This outstanding, comprehensive, and up-to-date encyclopedia on human rights issues from 1945 to 1998 features more than 400 entries on incidents and violations, instruments and initiatives, countries and human rights activists. Its global scope is ideal for high school and college student research and class debate and for use with Model UN clubs. More than fifty years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, much has been accomplished on a global scale, particularly by the United Nations, to protect the rights of all people, but many human rights violations continue to be perpetrated. Langley, an internationally recognized expert on human rights, has provided the most current information on both the progress of human rights activities and the continuing incidents of human rights violations around the globe.Entries cover major issues, incidents and violations, concepts and terms, activists, organizations, and human rights instruments. Entries on more than fifty nations from Afghanistan to Yugoslavia were selected based on the incidence of major human rights in those nations. Comprehensive cross-references in each entry make it easy to research a topic and its related entries easily. Each entry concludes with a selected list of further reading for more in-depth research. A timeline of significant dates since 1945 in the field of human rights and the text of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights add reference value.