We use various third-party cookies to provide social media features and to analyze our traffic. Please use the options below to manage your cookie settings. You can change your cookie settings at any time. Please be aware, if you deny cookies, certain features of our website may not work.
This will apply to all services
Google Analytics
YouTube
Geneva Academy
On 8 and 9 October, members of the Academic Working Group – a group of experts convened by the Geneva Academy and the Institute for International and Comparative Law in Africa (University of Pretoria) – met at the Villa Moynier to consult states and to discuss revisions made to a proposed text of guidance on less-lethal weapons (LLWs) and related equipment in law enforcement.
The Academic Working Group includes academic experts, members of United Nations (UN) specialized bodies, UN Special Rapporteurs, members of UN treaty bodies, representatives of other international organizations, law enforcement officials, experts in police oversight, non-governmental organizations and civil society.
The text, which is intended to provide guidance on the lawful and responsible design, production, procurement, testing, training, transfer, deployment, and use of LLWs and related equipment, is hoped to be of use to states, law enforcement agencies, manufacturers, human rights bodies and mechanisms, private security companies, police oversight bodies, human rights defenders, as well as individuals seeking to assert their right to a remedy for human rights violations.
After a written consultation process which had run for three months over the summer, and several consultations in Pretoria and in Cambridge, a number of revisions had been made to the latest draft, which was discussed in the meeting. The meeting also states through their diplomatic missions in Geneva to make inputs on the draft.
‘All diplomatic missions were invited, and we are grateful to those delegations who attended, asked questions and provided comments’ underlines Kamelia Kemileva, co-coordinator of the Geneva Human Rights Platform.
‘It is vital, when conceiving standards in this sometimes highly contested space, that there are opportunities to consult all the stakeholders. Only on the basis of frank exchanges can standards speak properly to the challenges faced on the ground’ says Professor Christof Heyns.
In light of the exchanges, and after some further reviews or requests for clarification on certain technical matters, the text will be finalised and is intended for publication in 2019.
This process forms part of the Geneva Human Rights Platform and its focus on current challenges related to the use of force.
The Geneva Human Rights Platform provides a dynamic forum in Geneva for all stakeholders in the field of human rights – experts, practitioners, diplomats and civil society – to discuss and debate topical issues and challenges. Relying on academic research and findings, it enables various actors to become better connected, break down silos and, hence, advance human rights.
News
Geneva Academy
The two coordinators of the Academic Platform on Treaty Body Review 2020, Felix Kirchmeier and Kamelia Kemileva, presented our publication ‘Optimizing the UN Treaty Bodies System’ at an informal meeting of the European Union Working Party on Human Rights (COHOM).
News
Olivier Chamard / Geneva Academy
Our Master of Advanced Studies in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law is a unique and innovative programme that combines high-level academic education and real-world practice in the field of transitional justice. One of the very few courses on this subject in Europe, it focuses on an expanding field where there is a strong need for well-trained professionals.
Short Course
UN Photo/Pierre Albouy
This short course focuses on the functioning and the mechanisms of the United Nations Human Rights Council, as well as on the dynamics at play in this major human rights body.
Short Course
ICRC
This short course provides participants with a comprehensive introduction to both substantive human rights law as well as the functioning of international mechanisms for the protection of human rights.
Project
Hugo Escalpelo
We are a partner of the Human Rights, Big Data and Technology Project, housed at the University of Essex’s Human Rights Centre, which aims to map and analyse the human rights challenges and opportunities presented by the use of big data and associated technologies. It notably examines whether fundamental human rights concepts and approaches need to be updated and adapted to meet the new realities of the digital age.
Project
Olivier Chamard / Geneva Academy
The Treaty Body Members’ Platform connects experts in UN treaty bodies with each other as well as with Geneva-based practitioners, academics and diplomats to share expertise, exchange views on topical questions and develop synergies.
