ABSTRACT
Human rights are understood today to be universal rights, held by every human being, everywhere in the world. The foundational international legal instrument is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The 1993 World Conference on Human Rights, in the first operative paragraph of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, insisted that “the universal nature of these rights and freedoms is beyond question.” The universality of human rights is a central theme in diplomatic, political, popular, and academic discussions alike.
