It seems strange to me for someone coming from your perspective to use the term "rights". The very word seems to imply a metaphysical moral law and a a person or entity who bestows or declares the right in the first place. The deistic founders of the modern democracies, who were most into the concept of "rights", definitely saw the connection between some higher power and the idea of "rights". Wouldn't an agnostic or atheist prefer to speak in terms of "preferences" or "practical considerations"? "Rights" implies something that is deserved, not just what works best.
Quite frankly, the terminological part matters little to me. The required entity which you refer to can just as well be the State. The State guarantees rights and has the power to enforce them. The Golden Rule applies with or without a God behind it. It's most pragmatic: We reap what we sow.
And what do you consider "basic human rights"?
Here's a selection. Have fun
Article 1[Human dignity – Human rights – Legally binding force of
basic rights]
(1) Human dignity shall be inviolable. To respect and protect
it shall be the duty of all state authority.
(2) The German people therefore acknowledge inviolable and
inalienable human rights as the basis of every community,
of peace and of justice in the world.
(3) The following basic rights shall bind the legislature, the
executive and the judiciary as directly applicable law.
Article 2[Personal freedoms]
(1) Every person shall have the right to free development of his
personality insofar as he does not violate the rights
of others or offend against the constitutional order or the
moral law.
(2) Every person shall have the right to life and physical integrity.
Freedom of the person shall be inviolable. These rights
may be interfered with only pursuant to a law.
Article 3[Equality before the law]
(1) All persons shall be equal before the law.
(2) Men and women shall have equal rights. The state shall
promote the actual implementation of equal rights for
women and men and take steps to eliminate disadvantages
that now exist.
(3) No person shall be favoured or disfavoured because of
sex, parentage, race, language, homeland and origin, faith,
or religious or political opinions. No person shall be
dis favoured because of disability.
Article 4[Freedom of faith and conscience]
(1) Freedom of faith and of conscience, and freedom to profess
a religious or philosophical creed, shall be inviolable.
(2) The undisturbed practice of religion shall be guaranteed.
(3) No person shall be compelled against his conscience to
render military service involving the use of arms. Details
shall be regulated by a federal law.
Article 5[Freedom of expression, arts and sciences]
(1) Every person shall have the right freely to express and disseminate
his opinions in speech, writing and pictures, and
to inform himself without hindrance from generally accessible
sources. Freedom of the press and freedom of reporting
by means of broadcasts and fi lms shall be guaranteed.
There shall be no censorship.
(2) These rights shall fi nd their limits in the provisions of general
laws, in provisions for the protection of young persons,
and in the right to personal honour.
(3) Arts and sciences, research and teaching shall be free.
The freedom of teaching shall not release any person from
allegiance to the constitution.
Article 8[Freedom of assembly]
(1) All Germans shall have the right to assemble peacefully
and unarmed without prior notifi cation or permission.
(2) In the case of outdoor assemblies, this right may be restricted
by or pursuant to a law.
Article 9[Freedom of association]
(1) All Germans shall have the right to form corporations and
other associations.
(2) Associations whose aims or activities contravene the criminal
laws, or that are directed against the constitutional order
or the concept of international understanding, shall be
prohibited.
(3) The right to form associations to safeguard and improve
working and economic conditions shall be guaranteed to
every individual and to every occupation or profession.
Agreements that restrict or seek to impair this right shall
be null and void; measures directed to this end shall be
unlawful. Measures taken pursuant to Article 12a, to paragraphs
(2) and (3) of Article 35, to paragraph (4) of Article
87a, or to Article 91 may not be directed against industrial
disputes engaged in by associations within the meaning of
the fi rst sentence of this paragraph in order to safeguard
and improve working and economic conditions.
Article 10[Privacy of correspondence, posts and
telecommunications]
(1) The privacy of correspondence, posts and telecommunications
shall be inviolable.
