Abstract
Human rights refer to those rights everyone has because he or she is a human being regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, country of origin, sexual orientation ... that is, without distinction of any kind. Among the different perspectives from which human rights can be studied, this course will have a strong legal basis. Thus, the role of the United Nations (UN) in codifying, setting standards and implementing international human rights will be emphasized.
Since the adoption of the 1948 Universal Declaration of International Human Rights (UDHR), the codification and standard setting of such rights has advanced extraordinarily; implementation has been less successful.
After 9/11, the War on Terrorism (WOT) has challenged human rights discourse because it has allowed many governments to justify restrictions on human rights in exchange for security. Among the relevant effects of the WOT, this course will cover the weakening of the protection against torture and of the right to due process of law, and the negative effects on humanitarian interventions. In addition, we will study the more recent doctrine of Responsibility to Protect (R2P).