ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the human rights, including sources and justifications for human rights, obligations for respecting, protecting human rights, and the problem of human rights versus state sovereignty. It discusses the indivisibility, interrelatedness, and interdependence of different categories of human rights, providing a different perspective on the universality of human rights. The chapter provides international enforcement or implementation of human rights. Prior to the instigation of the Final Solution, Jews and others perceived opponents and “deviants” in Germany had been stripped of many of the civil, political, and economic rights they held prior to Hitler’s rise to power. In December 1966 the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil, Political Rights were adopted by the United Nations. Globalization poses a much serious new challenge to human rights. States are the central mechanism for implementing, enforcing internationally recognized human rights. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
