and terrorism?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

• Civil liberties refer to the individual freedoms people have under a system of law.
• The first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, further limit the power of government. Americans enjoy particular freedoms under the Constitution, and the government cannot take these freedoms away.
• Human rights focus on the legal right to exist in a society where people are free from arbitrary coercion.
• People have the right to be free, choose their religion, and have a fair trial; human rights refer to the basic entitlements and protections that should be given to every person.
• Decreasing civil liberties limits individual freedom and increases governmental power. It may increase protection from terrorism, but it increases citizen vulnerability to the abuse of governmental power.
• Human rights intersect terrorism and homeland security in two controversial areas.
• First, terrorist attacks on innocent civilians violate the human right of people to exist apart from political violence against innocent people.
• Second, governments must respect the human rights of their opponents. Ideally, they are not allowed to act outside the bounds of human decency and law when countering terrorists.
• Terrorists justify murders by stating that civilians are never innocent because they act within the governmental system.