For that matter I guess I would disagree with the UN. Someone who forfeits their basic human rights, for example, would not be entitled to them. So in that sense they're not universal.
There are many things that, as a society, we should do our best to make sure everyone has access to; housing, food, medical care, etc. The more people that have access to them, the better off we, as a society, are. Whether or not those things are a "basic human right" is debatable; but they fact that you need them to survive doesn't define them as such.
> but they fact that you need them to survive doesn't define them as such
Isn't that basically saying that surviving needn't be in a definition of 'human right'?
Yes, because "surviving" isn't a human right. It's something we, as a society, should do our best to make sure everyone is able to do, but that's not the same as saying it's a human right. If it was, then "not having a heart attack" would be a human right, which is clearly ridiculous.
I'll put it to you like this. If you believe there is a human right, then someone can't pursue it if they're dead. So if, in order to pursue that right, they need to pursue being alive, the pursuit of being alive falls within that right, no?
II. To not be killed is a basic human right.
=> Having shelter is a basic human right QED