JBI Human Rights

JBI Facilitates Historic UN Report on Antisemitism: A Conversation with UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, Deborah Lipstadt, and JBI

 

In September 2019, the UN published a first-ever stand-alone human rights report dedicated solely to antisemitism, authored by Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief. It documents rising antisemitic violence and hate speech around the world and identifies it as a threat to Jews and as “toxic” to democratic societies.

The Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights (JBI) convened two expert consultations – one in Geneva involving global antisemitism monitors to share insights into the state of antisemitism around the world and best practices, and one on antisemitism in the United States – that informed the Special Rapporteur’s report. Additionally, JBI helped provide Dr. Shaheed with contacts in smaller Jewish communities that he would otherwise have had difficulty accessing.

Dr. Shaheed recommended for all States to adopt the Working Definition of Antisemitism, another first for a UN report. AJC and JBI support Dr. Shaheed’s additional recommendation for an appointment of a UN focal point on antisemitism.

At AJC headquarters in New York, Dr. Shaheed addressed AJC and JBI leaders about his groundbreaking report. Dr. Deborah E. Lipstadt offered comments. A recording of the presentation can be found in the video above.

JBI Urges Administration to Reverse Cuts in U.S. Refugee Program and to Protect Victims Fleeing Persecution

The Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights (JBI) is deeply disappointed by the U.S. administration’s decision to severely reduce the number of refugees accepted into the United States. For FY 2020 the cap will be 18,000, down from 30,000 in FY 2019 and 45,000 in FY 2018.

“The severe diminution of the U.S. refugee program undermines a commitment to protect those fleeing from atrocious human rights abuses and contravenes core American values,” said JBI Administrative Council Chair, Jerry Biederman. “The Administration’s new cap is especially egregious when the number of refugees around the world has increased to the greatest levels seen since World War II, and people who have fled for their lives need protection.” According to the UN Refugee Agency, there are nearly 26 million refugees worldwide, and another 41.3 million internally displaced in their own countries.

The new cap is a 40% cut from the current year allocation of 30,000, and only one of a series of dramatic reductions in refugee cap numbers including a reduction from 75,000 to 45,000 in FY 2018 and to 30,000 in FY 2019. Additionally, even with decreasing caps in refugee admissions, the U.S. has not reached those targets in recent years coming to only about half in FY 2018 and resettling just over 28,000 as of August 31, 2019. The newly announced number is the lowest since 1980, when Congress passed the Refugee Act and set up the US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP). That year 207,000 refugees were admitted to the U.S.

JBI strongly urges the administration not to turn its back on the enormous and growing population of vulnerable refugees in dire need of protection, and encourages a swift reversal to these drastic cuts to the U.S. Refugee Program.

As UN Gathers to Condemn Violence on the Basis of Religion or Belief, More Action Needed to Protect Minorities Worldwide

 

On the first International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief, on August 22, 2019, the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights calls on all governments to take concrete action to protect members of religious minority communities from harm. UN experts recently have warned that religious minorities in a number of countries around the world continue to face violent persecution, at the hands not only of non-State actors, but also of government authorities.

UN General Assembly resolution 73/296, adopted unanimously by UN member states, established August 22 as the International Day. This action was approved after the heinous massacres of members of religious minority communities by private individuals – the attacks on of Muslim worshippers at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand and of Christian worshippers at churches in Sri Lanka – in March and April 2019.

As they adopted the resolution, diplomats from Member States expressed alarm about these and other examples of violence against individuals on the basis of their religion or belief worldwide, including:

• the attack by a private individual on Jewish congregants at the Poway synagogue in San Diego, California in the U.S., coming just months after the deadly attack on the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania;
• the commission of crimes against humanity and genocide by members of the Islamic State in Iraq against Yezidis;
• the commission of crimes against humanity and genocide by military and other forces in Myanmar against Rohingya Muslims;
• the execution of Sunni Kurds by authorities in Iran; and
• the arbitrary detention of over one million members of minority Muslim groups, predominately Uighurs, by the Chinese authorities.

Available now: JBI Human Rights Lecture "Why We Stand for Human Rights" by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

“Why We Stand for Human Rights,” delivered by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein was the third Jacob Blaustein Institute Human Rights Lecture, presented at an event in New York City.

In the lecture, available here, the High Commissioner asks “What is happening to us?” and expresses dismay about the global retreat from human rights. He criticizes a number of world leaders, including presidents of Russia and China. He cites particular alarm at rhetoric from various Western officials and responds to the remarks by the US president before the UN General Assembly. Zeid characterizes the latter speech as “One part chauvinistic nationalisms. One part balance-of-power swordplay and a crumbling adherence to law…” Recalling that “we have been here before,” the High Commissioner suggests that limiting international and domestic policy to security and sovereignty, and failing to include human rights considerations, will lead to calamitous results.

The High Commissioner concludes with a compelling response to the threats facing human rights today: “What would change the trajectory, would be the existence of a world-wide wave of popular support for universal human rights – pushing, prodding, holding their governments to the mark, and shaking-up the slumbering politicians. We must now intensify, greatly, our advocacy and expand our reach in a manner that is without precedent.”

