Abstract
Though they may disagree on the importance of this phenomenon, most international experts now admit that there is a growing concern, both from states and from people, for Human Rights in international relations. Human Rights are often used to legitimate an action (diplomatic pressures, economic embargo, or even war) against one state, and are now placed at the core of international law. They have therefore become a rich subject for International Relations researchers. One thing that needs to be said about this trend is that interest for Human Rights did not derive from the structure of the international society. Indeed, international law, by definition, regulates the relations between states : the international society being anarchical, international law is considered a ‘law of co-operation' and co-existence, and not a ‘law of subordination' (like internal law, which is based on a vertical hierarchy). Inter-state treaties are based on the pacta sunt servanda principle, that is to say on reciprocity : if one state fails to meet its obligations towards another state, the other one has the right to retaliate by stopping to meet its own obligations towards the other.
