WHAT ARE HUMAN RIGHTS?
When was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) adopted and by who?
What is 1948, UN General Assembly?
Article 6 of the ICCPR protects this most fundamental right.
What is the right to life?
This 1984 treaty prohibits torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
What is the Convention Against Torture (CAT)?
In January 2026, nationwide protests followed federal immigration enforcement actions carried out by this U.S. agency.
What is ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement)?
In Autocracy, Inc., Applebaum argues modern autocrats are connected less by ideology and more by this shared goal.
What is preserving power (or protecting their own regimes)?
A country systematically excludes an ethnic minority from education, employment, and voting. This foundational human rights principle is being violated.
What is equality and non-discrimination?
A government shuts down all opposition newspapers but allows pro-government media to operate freely. This ICCPR right is being violated.
What is freedom of expression (Article 19)?
This principle prohibits sending someone to a country where they face a real risk of torture.
What is non-refoulement?
Analysts argue that Georgia’s recent restrictions on civil society mirror patterns described in Autocracy, Inc., where governments maintain electoral structures while constraining this key accountability sector.
What is independent civil society?
Applebaum describes how modern authoritarian regimes cooperate through financial networks, propaganda, and this digital tool used to shape public opinion.
What is disinformation (or digital propaganda)?
Although not a treaty itself, the UDHR is often argued to have become binding through this source of international law.
What is customary international law?
Even during a declared emergency, certain ICCPR rights cannot be suspended; these are known as these types of rights.
What are non-derogable rights?
Deprivation of liberty followed by the refusal to acknowledge the detention or reveal the person’s fate or whereabouts is known as
Enforced Disappearance
The ICC seeks arrest warrants for leaders accused of systematic persecution of women and girls, but a permanent member of the UN Security Council blocks enforcement measures. This structural feature of the UN system limits accountability.
What is the veto power of the Security Council?
Unlike Cold War alliances, today’s autocratic networks function more like this type of organization focused on mutual benefit.
What is a business network (or cartel, or transactional network)?
Critics argue that this principle of the UN Charter can sometimes shield governments from scrutiny over human rights abuses.
What is State Sovereignty?
A state ratifies the ICCPR but files a statement saying it does not consider itself bound by certain provisions regarding the death penalty. This legal mechanism allows a state to limit treaty obligations upon ratification.
What is a reservation?
Torture under CAT requires severe pain or suffering inflicted intentionally for purposes such as punishment, coercion, or this.
What is obtaining information or a confession?
Russian attacks disable heat and electricity in winter for hundreds of thousands of civilians. Under international law, attacks on this type of target may be unlawful.
What is civilian infrastructure (or objects indispensable to civilian survival)?
Applebaum argues these Western institutions are often exploited by autocrats to launder money and gain legitimacy.
What are democratic institutions?
This article of the UDHR protects freedom of opinion and expression.
What is Article 19?
Indefinite detention without charge, such as in some Guantánamo cases, raises concerns under both CAT and this ICCPR article protecting liberty.
What is Article 9?
An activist is convicted under vaguely worded “extremism” laws after peacefully criticizing the president. The trial was closed to the public, evidence was secret, and defense counsel was denied access to key materials. This combination of ICCPR protections has likely been violated (name 3 rights).
What are the right to a fair trial, freedom of expression, and protection against arbitrary detention?
What is the name of the organization that Saba Brachveli works at?
According to Applebaum, the biggest danger is not a single ideological bloc, but a flexible global system that weakens accountability and undermines this political principle.
What is democracy (or rule of law)?