Suspending or limiting human rights is thus the sacrifice of the few for the benefit of the many. The human-rights concept is understood and upheld only by a small Westernized minority in developing countries; it does not extend to the lowest rungs of the ladder. Universality in these circumstances would be a universality of the privileged thereby contradicting the meaning of the term “Universal” which by definition means including or covering all or a whole collectively or distributively without limit or exception.
Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status. They are often declared to be natural or inherent which is a way of viewing them as timeless, immanent, and independent of external causes to establish them as absolutes (Teeple, 2005). Whether they relate to civil, cultural, economic, political or social issues, it could be said that human rights are inherent to the dignity of every human person. Consequently, all human rights have equal status, and cannot be positioned in a hierarchical order. Denial of one right invariably impedes enjoyment of other rights. Thus, the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living cannot be compromised at the expense of other rights, such as the right to