16 January 2010
NY Times asked eight experts to give their prescriptions of how to rebuild Haiti, once the immediate crisis has passed. Their answers are, interestingly enough, not completly compatible. James Dobbins, a former special envoy to Haiti under President Bill Clinton, argues for a fundamental reform of Haiti’s inefficent and corrupt institutional systems; whereas author Robert Neuwirth claims that not all practices of squatting, scavenging and theft are as destructive as they might appear. Find all eight here.
LINDE LINDKVIST
14 January 2010
Rädda Barnens regionchef för Latinamerika, Hans Lind, bloggar just nu från jordbävningsdrabbade Haiti för RB:s presstjänst:
Med en motorcykel och till fots har den forsta bedomningen av laget kunnat goras. Teamet ar precis i denna stund pa vag tillbaka till kontoret. Tradgarden.
Bilar gar inte att anvanda. Gator och vagar ar inte framkomliga.
Via motorcykel och radio har Ian Rodgers kunnat rapportera att 50% av byggnader i huvudstaden Port au Prince ar forstorda. Betongklumpar overallt.
Folk graver i ruinmassorna med sina bara hander. Nagot annat finns inte at tillga nu. Men raddningsstyrkor ar pa vag. Fran Kina. Fran USA. Fran Island.
Men nu ser Radda Barnet teamet inga raddningsstyrkor som letar strukturerat bland rasmassorna.
Det ar brist pa mat och vatten, ocksa for Radda Barnens personal. Affarer ar forstorda eller stangda. Radsla for plundring ar stor.
Vara kollegor fann inga ensamma barn pa gatorna, men massor av barn med aldre syskon eller familjemedlemmar. Flera av barnen var skadade.
LINDE LINDKVIST
25 December 2009
One of China’s leading political dissidents, Liu Xiaobo, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for subversion. A participant of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and the main
author of the Charter 08 manifesto, Liu is an iconic figure for both the Communist Party and the wide set of domestic and foreign actors seeking to advance human rights in China.
The Charter 08 is, in its dense and and curageous style, definitely worth reading.
After experiencing a prolonged period of human rights disasters and a tortuous struggle and resistance, the awakening Chinese citizens are increasingly and more clearly recognizing that freedom, equality, and human rights are universal common values shared by all humankind, and that democracy, a republic, and constitutionalism constitute the basic structural framework of modern governance. A “modernization” bereft of these universal values and this basic political framework is a disastrous process that deprives humans of their rights, corrodes human nature, and destroys human dignity. Where will China head in the 21st century? Continue a “modernization” under this kind of authoritarian rule? Or recognize universal values, assimilate into the mainstream civilization, and build a democratic political system? This is a major decision that cannot be avoided.
LINDE LINDKVIST
23 December 2009
In December 2006, when Ban Ki-Moon was newly appointed Secretary General, he addressed a dinner party of the United Nations Correspondents Association. Ban is not famous for his public speaking skills, but his entrance was a quite fabolous display of sincere humility and a sense of humour. After comparing Kofi Annan to James Bond, he concluded with a carol of the season: “I am making a list, checking it twice, gonna find out who’s naughty or nice, Ban Ki-Moon is coming to town”.
Listen at the UN Webpage. (Real format)
Happy Holidays!
LINDE LINDKVIST & ANDREA KARLSSON
20 December 2009
Thomas Steinfeld, kulturchef på Süddeutsche Zeitung i München och professor i kulturvetenskap i Luzern/Schweiz, skriver Under Strecket i dagens SvD. “Inre kris bakom minaretförbud i Schweiz” heter artikeln, som elegant visar hur folkomröstningen den 29 november kunde sluta som den gjorde i Schweiz anno 2009.
Huvudsaken verkar numera vara att bara hålla ihop. Därför kan det hända att schweizarnas förbud mot minareter inte har så mycket med muslimerna och deras gudshus att göra, utan framför allt med ett tvivel gentemot sig själva – ett tvivel, mot vilket man försöker bli immun genom att ”våga ett dåligt betyg”, genom att göra någonting som måste väcka moralisk avsky världen över, varefter man håller ihop bara för att man är så illa tvungen.
LINDE LINDKVIST
15 December 2009
In a 2007 article published in Human Rights Quarterly, Jack Donnelly and Daniel Whelan argued that western anatgonism to the inclusion of economic and social rights as part of the universal human rights regime is nothing but a myth. With reference to the European welfare projects and FDR’s freedom from want, they even showed that the idea of second generation rights originated in the west.
Susan L. King offers a friendly critique of this claim in the current issue of HRQ:
Key Western state leaders may have expressed initial support for these rights in the foundation of international human rights law, but economic and geopolitical interests have marginalized claims to these rights within domestic political contexts. While recognizing the role of these rights within Western history is an important intervention, interpreting this as evidence of Western support is not convincing.
This debate is nonetheless worth following, since it reminds us to reconsider what we think of as self-evident in the politics of human rights.
LINDE LINDKVIST
10 December 2009
The recent issue of the journal Law and Contemporary Problems, published by Duke Law School, is entitled “Group-Conflict Resolution: Sources of Resistance to Reconciliation” and highly readable. All articles can be downloaded here.
We especially recommend Thomas Brudholm from the University of Copenhagen and Valérie Rosoux’ article “The Unforgiving: Reflections on the Resistence of Forgiveness after Atrocity”.
Andrea Karlsson
10 December 2009
We have the pleasure to announce that Prof. Helle Porsdam from the University of Copenhagen will present her recent book From Civil Rights to Human Rights – Dialogues on Law and Humanities in the USA and Europe at our research seminar on Monday, December 14. The seminar will be held at SOL L 604 from 10-12. Welcome!
