This is CBS, I On the World.

I'm John Batchel.

I welcome Peter Berkowitz.

He is at the Hoover Institution, and he writes a column for Real Clear Politics.

He turns his attention to human rights.

That's a phrase that's been in American political conversation, at least since Jimmy Carter's administration, in the late 20th century.

And it has a particular definition that is moving all the time.

Right now I ask Peter to give us a definition that's useful for the revelations about how human rights claims are abused by

NGOs. Peter, a very good evening to you. What's a working definition quite distinct from

civil rights? Yes. And actually, the American founding can help us. The Declaration of Independence speaks of unalienable rights.

Those are rights that inherit you just because you're a human being.

The Declaration indicated life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

This is not about special rights for this group or that group.

It's not about special rights that are conferred

by the Constitution. These are the rights in the light of which Constitution should be formed.

These are the rights that all constitutions, all legitimate government, should secure. These are the

rights also that are spoken of in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

which provides a relatively austere list.

What they are not is a progressive wish list of political items to be accomplished,

contrary to majority preference.

The UN Charter, I learned from your here reporting has a preamble that writes

faith in fundamental human rights and Article I, the principle of equal rights and

...