At the beginning of the nineties, there was an expectation within the human rights community that the next decade would be a period of consolidation for the international human rights regime. This did not happen. In fact, the human rights regime underwent dramatic changes in response to new circumstances. We have tried to highlight both the achievements and the challenges ahead in this Manual, the result of a joint project under the auspices of HumanitarianNet, a Thematic Network on Humanitarian Development Studies leaded by the University of Deusto (Bilbao, the Basque Country, Spain), and the European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation (EIUC, Venice, Italy).

Ever since its creation, the United Nations has sought to protect as well as to promote human rights. Those who campaigned for decades for the establishment of the post of High Commissioner for Human Rights did so in the hope that the High Commissioner would spearhead the efforts of the United Nations and the international community to protect those at risk or whose rights are being violated. How has the High Commissioner contributed to international protection since the establishment of the office in 1993? This book, the first-ever written on the office since its establishment, presents the protection role of the High Commissioner. It argues that limited protection functions are carried out by the Security Council, the Secretary-General, the Commission on Human Rights and its special procedures, and the High Commissioner. However, international protection is still in its infancy and much more remains to be done to bring about a protection system that effectively anticipates and prevents gross violations, contributes to mitigation and cure, and facilitates remedies and compensation. This is a valuable pioneering work in the area of the international protection of human rights.

The international human rights system remains as dynamic as ever. If at the end of the last century there was a sense that the normative and institutional development of the system had been completed and that the emphasis should shift to issues of implementation, nothing of the sort occurred. Even over the last few years significant changes happened, as this book amply demonstrates. We hope that this Manual makes a contribution to the development of International Human Rights Law and is of interest for those working in the field of promotion and protection of human rights. The book is the result of a joint project under the auspices of HumanitarianNet, a Thematic Network led by the University of Deusto, and the European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation (EIUC, Venice).