TITLE:
The Modern Jurisprudence of Criminalizing Acts and Conduct of Human Rights Transgressions in International Law
AUTHORS:
Richard Suofade Ogbe
KEYWORDS:
Transgression, International Law, Human Rights, Criminalizing, Punishment
JOURNAL NAME:
Beijing Law Review,
Vol.17 No.3,
September
22,
2026
ABSTRACT: For the purposes of the advancement and protection of international peace, tranquility, and progress, States are mandated to preserve and uphold the rights of their citizens in compliance with International Human Rights Law. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), for instance, enjoins States not only to protect but to defend the inalienable and sacrosanct rights and freedoms of every individual, including those in prison custody or undergoing trials and prosecution. There have been concerns over the systemic transgressions of human rights and freedoms of citizens under the guise of safeguarding national security. There have been calls to further scrutinize, improve and restructure the mechanism and process of the investigation, trial, prosecution and punishment of conduct and actions meant to bestialize, animalize and devalue citizens in line with modern relevant provisions of human rights laws, instruments and treaties using the megaphone of criminal law to bring such offenders to account for such transgressions. This squarely places the required evidential obligation on various organs of States to criminalize any form of infraction of human rights by both State and non-state actors. The paper calls for a structural reform to criminalize, punish after diligent prosecution of such human rights transgressions, and to ensure the protection and respect for the humanity and value of human beings. This paper seeks to uphold the postulation that human rights protocols and declarations, as well as human rights institutions and watchdogs, should be used and restructured to monitor the criminalization of human rights transgressors. In addition, ensures that perpetrators are adequately punished to enhance international tranquility, progress, and amity.