ABSTRACT
Six decades after the adoption of the UDHR,1 there is still debate on the precise nature and content of extraterritorial human rights obligations, especially when the acts or omissions of states or non-state actors (whether as a result of foreign military intervention, war on terrorism, globalization or otherwise) affect the human rights of individuals in another state. This chapter posits that multiple states can and do hold legal responsibility to protect and promote economic, social and cultural (ESC) rights beyond state borders. States parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) are obliged to take steps individually or through ‘international assistance and cooperation’ to achieve progressively the full realization of ESC rights.2 The idea that multiple states have human rights obligations to the same individual is derived, in part, from the author’s own experience working in ‘failed states’ and as part of multilateral efforts to bring peace, respect for human rights, and stability to war-torn and dysfunctional states. These violations can be direct or indirect, and this chapter discusses both.
