The international legal status of non-governmental organizations（NGOs）and human rights are two different issues in the field of international law. However，it is highly pertinent to discuss the status and roles of NGOs in context of human rights for many reasons. This brief presentation is therefore to discuss three points regarding the international legal status of NGOs in context of human rights. The first part will briefly introduce the roles played by NGOs in promoting and protecting human rights. The second part will present the difficulties of defining NGO in international law. And the third and last part will analyse the protection of NGOs under international law，especially in the context of freedom of association as granted by various international human rights instruments.