Human Rights

The military defines human rights as freedoms, immunities, and benefits inherent to all human beings. These are not concessions by governments but rather they derive from the inalienable and universal dignity of human persons. Human rights include fundamental protections for individuals such as freedom from genocide, slavery, murder, torture, cruel or degrading treatment, prolonged arbitrary detention, and systematic racial discrimination. While governments do not bestow these rights on their citizens, they are required to guarantee them.

In international relations, human rights function to help secure peace, deter aggression, promote rule of law, combat crime and corruption, strengthen democracies, and prevent humanitarian crises. Since World War II, the United States has included the promotion and respect for human rights, as embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human ...