JBI Human Rights

New JBI Appeal on the One-Year Anniversary of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Collective Action Needed to Uphold Human Rights, Secure Peace, and Ensure Justice

The Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights has published a new assessment of the international response to Russia’s unprovoked attack against and its reported commission of widespread and systematic human rights violations and war crimes in Ukraine to mark the one-year anniversary of the invasion.

Entitled JBI Appeal on the One-Year Anniversary of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Collective Action Needed to Uphold Human Rights, Secure Peace, and Ensure Justice, the new assessment calls on States to take further action, individually and collectively, to bring about an end to the conflict and the widespread human rights violations that are ongoing, while upholding Ukraine’s territorial integrity and creating the necessary conditions for the people of Ukraine to obtain redress, including guarantees that the harm to which they have been subjected will not be repeated in the future.

Among its recommendations, the assessment calls on States to:

• Maintain and continue to support the independent monitoring mechanisms documenting and verifying the reports of widespread violations emerging from Ukraine and Russia.
• Vote in favor of a resolution calling for extending the mandate of the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine for another year which will be considered by the UN Human Rights Council in early April 2023.
• Provide financial support to the UN Human Rights Office to ensure the continued operation of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU).
• Encourage the UN Human Rights Office to provide adequate assistance to the new Special Rapporteur on human rights in Russia.
• Support and facilitate the work of independent human rights monitors and journalists reporting on human rights concerns in Ukraine and Russia.
• Continue to amplify the findings and conclusions of independent and impartial monitors and raise alarm about egregious abuses.
• Continue to draw attention to and amplify the findings of independent UN human rights monitors about serious violations in Ukraine, including at the Human Rights Council and the resumed emergency special session of the UN General Assembly on Ukraine.
• Following its publication in March 2023, circulate the report of the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine as an official document of the UN Security Council and invite the Chair of the COI to brief the Council.
• Continue inviting senior UN human rights officials to brief the UN Security Council on Ukraine.
• Continue to invest diplomatic energy in mobilizing widespread support for collective responses to the crisis in Ukraine that reaffirm the importance of respect for human rights.
• Vote in favor of the draft resolution that the UN General Assembly will consider at the next meeting of the emergency special session on Ukraine on February 22, 2023.
• Consistently to express support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and the need for accountability for atrocity crimes committed during the conflict.
• Encourage UN officials to continue to publicize information about the commission of serious human rights violations in Ukraine and Russia.
• Take further action to hold accountable and deter further harmful actions by the individuals and entities most responsible for violations in Ukraine.
• Provide support to efforts to gather evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine and facilitate prosecution of perpetrators of such acts.
• Increase the financial and personal consequences facing the individuals and entities most responsible for the continued aggression and gross human rights violations that Russian forces and those associated with them continue to commit against the people of Ukraine, including by strengthening existing sanctions.
• Ensure that those affected by the conflict in Ukraine receive needed assistance.
• Support measures aimed at ensuring that Ukrainian victims of the Russian aggression obtain redress and reparation for the harm they have experienced.
• Provide funds to support the UN’s $5.6 billion humanitarian appeal for Ukraine and neighboring countries that have accepted large numbers of refugees.
• Expand domestic infrastructure for refugee resettlement.

As Russia’s offensive campaign and illegitimate claim to sovereignty over several areas of Ukraine show no sign of abating, it is critical that States sustain these positive measures and deepen their commitment to securing a just resolution of the conflict in which Ukraine’s territorial integrity is maintained and in which victims of the many grave violations that have been committed are able to obtain justice and redress, as expeditiously as possible.

The full statement is available here.

JBI Calls for a More Robust International Response to Russia’s Invasion of and Human Rights Violations in Ukraine

The Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights (JBI) is alarmed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which poses an existential challenge to the rules-based global order and can be seen as an attack on democracy itself.  The high number of reported civilian casualties, the massive exodus of refugees and internal displacement that has been triggered by the brutal Russian military campaign, and reports of serious human rights violations committed by Russian forces in Ukrainian territory they now control are deeply concerning. As detailed in JBI's new statement, the reported violations include but are not limited to abductions and killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, forced displacement, and torture and other ill-treatment of public officials, journalists, aid workers and Ukrainians protesting against Russia's actions. JBI's statement also notes reports that Russian officials have committed serious rights violations against their own citizens in the weeks since the invasion began, including large-scale detention of protesters and censorship aimed at preventing and punishing any criticism of the military campaign.

