ABSTRACT
Civil and political rights are often referred to as the 'first generation' or 'first dimension' of human rights, which distinguishes them from economic, social and cultural rights as well as from collective or solidarity rights of the 'third generation'. Although only a little can be learnt from this distinction for the interpretation of human rights today, the 'three generations' doctrine, as developed by Karel Vasak, former Director of UNESCO's Division of Human Rights and Peace, illustrates very well how human rights emerged in history. Human rights are a product of revolutionary changes inspired by the political thinking of philosophers and the liberation struggles of oppressed classes and peoples. Typical examples are the bourgeois and socialist revolutions as well as the liberation struggles against colonialism, imperialism, fascism, racism, communism, religious fundamentalism or other ideologies which suppress the liberty and dignity of the human being.
