The late twentieth century witnessed massive human rights violations. What can to done to stop them? How can the root causes be addressed? The issue of human rights has become the secular religion of our time. Yet violations continue to occur in a gross and flagrant manner. Author David Matas examines examples of human rights violations and suggests what individuals, private organizations, governments, and the UN can do about this worldwide problem. He also focuses on how Canada stands p to international human rights standards and provides a thorough analysis of the contribution of Amnesty International.

David Matas is a refugee and human rights lawyer in Winnipeg. He is senior counsel to B'Nai Brith Canada and the author of several books. Amonths his other books are Justice Delayed: Nazi War Criminals in Canada (1987) with Susan Charendoff; Closing the Doors: The Failure of Refugee Protection (1989) with Ilana Simon; No More: The Battle Against Human Rights Violations (1994); Bloody Words: Hate and Free Speech (2000). He has an honourary doctorate awarded in 1996 from Concordia University.

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"An excellent book that should be on reading lists for courses dealing with international human rights. A major contribution is the very convincing case Matas makes for a wider role of NGOs, given the great difficulties of states and the UN in remedying violations."

University College of Cape Breton