Researching international human rights law can be a confusing mess of treaties and documents. The materials (for the most part) are not set out in a coherent, well organized fashion. The sources of information range from recognized treaty law to more ephemeral materials from non-governmental organizations. There are a few things to keep in mind when doing human rights research:

• the interdisciplinary nature of the topic
• the complexity of the topic and the materials
• the difficulty in locating and accessing materials issued by a variety of organizations.

The researcher needs to be resourceful, creative, and never become daunted by the task. Just when you are ready to give up is when you might find the needed material.

These sources are good starting points for general human rights research and to get some familiarity with various sources for this topic.

Web Guides

• Globalex
  • Covers a variety of international law topics.  Note: some guides are not very good.
• Refugee Law (UC Berkeley Law Library).
• Refugee Law: Country Conditions/Country of Origin Research (UC Berkeley Law Library)
• United Nations Documentation: Human Rights.
• Researching Human Rights Law: Online Sources and Databases (International Justice Resource Center)

There are many such legal research guides available on the web.  To locate more, do a Google search for your topic and the works "research guide."  For example, African human rights research guide.  

Online Sources:

• Encyclopedia of Public International Law (UCB only). Also available in print.
• Encyclopedia of Human Rights (UCB only). Also available in print.
• Oxford International Encyclopedia of Peace (UCB only).
• Oxford Bibliographies: International Law (UCB only).
• Parry and Grant Encyclopaedic Dictionary of International Law (UCB only). Also available in print.

Print and ebook Sources:

• Advanced Introduction to International Human Rights Law (2014).
• Buergenthal, International Human Rights in a Nutshell (5th ed., 2017).
• The Charter of the United Nations: A Commentary (Bruno Simma ed., 3rd ed., 2012).
• Handbook of Human Rights (Thomas Cushman ed., 2012).
• Encyclopedia of Human Rights in the United States (2011).
• Research Handbook on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (Robert Kolb ed., 2013).
• Vega, Dictionary of International Human Rights (2013).

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