When order is not enough: The ban on torture and disappearances in the jurisprudence of the IACtHR and the Spanish court system

The dissertation examines how human rights norms are being implemented in the post-Cold War era through an analysis of the jurisprudential developments of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (international/regional level) and of the Spanish court system (national level) regarding the violations of the ban on torture and on disappearances that occurred in Latin American during the Cold War; an analysis that shows the increasing centrality of intergovernmental networks in fostering human rights implementation.;This matter belongs to a growing subfield of international relations, i.e., IR/IL in which international relations (IR) and international law (IL) are coming together to explain relevant political phenomena. Thus, the theoretical framework I have chosen includes the strand of institutionalism which focuses on intergovernmental networks; the solidarist version of the British school characterized for emphasizing the relevance of the historical background in any analysis of international relations and for prioritizing human rights over order; and a legal perspective which incorporates to positivism the significance of how the process of implementation affects the outcomes which can be favorable or unfavorable toward the furthering of human rights norms.;Based on the case studies (including the Nuremberg precedent, the jurisprudence of the IACtHR and of the Spanish court system regarding the ban on torture and on disappearances), it is possible to underline the following findings: first, the implementation of human rights norms underlines the crucial role that governmental networks, mainly of judges and prosecutors, play in furthering such norms by exchanging knowledge and providing cooperation across the world. Second, states are better analyzed as disaggregates with diverse and contending interests, including the fostering of human rights. And third, certain human rights norms---including ending impunity, ius cogens status of the ban on torture and on disappearances, centrality of the individual as the beneficiary of human rights, and legitimacy of the use of universal jurisdiction to prosecute the worst violations of human rights norms---are currently being entrenched into the practices of the state.