Human Rights Council

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UN Human Rights Council Confirms that Human Rights Apply to the Internet

July 23, 2012

Dr. Matthias C. Kettemann, LL.M. (Harvard), is a teaching and research fellow at the Institute of International Law and International Relations of the University of Graz, Austria. He blogs at http://internationallawandtheinternet.blogspot.com. Was it a "victory for the Internet", as Carl Bildt, foreign minister of Sweden, called it in a New York Times op-ed? Or, rather, a victory for all Internet users and those two thirds of the world population that do not yet have access to the Internet? Most likely, it was a bit of both: On 5 July 2012, the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) adopted by consensus a key resolution on promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights on the Internet (UN Doc. A/HRC/20/L.13). Presented by Sweden, the Resolution enjoyed broad international backing from more than 70 HRC member countries and non-members from all regional groups, including China, Brazil, Nigeria, Ukraine, Tunisia, Turkey, the United States and the United Kingdom. Centrally, the Resolution affirms that “the same rights that people have offline must…

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International Commissions of Inquiry: A New Form of Adjudication?

April 6, 2012

Dr Hannah Tonkin is a Legal Officer in the Appeals Chamber of the Special Court for Sierra Leone. She previously worked at the ICTR and ICTY and taught international law at the University of Oxford. She is the author of State Control over Private Military and Security Companies in Armed Conflict, 2011 (ISBN 9781107008014)…

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UN Human Rights Council Brings to an End the First Cycle for Universal Periodic Review

February 27, 2012

Today marks the beginning of the 19th session of the Human Rights Council, scheduled to run from February 27 to March 23, 2012. This session will also mark the official end of the first cycle of the Universal Periodic Review mechanism, which has seen all 193 member states of the UN undergo a review of their human…

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The development on the international human rights framework on sexual orientation and gender identity

June 21, 2011

Allehone Mulugeta Abebe is an Ethiopian diplomat based in Geneva, Switzerland. He serves as a co-chair of the Technical Advisory Group of the Global Commission on HIV/AIDS and Law.  Opinions expressed in this piece do not necessary reflect the views of the institutions he is affiliated with. On 15 June 2011 the Human Rights Council’s adopted an extremely significant Resolution…

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Goldstone Report on Gaza: A Question of Trust

September 16, 2009

I have just skimmed through the Goldstone Fact-Finding Mission’s Report on Gaza that was released yesterday. It is a beast at almost 600 pages, so I was necessarily more quick than thorough. All in all, my impression of the Report is that it is balanced, corroborated and credible. But this is, mind you, no more than an impression. I…

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