366 CHAPTER TEn ■ Human Riht
that slavery is both morally repugnant and illegal. Yet the Global Slavery Index, com-
piled by an NGO, finds that in 14 states, over 1 percent of the population is enslaved;
half of these states are Muslim states.^5
Generally, slavery is reconceptualized in modern- day terms. In 1990, the renamed
Anti- Slavery International included as part of its agenda the prohibition of human traf-
ficking, child labor, and forced labor, each representing con temporary notions of slavery.
The Kafala system in the Gulf states is an example of ties between employers and
mi grants seeking employment that border on servitude. Over time, the notion of who
is human expanded to include slaves and others in eco nom ically enforced servitude.
Recognition of who should take responsibility to protect rights has also expanded
over time. States remain primarily responsible. But since World War II, the notion of
an international community responsibility to protect human rights has developed.
uman ights as Emerging
Rnternational esponsibility
Human rights only gradually became an international issue. Just as nongovernmental
organ izations (NGOs) propelled the antislavery initiatives, another nongovern-
mental group, the International Committee of the Red Cross, worked for protection of
wounded soldiers, prisoners of war, and civilians caught in the midst of war. With states
unable to guarantee protection, a third party was poised to act on behalf of those special
groups. That protection was legally codified in 1864 in the first Geneva Convention for
the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the
Field, aimed at protection of people during war time. From that beginning of interna-
tional humanitarian law in the nineteenth century came three other conventions and
several protocols during the twentieth century. These are known collectively as the
Geneva Conventions, rules that apply in times of conflict, including noncombatant
immunity (discussed in Chapter 8).
Internationalization of human rights in other sensitive areas was slower to evolve.
At the Congress of Versailles, which ended World War I, the Japa nese government tried
to convince other delegates, principally U.S. president Woodrow Wilson, to adopt a
statement on human rights. As a victorious and eco nom ically advanced power, Japan
felt it had a credible claim that such basic rights as racial equality and religious free-
dom would not be rejected. Yet the initiative was blocked, with the U.S. representatives
recognizing that such a provision would doom Senate passage of the peace treaty.
The League of Nations Covenant made little explicit mention of human rights,
although it noted protection of certain groups. For example, the Mandates Commission
was authorized to protect the treatment of dependent peoples with the goal of self-
determination, but it could not carry out in de pen dent inspections. Likewise, the 1919