Contemporary human rights ideas

1. History : shared heritage, common struggle -- 2. Human rights in the world community -- 3. International obligation -- 4. Universality -- 5. Equality -- 6. Democracy -- 7. Development -- 8. International cooperation and dialogue -- 9. Protection -- 10. Justice, remedy, and reparation -- 11. Conclusion.

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- List of tables -- Foreword to the first edition -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- Introduction -- 1. History: Shared heritage, common struggle -- Law and justice: the common heritage of humanity -- Respect for shared humanity in the major religious and philosophical traditions -- The place of the individual in the community and the rights of groups and peoples -- The common struggle for human rights -- Positive rights -- Natural rights -- The public policy function of human rights -- The contemporary role of international consensus and legislation -- Conclusion -- 2. Human rights in the world community -- Human rights and world order -- Human rights and governance -- Human rights, our global civilization, and globalization -- Human rights violations and the challenges of international protection -- The Human Rights Council -- Conclusion -- 3. International obligation -- The United Nations Charter -- International customary law -- Human rights treaties -- General principles of law and international declarations or guidelines -- Conclusion -- 4. Universality -- Universality as an idea -- Universality as a goal -- Universality as a normative concept -- The democratic test of universality -- The bases of universality -- Challenges of implementation -- Conclusion -- 5. Equality -- The idea of equality in the UN Charter and the ICCPR -- Equal enjoyment of enumerated rights -- Non-discrimination -- Discrimination versus distinction -- Affirmative action -- General Comment 18/37 of the Human Rights Committee (non-discrimination) -- General Comment 4/13 of the Human Rights Committee (gender equality) -- The Beijing World Conference on Women's Rights (1995) -- The Durban World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (2001).

"Written by a former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (2003-4), this book has been fully updated for a second edition and continues to provide a much needed, short and accessible introduction to the foundational human rights ideas of our times and shows that every government is under international obligation to respect and uphold universal human rights. Updates include: Discussion of the recent intellectual challenges to the international human rights movement, examination of the establishment and functioning of the Human Rights Council and the Universal Review Process, evaluation of the developments in the area of the Responsibility to Protect and continued efforts to impliment the right to development Inclusion of issues such as the push for compensation for slavery, experiments with democracy in a number of countries and the decisions of international judicial and human rights organs on conceptual and protection issues"--