With the development of international law, not only states’, but also human’s rights are protected. Before this, international society only cared about countries’ interests, and they only negotiated territories, powers, and so on about countries’ survival. After World War Two, the Commission of Human Rights was established in 1946 to protect humans from torture, and declare that everyone has the right of life. Not only this, since the Nuremberg trials prosecuted those responsible for the crimes during the Second World War, the International Criminal Court (ICC) was established in 2002, and human rights are protected more completely than before. Protecting human rights can be seen from two sides, one is during the peacetime, and another is during the conflict.

In peacetime, protecting refugees can be seen as reflecting the development of human rights. Refugees are the group of people who have fled their countries, and cannot be protected by their nation states. From the Syrian civil war that happened a few years ago, we can see some European Union countries opened their borders to accept refugees. Although there are some disputes in the EU about accepting them, at least the EU displays their interest in protecting human rights. Recently, the invasion of Ukraine proved the value of human rights in the international arena again. This time the EU found consensus and made a decision very fast, declaring the policy to protect the refugees from Ukraine, showing how we protect people’s lives and their rights.

In addition, in conflict, international law such as the Geneva Conventions have rules to protect civilians from war. Those rules divided people in conflict into two groups, soldiers and civilians. During the conflict, military troops should protect the civil infrastructure and avoid attacking civilians. According to the ICC convention, they have the jurisdiction over some people who break the rules. The Geneva Convention is already international custom, and everyone and every country should follow them. Recently, a Russian soldier admitted to killing civilians during the invasion in the Ukrainian court, and the court sentenced him to life imprisonment. 

To sum up, countries are trying to protect human rights in the international arena, which can be seen in peacetime and in international conflict. Although it is not a perfect regime yet, the international arena is dedicated to the betterment of global society. 

 

Written by Eddie C.

Edited by Ari B.