Universal Human Rights? Looking at multi-cultural Britain and Canada for Pakistan

Theo Gavrielides, Sarah Topa and Ashley Major

Abstract
While Western democracies proclaim to lead the way in the advancement,
protection and promotion of human rights, some question the foundations and
universality of the liberties and rights included in civil and political covenants
such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This scepticism is
particularly relevant to well-intended, intellectual debates impacting on the
Middle East and South Asia. The paper aims to challenge the scepticism around
the universality of human rights placing an emphasis on their implications for
minority groups. The examples of Canada and the United Kingdom are used to
draw conclusions for Pakistan.

Keywords: Aboriginals, Canada, Gypsies, human rights, human rights principles, human
rights values, minority groups, minority rights, Pakistan, Travellers, United
Kingdom, universality.