JBI's statement reviews the actions that governments have taken individually and at international bodies to respond to Russia's invasion and violations and calls for a more robust response. JBI calls on governments to continue their efforts to demand that Russia cease its aggression, withdraw from Ukraine, and respect its human rights obligations. It calls for governments to take measures to ensure that Ukrainian people fleeing the crisis receive the support and protection they require. It calls on governments to ensure that Russia's leaders face meaningful consequences for the violations they have committed, including at the UN and through strengthened sanctions. It calls on governments to support and strengthen the visibility of the work of the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, which has maintained an in-country monitoring mission in Ukraine throughout the recent hostilities. It calls on UN leaders and governments to ensure that concerns for human rights protection and accountability are integrated into every mechanism established to coordinate the global response to this crisis. The full statement is available here.

JBI Statement on the Need for Urgent Human Rights Protection and Monitoring in Afghanistan

The crisis in Afghanistan requires urgent protection of people and their human rights. The Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights (JBI) has released a statement that outlines the human rights dimensions of the situation and advises on what governments, acting individually and through international organizations, can and must do. It also recommends actions and principles to guide the responses of the United Nations system.  We call on the international community to ensure the safety of Afghans, particularly women and girls, who are most at risk under the Taliban, a UN designated terrorist organization.

As a matter of priority, JBI calls on governments to identify ways to evacuate women leaders, human rights defenders, and other at-risk persons, including US and NATO allies. JBI calls on member States at the UN to adopt a resolution both at the upcoming emergency session of the Human Rights Council as well as the UN General Assembly session for an effective monitoring and reporting mechanism. JBI also calls on the UN to state clearly that all UN system actors active in Afghanistan or engaging with the Taliban will adhere to a system-wide approach that prioritizes respect for human rights, which is a core purpose of the United Nations according to its Charter.

Please find our full statement and list of recommendations here.

New JBI Report on the Impact of the UN's Human Rights Office in New York

A new report by the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights charts the progress made by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in New York (OHCHR-NY), focusing particularly on the years since an Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) for Human Rights was created to head the office in 2010. The report reveals that OHCHR-NY has made great strides in increasing the impact of the UN’s human rights program on the United Nations’ broader work related to peace and security, development, and humanitarian assistance, and at the same time has begun to serve as a key New York-based facilitator for independent UN human rights experts, human rights defenders, and NGOs.

Informed by an expert discussion convened by JBI in early 2017, the report proposes a number of recommendations to strengthen the UN's response to serious human rights crises around the world in the years ahead.

The report is available for download here.

 

New Analysis of the UN’s Review of the Human Rights Treaty Bodies: Modest Progress Realized, Threats Largely Averted

A new policy brief has just been published on the outcome of recent negotiations at the United Nations to reform the ten independent expert committees that review States’ performance under the core international human rights treaties (the "treaty bodies").  Authored by JBI Associate Director Christen Broecker and Professor Michael O’Flaherty of the National University of Ireland in Galway, and published by the Universal Rights Group in Geneva, the policy brief makes it clear that in the wake of this process there remains a long way to go to strengthen the treaty bodies. 

The outcome of the recent UN reform effort, carried out by Member States at the UN General Assembly in New York from February 2012 to April 2014, makes important changes to way the UN allocates the resources it already devotes to the treaty bodies and encourages the treaty bodies to bring their procedures into greater harmony; these changes could improve the functioning of the treaty bodies.  However, the outcome does relatively little to press States to engage more meaningfully with the treaty bodies and to ensure better compliance with their reporting and human rights obligations under the core international human rights treaties.  The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights undertook a reform initiative of her own from 2009 to 2012 that identified a number of measures that could increase procedural and substantive compliance with the human rights treaties.  Going forward, it will be important for all stakeholders of the UN treaty bodies to reflect back on the wider reforms advocated by the High Commissioner and to continue to seek to improve the treaty bodies’ contribution to achieving more effective protection of rights-holders worldwide. 

