ABSTRACT
Lessons drawn from the Second World War, especially those concerning the inability of the pre-war international community to prevent the plans of those whose actions tragically affected millions of lives, led political, social, and intellectual leaders to the conclusion that an effective protection of human rights was indispensable if future generations were to be spared a similar experience. It was also recognized that to achieve this end, human rights standards should not remain simply 'law in books' - just a beautiful promise. The rule, already in place at the domestic level, that appropriate organs and procedures are necessary to make them Taw in action' was also accepted at the international level. The critically evaluated weakness of the League of Nations in this regard was fairly helpful in outlining the place of human rights in the United Nations system. Though varying political interests and visions as to the role of the international community in the field of human rights made it impossible to go further, the United Nations Conference on International Organization (San Francisco, USA, 1945) gave expression to the principle of the internationalization of human rights in the Charter of the United Nations.1 The subsequent months and years showed the internal dynamics of human rights, embodying the dreams of people, and brought amazing progress not only in standard-setting but also in creating organs and procedures to protect these rights. While looking at the results achieved in building this machinery, a human rights student might indeed be astonished that, despite the Cold War, despite diverging political and economic interests and despite cultural differences, such an impressive international human rights framework has been developed.
