International Human Rights as an Evolving Definition

Through Clark's recount of the international adoption of a definition of "disappearance" and the subsequent path that citizens and NGOs alike must take in order to defend the persons involved, it is made obvious that making a claim for the international 'citizen' is no easy or short process. Creating norms for the global community is an effort that demands incredible vigilance and a dedication to the rights of an individual despite the claims of violation of the sovereign state. As made evident by the atrocities of missing people in Chile and later Argentina, the UN met quite possibly it's greatest difficulty in creating policy in a circumstance where the state often wholly denies any involvement. Creating accountability here starts at the basest level.. that a state must pledge to uphold the rights of an individual to be treated fairly during and after their arrest. A state's ability to simply dispose of a person on whatever grounds and then lie about any information or involvement is quite possibly the most tragic violationsof one's human rights in that it simply ignores them. Simultaneously it was nearly impossible for the international community to police prior to the invocation of the 14-point program by Amnesty International to identify and defend the cases of 'disappearance' as a cynical term. AI's champion effort to find the facts and bring individual cases to light is what spurs enough response to generate an international 'norm'. Essentially this is what NGOs seek to do in pursuit of their individual goals, and what Amnesty has been able to set as a precedence for other like organizations.