The publication of Zeid’s lecture also contains a brief introduction by JBI Director Felice Gaer. If you would like to receive a hard copy of the lecture, please contact us at [email protected].

Groundbreaking Joint Statement Declares Abuse of Human Rights Defenders Violate Human Rights Treaties

The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, together with representatives from each international human rights treaty body, issued a joint statement at the outset of the 30^th annual meeting of Treaty Body chairs this summer, affirming that abuse and undue limitation of human rights defenders violates State party obligations delineated in the treaties. JBI’s Director, Felice Gaer, who is vice chair of the UN Committee against Torture, was one of the signatories.

The joint statement emphasizes the importance of human rights defenders in the application of the rights included within the treaties and the UN Declaration on human rights defenders, marking its 20^th anniversary. In addition, the statement affirms that all individuals should be able to engage with the UN treaty body system without risk of discrimination, reprisals, or retaliation. It includes a list of recommended measures States may adopt to ensure the protection of human rights defenders.

The full text of the joint statement can be found here.

“The Universality of Human Rights: Pragmatism Meets Idealism” by Professor Yuval Shany

“The Universality of Human Rights: Pragmatism Meets Idealism” by Professor Yuval Shany,  the second JBI Human Rights Lecture,  is now available online here.

Professor Shany explores whether the universality of human rights is fixed and beyond challenge. He confronts a number of ways in which rights may not be delivered to right holders in a uniform or universally similar form. Shany recounts some familiar arguments concerning the need to adapt to different cultures. He delves into issues of enforcement of rights including the failure of States to invest adequate financial resources to monitor rights, resulting in a lack of effective monitoring.

In an introduction to the lecture, JBI points out that while all human rights are not upheld in every situation, de facto, this does  not necessarily mean the rights themselves lack universal application or normative value. The availability and effectiveness of enforcement mechanisms (or lack thereof) for human rights obligations do not alter the universality of the rights themselves.

As with other JBI Human Rights Lectures, we encourage readers to address the questions Professor Shany raises in the framework of the ongoing effort to promote and protect human rights.

For a hard copy of the lecture, please send a request to [email protected].

A Critical Moment for the UN and Human Rights: Selection of the Next UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

On August 31, 2018, the four-year term in office of UN High Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein will come to an end.  Noting that Zeid has already publicly announced that he is not seeking reappointment to a second term, the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights has written to UN Secretary-General António Guterres to stress that the selection of the next High Commissioner is a critical moment for the UN and its human rights programs.  Our letter calls on the Secretary-General to openly solicit input from civil society as he seeks to identify the person best suited for this high-level and highly-regarded post, and to seek a capable leader who will be able to effectively:

(1) exercise leadership, by maintaining and defending the independence of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, monitoring and publicly presenting information about emerging human rights crises, and ensuring effective work by human rights field presences;

(2) maintain the UN’s credibility on human rights, by gathering accurate information about human rights conditions, conveying it to relevant UN stakeholders and ensuring that UN officials respond appropriately to the human rights conditions they encounter; and

(3) remain accountable to victims of rights violations, not only by speaking out against the commission of gross human rights abuses, but more generally by acting as well as being seen to act in a way that provides protection for the work of human rights defenders and affirms the principle of “all human rights for all.”

The full letter is available here: JBI Letter to SG Guterres on selection of the next High Commissioner for Human Rights.

 

 

Continue U.S. Engagement in UN Human Rights Council

The Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights along with Human Rights First, Freedom Now, the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, and the Better World Campaign dispatched a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on 6 March, 2018 encouraging the U.S. maintain its engagement in the UN Human Rights Council. The letter details the need for Human Rights Council reform and the impact U.S. engagement has already had on the Human Rights Council, and encourages continued participation and engagement to further improve the Council's work. The full text of the letter can be found at the following link.

2017 JBI Human Rights Lecture features UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

 

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zaid Ra’ad Al Hussein, delivered the 2017 JBI Human Rights Lecture, entitled “Why We Stand for Human Rights.” He expressed dismay about the recent retreat from human rights demonstrated by some world leaders, including Russia and China, and express particular alarm at rhetoric from the US President to the UN General Assembly, which he characterized as “One part chauvinistic nationalisms. One part balance-of-power swordplay and a crumbling adherence to law…”

Zeid stressed further that “time and again, the denial of human rights considerations by national leaders, diplomats and international actors alike has in the longer term proven itself to be absolutely disastrous.” Moreover, the High Commissioner suggested that limiting the international and domestic focus to security and nationalism, and failing to include human rights considerations, is certain to lead to calamitous results.

Zeid outlined a compelling response to the threats facing human rights today: “What would change the trajectory, would be the existence of a world-wide wave of popular support for universal human rights – pushing, prodding, holding their governments to the mark, and shaking-up the slumbering politicians. We must now intensify, greatly, our advocacy and expand our reach in a manner that is without precedent.”

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.