Human Rights and Transitional Justice

Abstract

Human rights are claims that individuals make, usually against their home states, for treatment that meets basic international standards of freedom and dignity. Although such claims are often grounded in domestic law, the most unique aspect of human rights is their encapsulation of the idea that individuals should enjoy these conditions not because of their status as state citizens but simply because they are human beings. At different level, another important manifestation of growing worldwide attention to human rights is the concept of transitional justice, whereby states that have improved their rights records take action in response to violations and violators in their own recent histories. The term is usually applied to countries that have moved from authoritarian to democratic regimes. As should already be clear, transitional justice and human rights more broadly are highly institutionalized concepts. Domestically, almost all states have foundational documents recognizing rights of their citizens, in some cases balanced against set of duties imposed on them.