This paper aims to provide an account of the positive obligations of criminal protection that have
arisen in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and the Inter American Court.
Through a historical overview of the emergence of such obligations, the analysis will attempt to
outline how positive obligations are intended to act as a restrain to ensure the effectiveness of
fundamental rights, particularly the right to life and other core rights. This contribution means
to critically assess the legitimacy of positive obligations, their scope, and their capacity to affect
the criminal justice system. Emphasis will be placed on the development of a new right, namely
the right to truth, in an attempt to understand how it has emerged as a counter narrative to the
prosecution of past crimes against humanity beyond statutory limitation.