Basic rights that everyone would agree on?
Yeah. In your dreams, maybe. The problem is that we all have a different idea of what basic rights are. Personally, I am of the opinion that there is such a thing as natural law, an objective, absolute standard instilled in the heart of every human that enables him to tell right from wrong. It is not relative based on culture or anything else; it is not subjective. Rather, it is, as I said, absolute in its moral authority, and I believe that everyone, in their heart of hearts, knows when an action that they perform is wrong.
However, most people in their quest to live without moral restraint, or in their quest to be a law unto themselves (which is basic human nature, I think, to do that which is wrong), simply ignore this tug, or vehemently deny it. Or they simply say that things are relative. As such, many people (the Chinese, for example) claim that the Western idea of rights is no better than the Chinese idea of rights and that they therefore have no reason to listen when we tell them that slave labor is bad.
On the other hand, Heir, what if the majority decided that homosexuals should be executed? If that made them happy, would you do it?
DISCLAIMER: I don't think homosexuals should be executed, by the way. That is simply an example to show why making the majority happy is a bad idea.