Discrimination runs against the most fundamental values of a modern society.
It is a menace to democracy, which is predicated on the idea of a society in which arbitrary hierarchies and preferences based on eg gender, ethnic origin and wealth have been eliminated with a perspective to achieving equality.
Democracy recognizes the equal worth and rights of all citizens, unlike various authoritarian systems of rule.
Equality, by way of prohibition of discrimination, is also the keystone of human rights all human rights belong to all, without discrimination of any kind, and as such the concept of equality is basically embedded in the knowledge of human rights itself.
The right of all humans to equality before the law and protection against discrimination constitutes a universal human right recognized in several human rights instruments, for instance the universal declaration on human rights (udhr).
Prevention of discrimination is also an essential element of national legal systems, as it seeks to eliminate injustice in decision making, enhancing the inclusiveness and predictability of decision making and thus the functioning of the legal system.
The protection of especially national, ethnic and religious minorities is also a matter of national and international security from the societal point of view.
The first agreements on the treatment and rights of minorities were introduced in peace treaties in order to improve international stability, which would have been put to jeopardy should a minority associated with another country have been treated negatively.
Nowadays the emphasis has somewhat changed from the enhancement of international security into national security equal protection of all segments of the society and the advancement of good community relations are seen as primary objectives for the benifit of national integrity and security.
Discrimination not only forms a threat to the society, but also to the individual who is...