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The position of individuals under international law has evolved significantly during the last century. Now, more than ever, under international law individuals are being given more rights and are being held responsible for their actions. Human rights law, for example, has tried to establish that every person around the world has certain basic rights that cannot be violated.
At the same time, individual accountability under international law has been established, first at the Nuremburg trials and recently at the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the dawn of the International Criminal Court, the first permanent international institution to hold individuals responsible for violations of the laws of armed conflict.