(2) Restrictions may be ordered only pursuant to a law. If the
restriction serves to protect the free democratic basic order
or the existence or security of the Federation or of a Land,
the law may provide that the person affected shall not be
informed of the restriction and that recourse to the courts
shall be replaced by a review of the case by agencies and
auxiliary agencies appointed by the legislature.
Article 11[Freedom of movement]
(1) All Germans shall have the right to move freely throughout
the federal territory.
(2) This right may be restricted only by or pursuant to a law,
and only in cases in which the absence of adequate means
of support would result in a particular burden for the community,
or in which such restriction is necessary to avert
an imminent danger to the existence or the free democratic
basic order of the Federation or of a Land, to combat the
danger of an epidemic, to respond to a grave accident or
natural disaster, to protect young persons from serious neglect,
or to prevent crime.
Article 12[Occupational freedom]
(1) All Germans shall have the right freely to choose their
occupation or profession, their place of work and their
place of training. The practice of an occupation or profession
may be regulated by or pursuant to a law.
(2) No person may be required to perform work of a particular
kind except within the framework of a traditional duty of
community service that applies generally and equally to all.
(3) Forced labour may be imposed only on persons deprived of
their liberty by the judgment of a court.
Article 13[Inviolability of the home]
(1) The home is inviolable.
(2) Searches may be authorised only by a judge or, when time is
of the essence, by other authorities designated by the laws,
and may be carried out only in the manner therein prescribed.
(3) If particular facts justify the suspicion that any person has
committed an especially serious crime specifi cally defi ned
by a law, technical means of acoustical surveillance of any
home in which the suspect is supposedly staying may be
employed pursuant to judicial order for the purpose of prosecuting
the offence, provided that alternative methods of
investigating the matter would be disproportionately diffi
cult or unproductive. The authorisation shall be for a limited
time. The order shall be issued by a panel composed
of three judges. When time is of the essence, it may also be
issued by a single judge.
(4) To avert acute dangers to public safety, especially dangers
to life or to the public, technical means of surveillance of
the home may be employed only pursuant to judicial order.
When time is of the essence, such measures may also be
ordered by other authorities designated by a law; a judicial
decision shall subsequently be obtained without delay.
(5) If technical means are contemplated solely for the protection
of persons offi cially deployed in a home, the measure
may be ordered by an authority designated by a law. The
information thereby obtained may be otherwise used only
for purposes of criminal prosecution or to avert danger and
only if the legality of the measure has been previously determined
by a judge; when time is of the essence, a judicial
decision shall subsequently be obtained without delay.
(6) The Federal Government shall report to the Bundestag annually
as to the employment of technical means pursuant
to paragraph (3) and, within the jurisdiction of the Federation,
pursuant to paragraph (4) and, insofar as judicial approval
is required, pursuant to paragraph (5) of this Article.
A panel elected by the Bundestag shall exercise parliamentary
oversight on the basis of this report. A comparable parliamentary
oversight shall be afforded by the Länder.
(7) Interferences and restrictions shall otherwise only be permissible
to avert a danger to the public or to the life of an
individual, or, pursuant to a law, to confront an acute danger
to public safety and order, in particular to relieve a
housing shortage, to combat the danger of an epidemic, or
to protect young persons at risk.
Article 14[Property – Inheritance – Expropriation]
(1) Property and the right of inheritance shall be guaranteed.
Their content and limits shall be defi ned by the laws.
(2) Property entails obligations. Its use shall also serve the
public good.
(3) Expropriation shall only be permissible for the public good.
It may only be ordered by or pursuant to a law that determines
the nature and extent of compensation. Such compensation
shall be determined by establishing an equitable
balance between the public interest and the interests of
those affected. In case of dispute concerning the amount of
compensation, recourse may be had to the ordinary courts.
Article 17
Every person shall have the right individually or jointly
with others to address written requests or complaints to
competent authorities and to the legislature.
Fot the entire thing, read:
www.btg-bestellservice.de/pdf/80201000.pdf