International Human Rights Norms and Regional International Organizations [Essay]

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Posted to Politics on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 11:37:42 PM EST (promoted by 1fastdog). RSS.

International support for human rights has been in the news recently due to the crack-down of the Myanmar military junta on pro-democracy protests over the last week.  It is often assumed that participation in international organizations, such as the United Nations, or regional groupings, such as the Organization of American States, will help socialize states into obeying human rights norms.  In the following essay, I argue that, in fact, international organizations often serve as a cover for human rights abuses to be carried out, and fail in their expected utility as an effective tool for preventing them.

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