What are human rights?

Human rights are there to protect us all. Even if we don't think about our human rights every day, they are woven into the fabric of everyday life. Your human rights are:

• Universal: they apply to every single person
• Inalienable: they cannot be taken away
• Indivisible and interdependent: governments cannot respect some rights and not others

This means no matter who or where you are, your human rights are meant to protect your right to free speech and protest, ensure you have a fair trial, stop torture and abuse, and fight discrimination, amongst other things.

But these rights weren’t just given to us. They were hard-won by people who believed that everyone deserved to live freely, fairly and with dignity. In a world where our human rights are under threat, Amnesty exists to help fight for a world where everyone’s human rights are valued and respected.

Written in 1948, after the horrors of the Second World War, the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights defines the rights and freedoms that protect every single human being from tyranny and suffering.

This document was a landmark global agreement that declared all humans as free and equal, regardless of sex, colour, creed, religion or other characteristics.

Seven decades on, these articles underpin all international human rights law.

Human rights laws are the tools all of us use to challenge people in power who stop us from living fairly and freely

The Human Rights Act 1998 defines and protects our human rights in the UK.

From women fleeing domestic violence to disabled people seeking proper support, to vulnerable children who deserve to be cared for and educated properly, the Human Rights Act protects us all in our moment of need.

It ensures that public authorities in the UK including hospitals and social services have an obligation to treat everyone with fairness, equality and dignity. And it gives us the tools to hold them to account if they don't.

The Human Rights Act is a vital tool to fight injustice and hold those in power to account.

But it is under threat.

We must not let politicians turn universal rights into privileges for a chosen few.

Our human rights are meant to protect us all, everyone has a right to justice if these rights are abused.

Steve’s brother Michael was an experienced football supporter, when he died at Hillsborough the shock was huge.

Steve has been fighting for justice for over 27 years.

He used the Human Rights Act to expose the truth about what really happened.

Every one of us exercises our human rights every day, often without thinking.

When you read the news, send your child to school, or talk with friends about politics in the pub you are enjoying freedoms that are based on human rights principles.

These changes have not come without a fight. They are the result of people speaking up for what’s right: equality, fairness and freedom for all.

But there is still much more to do. Around the world, and even here in the UK, bad actors are ready to abuse, violate, and suppress our rights.

Amnesty will keep fighting until everyone’s human rights are valued and protected. We fight on behalf of those denied a fair trial. We defend the rights of civilians targeted at times of war. We stand in solidarity with survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.

We help protect the rights of everyone, whoever and wherever they are. Because we know how important these rights are and how, ultimately, they protect us all.