Human rights and cultural heritage. Observations on the recognition of human rights in the international doctrine

Since the birth of the international Human Rights Declaration, a number of international treaties and guidelines have sought to combine Human Rights with heritage work or justify heritage work by referring to such rights. This article attempts to show how this link can be both complex and difficult, even though rewarding, and how this relationship has grown proposing to incorporate ever more human rights concerns in World Heritage related work. To discuss this development, the concept of ‘heritage’ is analysed, focusing on the way this concept surfaced as new treaties and guidelines evolved.