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9 December 2016, 12:30-14:30
Event
UN Photo / Pierre Albouy
The principle of human rights (HR) universality is one of the core principles defined in the mandate of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC). How does this principle articulate with other key HR concepts including equality, respect for diversity and the indivisibility and interdependence of HR?
To commemorate Human Rights Day and the 10th Anniversary of the HRC, panelists at this event will explore how the HRC has developed the concept of universality and responded to the contemporary challenges to the universal application of international HR law.
These challenges include those related to cultural relativism and to appeals to exempt states from the reach of human rights guarantees due to their particular economic or security contexts. Broader issues of universality in relation to HR work in the field and the impact and development of this concept in daily practice are also explored.
Specific examples of the HRC’s discussions in connection with counter terrorism and HR, the right to development and the rights of marginalised groups, including LGBTI persons and migrants, will be used to illustrate the ways in which the institution is approaching universality.
Dr Joanna Bourke Martignoni, Research Fellow, Geneva Academy
Professor Lyal S. Sunga, Visiting Professor, Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
H.E. Ambassador Keith Harper, Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the UN Human Rights Council
News
Carina Svenfelt works for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Tbilisi, Georgia, as a Programme Coordinator dealing with missing persons and their families.
News
Geneva Academy
Helmer Jonelid and Edward Millett – enrolled in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights – represent this year the Geneva Academy at the 14th Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition.
Short Course
Francisco Proner / Farpa/ CIDH
This short course, which can be followed in Geneva or online, aims at presenting the institutions and procedures in charge of the implementation of international human rights law.
Short Course
ICRC
This short course, which can be followed in Geneva or online, will provide participants with an introduction to substantive human rights law. It will start with an introduction to the nature and sources of international human rights law and its place in the international legal system. The course will then provide a presentation of the main principles applicable to substantive rights (jurisdiction, obligation and limitations).
Project
Olivier Chamard/Geneva Academy
Project
UN Photo
This research aims at taking stock of and contributing to a better understanding of the above-mentioned challenges to the principle of universality of human rights while also questioning their validity. It will identify relevant political and legal arguments and develop counter-narratives that could be instrumental to dealing with and/or overcoming the polarization of negotiations processes at the multilateral level.
Publication
