Today many acknowledge that the modern human rights project, which grew out of the smouldering ruins of the Second World War, is now in crisis. Despite human rights having achieved remarkable prominence over the following decades with the proliferation of international treaties and legal instruments, the most casual glance at the world around us reveals countless situations where human rights are violated, often by the very sovereign powers who claim to uphold them.

The ongoing violence in Syria at the hands of a despot who has declared war on his own people; a devastating famine in Somalia that has driven nearly one million to seek refuge in neighbouring countries; boatloads of asylum seekers drowning in the coastal waters off Australia; and the seemingly interminable ‘war on terror’ pursued by the West – a war which was fought ostensibly in the name of human rights and yet which has been accompanied by covert rendition, indefinite detention and torture, as well as drone strikes resulting in numerous civilian deaths. We look out helplessly on a world of suffering, violence and oppression. We also gaze on a world of camps: refugee camps in stricken parts of the world; migrant detention camps beyond the borders of wealthy nations; and the now apparently permanent terrorist detention camp at Guantánamo Bay – perhaps the most striking and ignominious symbol today of the degradation of human rights.