Right to resist

The right to resist is a human right, although its scope and content are controversial. The right to resist, depending on how it is defined, can take the form of civil disobedience or armed resistance against a tyrannical government or foreign occupation; whether it also extends to non-tyrannical governments is disputed. Although Hersch Lauterpacht, one of the most distinguished jurists, called the right to resist the supreme human right, this right's position in international human rights law is tenuous and rarely discussed. Forty-two countries explicitly recognize a constitutional right to resist, as does the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. According to philosopher Heiner Bielefeldt, "The question of the legitimacy of resistance—including violent resistance—against established authority is as old as political and social thought itself." The right to resist was encoded in the earliest versions of international law and in a variety of philosophical traditions. Support for the right to resist can be found in the ancient Greek doctrine of tyrannicide included in Roman law, the Hebrew Bible, jihad in the Muslim world, the Mandate of Heaven in dynastic Chinese political philosophy, and in Sub-Saharan Africa's oral traditions. Historically, Western thinkers have distinguished between despots and tyrants, only authorizing resistance against the latter because these rulers violated fundamental rights in addition to their lack of popular legitimacy. A few thinkers including Kant and Hobbes absolutely rejected the existence of a right to resist. John Locke accepted it only to protect property. Views differ on whether the right to resist goes beyond restoring the status quo or defending the constitutional order. Marxists went even farther than the authors of the French Revolution in supporting resistance to change the established order; Mao Zedong said that "it is right to rebel against reactionaries". Although Hersch Lauterpacht, one of the most distinguished jurists, called the right to resist the supreme human right, this right's position in international human rights law is tenuous and rarely discussed.