Direito em Movimento - Volume 19 - Número 1 - 1º semestre - 2021

92 Direito em Movimento, Rio de Janeiro, v. 19 - n. 1, p. 81-107, 1º sem. 2021 ARTIGOS the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights 27 – thus stitching international human rights law together with common dignity rights as the thread. In the Americas in particular, the coalescing nature of dignity is patent. The American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, (IACHR, 2020) which predated the Universal Declaration, presaged the foundational role of dignity in the first words of its preamble: ‘All men are born free and equal, in dignity and in rights, and, being endowed by nature with reason and conscience, they should conduct themselves as brothers one to another.’ (IACHR, 2020) As the articulation of rights became more elaborate, so did the emphasis on dignity: the additional protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights (OAS, 1988-1999) considers the close relationship that exists between economic, social and cul- tural rights, and civil and political rights, in that the different cate- gories of rights constitute an indivisible whole based on the recog- nition of the dignity of the human person, for which reason both require permanent protection and promotion if they are to be fully realized, and the violation of some rights in favor of the realization of others can never be justified. (OAS,1988-1999) It is at the constitutional level that dignity rights under law have been most dramatic. Nearly every constitution adopted or significantly amen- ded since 1945 – that is, the constitutions of more than 160 countries – acknowledges a right to human dignity. (SHULZTINER and CARMI, 2014, p. 461–490, 465–466). Simply, dignity matters under law. As cons- titutionalized, dignity is a fundamental value, 28 a stand-alone right, 29 or a 27 See, for instance, African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Nairobi, 27 June 1981, in force 21 Oc- tober 1986, 21 International Legal Materials 58 (Banjul Charter), Art. 5: ‘Every individual shall have the right to the respect of the dignity inherent in a human being and to the recognition of his legal status’; and American Convention on Human Rights, San José, 22 November 1969, in force 18 July 1978, <https://treaties.un.org/ doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%201144/volume-1144-I-17955-English.pdf> (visited 10 May 2020) (Pact of San Jose, Costa Rica), Art. 11(1): ‘Everyone has the right to have his honor respected and his dignity recognized.’ 28 Constitution of the Dominican Republic, Art. 42: ‘The State [bases itself] on [ ] respect for the dignity of the person and [ ] organizes [itself] for the real and effective protection of the fundamental rights [that are] inherent to it. The dignity of the human being is sacred, innate, and inviolable; its respect and protection constitute an essential responsibility of the public powers.’ 29 The constitution of Kenya, Art. 28: ‘Every person has inherent dignity and the right to have that dignity respec- ted and protected.’. (emphasis added).