Contemporary Human Rights Ideas Rethinking theory and practice

Written by a former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (2003–4), this book has been fully updated for a second edition and continues to provide a much needed, short and accessible introduction to the foundational human rights ideas of our times and shows that every government is under international obligation to respect and uphold universal human rights. Updates include: Discussion of the recent intellectual challenges to the international human rights movement Examination of the establishment and functioning of the Human Rights Council and the Universal Review Process Evaluation of the developments in the area of the Responsibility to Protect and continued efforts to implement the right to development Inclusion of issues such as the push for compensation for slavery, experiments with democracy in a number of countries and the decisions of international judicial and human rights organs on conceptual and protection issues This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of Global Institutions, International Law and Human Rights.

Introduction1 History: shared heritage, common struggle2 Human rights in the world community 3 International obligation 4 Universality5 Equality 6 Democracy 7 Development 8 International cooperation and dialogue 9 Protection 10 Justice, remedy, and reparation 11 Conclusion

Bertrand G. Ramcharan, formerly Professor at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, is President of the Non-Governmental Organization, UPR Info.