International Protection of Human Rights and the Challenges of its Implementation

Abstract

The issue of human rights has consumed immense international efforts and garnered significant global attention. Through these endeavors, the international community has sought to establish rights within international charters that could constitute an almost complete legal framework for the protection of human rights in case of its encounter with a genuine will to activate and enforce them. Yet, the effectiveness of international human rights protection does not simply rely on the existence of legislating texts defining these rights; rather, it requires the presence of mechanisms that surveil the actual presence of these rights and the means that address the challenges that hinder their enforcement.

One of the most significant obstacles to the effectiveness of international human rights protection is the dilemma of reconciling the requirements of such protection on an international level with the principle of state sovereignty. Additional challenges may arise from the legal frameworks that establish these protections and the mechanisms devised for their implementation, or they may be linked to the subjects of these provisions and their lack of compliance with them.

Thus, this study revolves around a central research question: Have international efforts resulted in effective human rights protection in addition to what impact have the challenges faced had on enforcing this protection? From this central issue, several secondary questions emerge, including: What is the nature of the mechanisms provided by international human rights instruments? Is there a conflict between state sovereignty and the obligations imposed by human rights treaties? Additionally, this study will employ an analytical and inductive approach to scrutinize international endeavors to protect human rights and the challenges that confront achieving their objectives.