ABSTRACT
Human rights are part of the common sense of our modern world; to be against human rights – and the associated values of freedom and equality – is to be against humanity (Zˇizˇek 2005). The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UNDHR)
has been ratified by the vast majority of states, irrespective of culture or ideology, and human rights are enshrined in the constitutions of most. Protection of human rights has recently been made an international obligation for all states, and violations are subject to prosecution by the International Criminal Court and various international tribunals convened to investigate crimes against humanity, most notably in the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Rwanda. The notion that all human beings have rights by virtue of their common humanity is, however, a recent development.
