“Civil rights refers to two related but different terms. In civil law jurisdictions, a civil right is a right or power which can be exercised under civil law, which includes things such as the ability to contract. In civil law jurisdictions, lawsuits between private parties for things such as breach of contract or a tort are usually expressed in terms of infringement of a civil right. For example, Article 2 of the Contract Law of the People's Republic of China defines a contract as "an agreement establishing, modifying and terminating the civil rights and obligations between subjects of equal footing".
In common law jurisdiction, the term civil right is distinguished from "human rights" or "natural rights". Civil rights are rights that are bestowed by nations on those within their territorial boundaries, while natural or human rights are rights that many scholars claim that individuals have by nature of being born. For example, the philosopher John Locke (1632–1704) argued that the natural rights of life, liberty and property should be converted into civil rights and protected by the sovereign state as an aspect of the social contract. Others have argued that people acquire rights as an inalienable gift from a deity (such as God) or at a time of nature before governments were formed
“Civil liberties are freedoms that protect the individual from government to a certain extent. Civil liberties set limits for government so that it cannot abuse its power and interfere with the lives of its citizens.”
“Common civil liberties include freedom of association, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, and freedom of speech, and additionally, the right to due process, to fair trial, to own property and to privacy.
The formal concept of civil liberties dates back to the Magna Carta of 1215 which in turn was based on pre-existing documents.”
I hope this helps!
According to the Cambridge and Merriam-Webster dictionaries, a person who takes power by force and rules with total authority is a dictator. A dictator is not elected by the people, and extends his powers into the private lives of the people. He usually enjoys a cult of personality throughout the nation. An example of dictator would be Hitler in Germany between 1933 and 1945.
You should bear in mind that there are two other words which could fit this definiton, with some nuance:
- if this ruler uses its unlimited power unfairly and/or cruelly, it is a tyrant;
- if this ruler came to power through elections which he rigged, and simply rules without any political opposition, it is an autocrat.
What war are we talking about? Different wars were fought and opposed for different reasons. Some generic reasons include the person not supporting the country's motives for the war, believing their county was not in the right, or a whole slew of reasons individual to each war.<span />