JBI Expert Roundtable on North Korea: Follow-up to the Commission of Inquiry

After the UN Human Rights Council’s Commission of Inquiry report (COI) on human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, North Korea) was released, JBI brought a number of experts on the country together with diplomats and representatives of non-governmental organizations on February 27, 2014 to discuss the extensive and unprecedented COI report and how it might be received and implemented at the United Nations. The meeting paid special attention to the inter-governmental bodies, agencies, programs and Secretariat based in New York, which received unusual attention in the report’s recommendations.

As discussion on the follow up to the COI gets underway at the Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva, JBI has released a summary of the meeting and the viewpoints and suggestions made under the Chatham House Rule. Key points are summarized below, and the complete summary is available here.

The Commission of Inquiry’s report provides a sweeping analysis of the depth and breadth of rights abuses being inflicted upon the North Korean people over decades. It contains detailed descriptions and testimonies with evidence of longstanding crimes. With the publication of this report, the Commission of Inquiry, a UN mechanism, has officially recognized the severe and systematic crimes that have been ongoing in North Korea for the past 60 years. In doing so, the report eliminates the possibility for any in the international community to claim ignorance of the situation there.

To maintain the momentum generated by the COI report, and elevate its status, States can take some of the steps outlined below in their relations with other States, at the UN and with the broader public.

• While formulating a long-term response to the human rights situation in North Korea, States can take measures to signal that “business as usual” is no longer an option for governments or the UN following the publication of the COI report, which found there were systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations amounting to crimes against humanity whose “gravity, scale and nature … reveal a State that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world.” The COI report provided unprecedented detail on a wide range of issues including the right to food.

• The Human Rights Council’s annual resolution on North Korea offers the first and key venue for explicitly endorsing the COI’s recommendations and findings, in particular that crimes against humanity are being committed. At a minimum, the Human Rights Council’s resolution should offer a means of continuing fact-finding and analysis on human rights in North Korea in 2014 and beyond. The resolution is expected to be adopted at the end of March 2014.

• Members of the Security Council should identify avenues in which to discuss the findings and recommendations of the COI. The Security Council previously has only discussed North Korea in the context of its development and testing of nuclear and ballistic weapons; any Security Council discussion of the human rights abuses perpetrated by the government would represent a significant step forward.

• The text of the General Assembly’s annual resolution on North Korea can be strengthened so that, at a minimum, it specifically endorses the COI’s findings.

• While a consensus was considered important to maintain at the Human Rights Council and General Assembly, it might become necessary to take a vote on the resolutions so that the COI’s new findings and the report itself will be clearly reflected in the resolutions.

• Member States should encourage discussions to reflect on the application of the Secretary-General’s “Rights Up Front” action plan to the context of North Korea and how it should mesh with other concepts and priorities, including claims for humanitarian space and access, disarmament and security concerns, and geopolitical dynamics. This would ensure that the UN Secretariat and UN agencies take the COI report into account in their work.

On Human Rights Day, Jacob Blaustein Institute calls on High Commissioner for Human Rights to increase efforts to protect victims in Syria and elsewhere

New publication examines achievements and challenges facing UN’s top human rights official

On the eve of International Human Rights Day, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay praised the “important niche” occupied by the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights at an event at UN Headquarters marking the 20^th Anniversary of the UN’s top human rights post.

The event launched a JBI publication that is the first comprehensive study on the High Commissioner, entitled The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Conscience for the World.  UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, Sterling Professor of International Law at Yale Law School and former Legal Adviser to the US State Department Harold Koh, and editors Felice Gaer and Christen Broecker of the Jacob Blaustein Institute, all contributors to the study, addressed the crisis in Syria and other human rights challenges worldwide.

The launch event was sponsored by the United Nations Foundation and the Jacob Blaustein Institute.  The webcast of the full event can be viewed here.  More information about the book is available here.

