In their article entitled “Are Human Rights Universal?” Yarulin and Pozdnyakov (2021), explored the concept of universal human rights and the challenges they face in being recognized and respected globally. The primary question raised by nations and non-western scholars is whether human rights are universal or relative, leading to an ideological battle between European universalism and universal universalism. The authors argued that the process of universalizing human rights began with the establishment of the United Nations after World War II, which emphasized the significance of fundamental rights, equality, and the adoption of universal documents like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). However, they also acknowledged that the universality of human rights has been compromised by socio-cultural, national, religious, and other factors, which influence their interpretation and implementation across nations and cultures; giving China as an example of “the most criticized country in terms of non-compliance with human rights (Yarulin & Pozdnyakov, 2021).”

Furthermore, Yarulin and Pozdnyakov (2021) contended that the universality of human rights is at the heart of the universal law; and if human rights really exist, then it can be logically assumed that then the existence of a human community, or, in other words, a certain community of all people on earth, should be based on a common morality, and this premise should be accepted as the main basis for the existence of rights and freedoms. In addition, they discussed that the universality of human rights is often based on fairly simple arguments including; 1) universalism is valid because human rights are the same everywhere; 2) other people think that it is useless to talk about the universalism of human rights while there are great differences in the conceptual order; 3) other argument suggests that the concept of human rights was born in Europe, and it is not perfect, but other continents can only accept it. As for China, Yarulin and Pozdnyakov (2021) highlighted that the Chinese people have not particularly seemed concerned about the oppression of its government, but have mainly based their ideology on Confucianism which does not necessarily go along with human rights.

When reading critically the arguments put forth by Yarulin and Pozdnyakov (2021) in this article, it becomes evident that human rights have faced criticisms concerning their understanding and implementation across different cultures and nations. Although the article addresses a highly controversial debate in the contemporary world, it primarily focuses on China as one of the most criticized nations in terms of noncompliance with human rights. However, the lack of other case studies and statistical data weakens the effectiveness of this paper. 

To assure the significance and reliability of this study, the authors should have discussed more about how the universality of human rights (predominantly promoted by Europe and the USA) is understood and implemented not only in China, but also in other continents, with more emphasis on some African, Asian, and Latin American nations. In fact, the majority of these nations do not really perceive human rights as a universal concern but rather as an option that may vary based on cultural, religious, and political ideologies.