The major human rights conventions require that states implement the protection of human rights by ensuring prompt and effective repression of violations by means of criminal investigation and prosecution. Some specialized human rights instruments, dealing with such matters as genocide, torture and apartheid, impose quite precise duties upon states in this area. This chapter addresses the issues by focusing on four themes. First, it examines the human rights dimension of the definition of international crimes. Second, the chapter explores the role of human rights in the creation and operation of international criminal tribunals. Third, it considers the international legal obligations in this field from the standpoint of obligations upon states within their own domestic jurisdiction. Finally, the chapter examines some of the human rights issues involved in the prosecutions themselves. The Yugoslav and Rwanda Tribunals are in effect joined at the hip, sharing not only virtually identical statutes but also a number of their structures.