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comment by bioemerl
bioemerl  ·  3410 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Can Refugees Have Human Rights?

    Crimes are dealt with via the judicial system, and you still get your punishment. They don't get a disproportionate advantage by being allowed to go to school, or anything.

I am not referring to legal crimes, but crimes which are "fundamental". In this aspect, a crime is an action which infringes on the basic human rights of another.

Rights, as far as I see them, do not exist inherently, but are a near-universal treaty among human beings to treat each other with a basic level of respect. In order to have rights, you must respect them.

Outside of this treaty, or the "look guys I have empathy" play we all put on when we emphasize how sorry we feel for people in pain, rights do not exist.