A/HRC/12/24 page 19 56. The notion of dignity permeates all modern human rights instruments. The preambles to the International Covenants on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and on Civil and Political Rights explicitly recognize that all human rights derive from the inherent dignity of the human person. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights includes several references to human dignity, including article 22, which states that “everyone … is entitled to realization … of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity …”. 57. Dignity relates to the intrinsic worth of each human being, which should be recognized and respected by others. There are certain fundamental conditions upon which we insist to have a “minimum definition of what it means to be human in any morally tolerable form of society”.82 It can be argued that “degrading living conditions and deprivation of basic needs” fall below this minimum definition.83 Dignity closely relates to self-respect, which is difficult to maintain when being forced to squat down in the open, with no respect for privacy, not having the opportunity to clean oneself after defecating and facing the constant threat of assault in such a vulnerable moment. Therefore, the independent expert believes that lack of access to sanitation constitutes demeaning living conditions; it is an affront to the intrinsic worth of the human being and should not be tolerated in any society. 58. One might argue that, because dignity pervades the issue of sanitation and sanitation cannot be entirely subsumed into any other existing human right, it should be considered a distinct human right. While it has been warned that a proliferation of rights runs the risk of undermining existing human rights, standards must be adapted to address new (or only recently recognized) threats to the human person. The General Assembly in its resolution 41/120 stated that standard-setting activities in the field of human rights should relate to standards that are, inter alia, “of fundamental character and derive from the inherent dignity and worth of the human person” and “[are] sufficiently precise to give rise to identifiable and practicable rights and obligations���.84 Due to the essential importance of sanitation for maintaining a life with human dignity, it could be argued that it is as important as other explicit components of the right to an adequate standard of living, such as food, clothing and housing, and could be implied under that right. The independent expert has found considerable precedents - both in international political declarations as well as in the work of United Nations human rights mechanisms - for this position.85 82 See Jerome J. Shestack, “The philosophical foundations of human rights”, vol. 20, Human Rights Quarterly, p. 201 at p. 216 (1998). 83 See Oscar Schachter, “Human dignity as a normative concept”, American Journal of International Law, vol. 77 (1983), 848, p. 852. 84 See General Assembly resolution 41/120 on setting international standards in the field of human rights, 4 December 1986. 85 At the national level, Bolivia and Uruguay have included a right to sanitation in their Constitutions. Kenya has also included the right to sanitation in its Draft Constitution (draft of 23 August 2005).