Humanity is an exclusionary empire: human rights as causa and solution of the pariah problem

Abstract

Normally, the situation referred to by the "pariah problem" is that of an individual person who, despite being guaranteed membership of a political society, has his or her rights totally or partially unrecognized. Prior to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights these rights were guaranteed exclusively by one¿s belonging to a sovereign state that would grant each subject recognition as a citizen. Therefore, the Declaration of 1948 was made in order to provide a solution to the problem of the pariah that was so clearly evidenced during WWII. However, despite the intentions of its authors, the real effects of this declaration on the global political-legal situation have not been what was hoped for. It has given rise to true pariah-states which are excluded from the very human rights that they are accused of violating.