Human Rights

The first 200 words of this essay...

HUMAN RIGHTS: ASSESSED ESSAY

Introduction

The modern notion of human rights was born in the direct aftermath of World War II. It is indeed with the discovery of the atrocities committed by the Axis forces that a strong "Never Again" political stream arose in the international community, culminating with the adoption in 1948 of the Universal Declaration of Human rights. Since that day, human rights have been established as a major and legitimate focus of international attention. In the half century since, hundreds of universal, regional or national agreements governing human rights issues have arisen. Yet, in the meantime, major breaches of human rights have been witnessed from South America (Chile, Argentina) to Far East Asia (North Korea, China) on what appears to be a worldwide scale. Even more frightening is the constatation that these breaches are often committed in or by states that are parties to one or more treaties on Human Rights. Such a situation could have been understood in the light of the statu quo existing during the Cold War, when the ideological division of the world was the first concern. But as stated by Farer & Gaer: "In the wake of the Cold