How to Counter Attempts by Authoritarian States to Redefine the Concept of Human Rights: Russia’s Use of Human Rights Justifications in Defense of its Invasion of Ukraine
Journal: T.M.C. Asser Press eBooks
Year: 2026

Human rights justification refers to when States activate human rights to justify their decisions and actions. Normally, it is the individual who invokes a human right against the State but with human rights justifications, it is the State that invokes human rights for its own benefits and in so doing turns human rights from being a regime measuring State compliance into an instrument of State governance. Human rights justifications change the foundation of human rights from being the possession