Interview with Fionnuala D. Ní Aoláin

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Law School ◽  
Special Rapporteur ◽  
University Of Minnesota ◽  
Human Rights Council ◽  
Fundamental Freedoms ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
Humanitarian Space ◽  
The University

Fionnuala D. Ní Aoláin is the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms while Countering Terrorism. She was initially appointed to this position by the UN Human Rights Council in 2017 and was re-elected by member States for a further three-year term in 2020. In this capacity she works closely with States and UN entities to advance human rights protections in some of the most difficult contexts globally. She is also a University Regents Professor at the University of Minnesota Law School, and a Professor of Law at the Queen's University of Belfast, Northern Ireland. In this interview, Ms Ní Aoláin discusses her duties as Special Rapporteur and illustrates the current challenges to the humanitarian space in the context of counterterrorism (CT) regulation.

The Case for Crimes against Humanity in Eritrea

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-256
Author(s):  
Daniel R. Mekonnen
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
Special Rapporteur ◽  
First Report ◽  
Human Rights Council ◽  
Fundamental Freedoms ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
One Year ◽  
Made In

In June 2015, a commission of inquiry, mandated by the United Nations (un), published the most critical report of its kind on the situation of human rights in Eritrea. One year later, the commission said there are reasonable grounds to believe that crimes against humanity have been committed in Eritrea since 1991. The findings of the commission follow in the footsteps of other ground-breaking reports that were produced by the un Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, appointed in July 2012. Over the next four years, the Human Rights Council has also adopted a number of resolutions in which it strongly condemns the continued widespread and systematic violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms committed by the Eritrean authorities. With a focus on the commission of inquiry, this article will assess an assortment of reports and official documents produced by the designated un human rights entities. Based on the assessment, assertions will be made that the conclusion made by the inquiry commission with respect to crimes against humanity in June 2016 should in fact have been made in its first report of June 2015, thus avoiding an unnecessary delay of one year.

Part 3 The United Nations: What it Does, 22 Promotion and Protection of Human Rights

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Higgins Dame Rosalyn, DBE, QC ◽  
Webb Philippa ◽  
Akande Dapo ◽  
Sivakumaran Sandesh ◽  
Sloan James
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Security Council ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Human Rights Council ◽  
High Commissioner ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
The World ◽  
Fundamental Freedoms ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights

The UN Charter contains several provisions on human rights. Indeed, one of the purposes of the UN is ‘[t]o achieve co-operation … in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion’. The promotion and protection of human rights is also spread throughout the UN system, from the General Assembly and Security Council in New York, to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Human Rights Council in Geneva, to field presences across the world. This chapter discusses the principal organs involved in the protection and promotion of human rights, including the Human Rights Council and Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Also covered are human rights treaties and treaty bodies, human rights conferences, and Geneva–New York relations.

An International Relations Perspective on the Reform Needs of the Human Rights Council

2021 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-80
Author(s):  
Wolfgang S. Heinz
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Structure And Dynamics ◽  
Human Rights Council ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
The Subject

Abstract: This article approaches the matter of institutional reform of the United Nations Human Rights Council from an international relations perspective. A well-known tension exists between State representatives acting for their governments in international organisations, but whose decisions are presented as UN policies. The latter should be guided primarily by the UN Charter and public international law. However, in reality, different worldviews and foreign policy considerations play a more significant role. In a comprehensive stock-take, the article looks at four major dimensions of the Council, starting with structure and dynamics and major trends, followed by its country and thematic activities, and the role of key actors. Council reform proposals from both States and civil society are explored. Whilst the intergovernmental body remains the most important authority responsible for the protection of human rights in the international sphere, it has also been the subject of considerable criticism. Although it has made considerable progress towards enlarging its coverage and taking on more challenging human rights crises, among some of its major weaknesses are the election of human rights-unfriendly countries into its ranks, the failure to apply stronger sanctions on large, politically influential countries in the South and North, and lack of influence on human rights crises and chronic human rights problems in certain countries. Whilst various reform proposals have emerged from States and NGOs, other more far reaching propositions are under sometimes difficult negotiations. In the mid- to long-term, the UN human rights machinery can only have a stronger and more lasting impact if support from national/local actors and coalitions in politics and society can be strengthened.

Battles Over Symbols: The “Religion” of the Minority Versus the “Culture” of the Majority

2013 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lori G. Beaman
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Religious Symbol ◽  
Anti Semitism ◽  
European Tradition ◽  
European Court ◽  
Fundamental Freedoms ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
Grand Chamber ◽  
The Right

Moreover, with the benefit of hindsight, it is easy to identify in the constant central core of Christian faith, despite the inquisition, despite anti-Semitism and despite the crusades, the principles of human dignity, tolerance and freedom, including religious freedom, and therefore, in the last analysis, the foundations of the secular State.A European court should not be called upon to bankrupt centuries of European tradition. No court, certainly not this Court, should rob the Italians of part of their cultural personality.In March, 2011, after five years of working its way through various levels of national and European courts, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights decided that a crucifix hanging at the front of a classroom did not violate the right to religious freedom under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Specifically, Ms. Soile Lautsi had complained that the presence of the crucifix violated her and her children's right to religious freedom and that its presence amounted to an enforced religious regime. The Grand Chamber, reversing the lower Chamber's decision, held that while admittedly a religious symbol, the crucifix also represented the cultural heritage of Italians.

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