High Commissioner Pillay, in a statement delivered by Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Šimonović, thanked JBI for its “crucial role in the creation of the High Commissioner’s office.”  She noted the timeliness of the book, coinciding with the 20^th anniversary of the High Commissioner post, and added, “The office has been using this anniversary to take stock of where we are, what we have achieved and not achieved and what challenges lie ahead.  And for our evaluation, it is extremely helpful to have an external expert and academic analysis, which this book provides.” 

JBI Calls for Release of Baha'i Leaders Unjustly Imprisoned in Iran

With the release of a new State Department report on religious freedom around the world, the U.S. government revealed the shocking fact that 116 members of the Baha’i faith are unjustly imprisoned in Iran solely for their beliefs. Among them, sadly, are seven prominent Baha’i leaders unfairly incarcerated since 2008.

Prior to their arrest, the two women and five men ranging in ages from 40 to 80 — Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Mahvash Sabet, Behrouz Tavakkoli and Vahid Tizfahm — worked together to attend to the basic spiritual needs of Baha’is in Iran such as marriages, divorces and Baha’i children’s spiritual education. After five years of confinement, it is time for members of the international community to demand an end to this injustice.

In an effort to call attention to the plight of the Baha’is in Iran, members of the United States Congress introduced legislation on March 12, S.Res.75 and H.Res.109 condemn the state-sponsored persecution of Iran’s 300,000-member Baha’i minority, which contravenes Iran’s international obligations as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and other international instruments. Additionally, the resolutions call on the president and secretary of State to demand the immediate release of prisoners held solely on account of their religion and to sanction Iranian officials directly responsible for serious human rights abuses, including abuses against the Baha’i community in Iran.

Burma: New Publication Outlines Needed Law Reforms

The Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights (JBI), together with partners Perseus Strategies and New Perimeter, launched a new report presenting an in-depth assessment of rule of law reform needs in Burma.  Key Burma experts, U.S. and other policymakers attended the launch at a meeting in Washington DC on March 5.  As noted in The Irrawaddy and Trust Law, the discussion focused on reforming Burma’s Constitution, and the incorporation of international human rights standards and civil society participation in the rule of law reform process.  In line with these recommendations, on March 20 the Burmese parliament agreed to create a commission to review the controversial 2008 Constitution.

Burma is transitioning from 50 years of military rule marked by rights abuses to a more democratic government.  In the past two years, Burma has released Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest and registered her National League for Democracy political party, which won 43 of 45 available seats in April 2012 parliamentary by-elections.  Other reforms include the release of approximately 800 political prisoners (although many were conditionally released); decreased restrictions on the internet and media; the establishment of a new National Human Rights Commission; and signing of preliminary ceasefire agreements with several ethnic armed groups. 

The Rule of Law Assessment Report (the “Assessment”) identifies needs and responses that would expedite the rule of law reform process required in Burma to ensure that transition continues.  It presents an overview of initial and needed reforms, encouraging integration of universal human rights principles in the rule of law reform process, and providing guidance and recommendations to all those who will engage with local actors in Burma.  This will allow international actors to help move the law reform process from the current state where promises are made by Burma to the international community to one where reforms are implemented in Burma both on paper and in practice.  

JBI support to aid South Sudanese Asylum Seekers and Migrants in Israel

The Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights (JBI) has made an emergency grant to the Refugee Rights Clinic of the Tel Aviv University Faculty of Law to support immediate interventions on behalf of asylum seekers and migrants from South Sudan who are at risk of imminent deportation from Israel. Since 2008, JBI has worked to promote legislative and policy reforms that call upon Israel to develop an asylum system that complies with its international law obligations.

On June 8, 2012, JBI hosted a discussion with HIAS on the dimensions of the current crisis affecting African asylum seekers and migrants in Israel. 

JBI has prepared a background document, updated through June 20, 2012, which summarizes recent events affecting African asylum seekers and migrants in Israel; outlines Israel’s international obligations with regard to asylum seekers and refugees; and cites legal concerns and possible responses to them, including proposals regarding Israel’s development of an effective asylum system, which could enable the government to distinguish between refugees, who have a right to be protected from deportation to their home country, and economic migrants, who are not so entitled.

Updated information on this topic is available in a document prepared by HIAS.