Human Rights and State Crimes

About this Course

About the Course

In this course, Dr Hamourtziadou (Birmingham City University) explores human rights. In the first lecture, we think about the concept of a right, from its origin in Ancient Greece to its development from natural to human rights. In the second lecture, we think about the origin of human rights in the 20th century, with the 1942 signing of the original United Nations declaration. In the third lecture, we think about the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its contents. Next, we think about the ongoing impacts of the universal human rights on modern conflicts and the concept of human security. In the fifth lecture, we look at three key arguments against the current implementation of human rights. In the sixth and final lecture, we think about how human rights theory and practice is often misaligned and depends greatly on the nationality of the defendant in instances of human rights violations.

About the Lecturer

Dr Lily Hamourtziadou is a lecturer in criminology and security studies in the School of Social Sciences at Birmingham City University. Dr Hamourtziadou’s research interests are in nationalism, security and human rights. Some of Dr Hamourtziadou’s recent publications include ‘The Promised Spring; death and neoliberalism in Iraq’ (2020) and ‘Body Count: the war on terror and civilian deaths in Iraq’ (2020).