The best way to protect the right to the truth : set-alone or under the framework of other rights or obligations?

Abstract

The premises of the research are rooted in the debate about the legal status of the right to the truth in the international law. Since 1980s the right to the truth emerged as a form of remedy for victims of gross human rights violations and a weapon to fight against impunity. It offers individual victims and their relatives a way to gain closure, restore their dignity and experience at least some remedy for their losses. It also helps prevent violations from recurrence in the future. However, the right to the truth is merely explicitly provided for in the Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, although it recognized by a series of international instruments, resolutions of intergovernmental bodies and national laws. In majority of cases, international criminal court and regional human rights courts outlined the right to the truth under other human rights or the obligations of state. In order to provide victims and their families with complete protection, it is vital to conduct an in-depth research on the right to the truth. The thesis mainly analyzes two feasible approaches to realize the right to the truth: regarding it as an independent right or outlining it under other rights or obligations. Finally, I will draw a conclusion by presenting evidences.