Do I have any obligations?

It is commonly known that along with rights come obligations or responsibilities. Your obligations in the area of human rights grow out of this very basic principle: if you respect others, others will respect you too.

Respect towards others

It is your responsibility to respect others - both the people around you as well as other members of society in general. Respect can mean several things: to be tolerant, not to unfairly discriminate against those who are different, to be helpful and kind and so on. Treating others in this way will generally improve your daily environment.

Balancing rights

More concretely, when exercising your rights, try to respect the boundary where the rights of others may be infringed. That does not mean that you are significantly restricted or that your rights are less important. But you can try to balance your interests with those of others so that everyone can enjoy his or her rights peacefully.

example If you decide to express your opinion about a social or political matter on the internet, do not use derogative language and do not make personal accusations.

Cooperation

Finally, if you have have lodged a complaint about a human rights violation, you have the duty to cooperate. Often when complaining about a human rights violation, you will need to write an official complaint in one format or another. It is your task to explain what you know and what could be relevant in as much detail as possible. If the institutions considering your complaint require more information, it is in your interests to provide them with as much information as you can.

Last updated 15/03/2022