From the controversial incarceration of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, to
the brutal ethnic cleansing being practiced in Darfur, to the widespread
denial of equal rights to women in many areas of the world, human rights
violations are a constant presence in the news and in our lives.
Taking an international perspective, and focusing on highly topical
issues such as torture, arbitrary detention, privacy, health, and
discrimination, this Very Short Introduction will help readers to
understand for themselves, the controversies and complexities behind
this vitally relevant issue. Looking at the philosophical justification
for rights, the historical origins of human rights and how they are
formed in law, Andrew Clapham explains what our human rights actually
are, what they might be, and where the human rights movement is heading.