International Human Rights Law

Book excerpt: International Human Rights Law provides a student-oriented examination of the law of international human rights. Although human rights are hardly a recent invention, the advent of their international protection is one of the most profound developments of the modern era. How governments treat their own citizens and others is no longer strictly an internal domestic matter but rather the concern of all humankind. International law is now a central feature of the effort to progressively achieve human freedom and dignity for all.