Helle Porsdam is Professor for American Studies and American History at the SAXO Institut. She is the author of several books and numerous articles on law, culture and literature in Europe and the U.S., among them Legally Speaking: Contemporary American Culture and the Law (1999), Fra pax americana til lex americana: En diskussion af dansk retliggßrelse som en pâvirkningfra USA (From Pax Americana to Lex Americana: A Discussion of Danish Legalization as an Influence from the United States, 2002); and Copyright and Other Fairy Tales: Hans Christian Andersen and the Commodification of Creativity (2006). Her new book, From Civil to Human Rights: Dialogues on Law and Humanities in the United States and Europe will be published this year by Edward Elgar Press. Prof. Porsdam holds an M.A. in English from the University of Copenhagen and a Ph.D in American Studies from Yale University, and a Dr. Phil. from University of Southern Denmark. In 1992-93 and again in 2000-2001 she was a Liberal Arts Fellow at the Harvard Law School.
29 November 2009
Peru has officially apologized to its citizens of African origin for centuries of “abuse, exclusion and discrimination”. It is not the first Latin American country to do so, but it went further in recognising that racist exclusion continues to this day. However, some commentators have criticised that the apology did not refer to slavery and made no concrete promises of change.
Article from BBC News
29 November 2009
To some, dignity is an innate and noble quality of humanity, for others it is either a meaningless notion or a complicating factor in human relationships. Mark Tully explores the meaning of dignity on BBC Radio’s Something Understood.
26 November 2009
Tuesday, 1 december at 4:00 p.m- Pufendorf Hall, Faculty of Law
- Free of charge
Welcome address
Board Member Jus Humanis
Keynote Speaker 1
16:15-17:00 : Steven L. B. Jensen
Project Manager, HIV/AIDS & Human Rights
Danish Institute for Human Rights
“HIV/AIDS and Development: A Human Rights Perspective”
17:00-17:15 Brief Recess*
Keynote Speaker 2
17:15-18:00 Peter Gottschalk, LL.M.
Doctoral Student, Faculty of Law, Lund University
“HIV/AIDS and Trade Law: Access to Medicines”
18:00-18:15 Brief Recess*
Keynote Speaker 3
18:15-19:00: Karen Malone, L.L.B.
Master of Laws Candidate, Faculty of Law, Lund University
‘The criminalization of Sex Work and HIV’.
19:00-19:15 Brief Recess*
Documentary Film Presentation
19:15-20:00 Pandemic: Facing AIDS
Russia
20:00-20:05 Concluding Remarks
*Drink and Snacks will be provided
26 November 2009
Föreläsning med Eva Hamberg. “Sekularisering och religionsblindhet i Sverige”.
- Onsdagen den 2 december kl. 15.15
- Sal 118 på Centrum för teologi och religionsvetenskap, Allhelgona kyrkogata 8, Lund.
Eva Hamberg är professor i migrationsvetenskap på Centrum för teologi och religionsvetenskap vid Lunds universitet.
Föreläsningen är ett led i ett samarbete mellan Center for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES) vid Lunds universitet och Malmö Institute for Studies of Migration, Diversity, and Welfare (MIM) på Malmö högskola för att skapa kontakter mellan religions- och samhällsvetare.
Efter föreläsningen bjuds på buffé.
RICKARD LAGERVALL
25 November 2009
Common Ground News Service (CG News) has a launched a new article series on religious freedom and the Arab-Israeli relationship.Muli Paleg, Schusterman visiting Professor for Israeli Affairs in the Bildner Center for Jewish Studies at Rutgers University, has written a beautiful article, in which argues that in order “to disarm the enemies of peace on both sides, freedom of religion must be cultivated and sustained. It is the antidote against zeal and sacred missions of doom.”
LINDE LINDKVIST
23 November 2009
Human Rights Watch has issued a new report on the situation in Cuba. It shows how the Raúl Castro government has relied in particular on the Criminal Code offense of “dangerousness,” which allows authorities to imprison individuals before they have committed any crime, on the suspicion that they are likely to commit an offense in the future.
“In his three years in power, Raúl Castro has been just as brutal as his brother,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at HRW. “Cubans who dare to criticize the government live in perpetual fear, knowing they could wind up in prison for merely expressing their views.”
23 November 2009
- 23 November 2009 at 18.15
- The Pufendorf Hall, Faculty of Law
On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Institute, Judge Philippe Kirsch will be giving a public lecture on 23 November at 18.15 in the Pufendorf Hall, Faculty of Law, entitled “Development and Challenges of International Justice”. From 2003 to 2009, Judge Kirsch was President of the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Philippe Kirsch
Judge Kirsch has spent most of his career in multilateral and legal work and has chaired a number of multilateral bodies including the Committee of the Whole of the 1998 UN Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court and the Preparatory Commission for the International Criminal Court (1999-2002). He also chaired the UN Ad Hoc Committee for the Suppression of Acts of Terrorism (1997-1999) and international conferences addressing terrorism-related issues such as the suppression of unlawful acts in the contexts of international civil aviation and maritime navigation (1988). Judge Kirsch was also extensively involved in international humanitarian law. He has chaired the Canadian National Committee on Humanitarian Law (1998–1999) and been a member of the Group of International Advisers to the International Committee of the Red Cross (2000–2003). Judge Kirsch has appeared as Agent for Canada before the International Court of Justice and in international arbitrations. From 1995 to 1999, he was a Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration. Judge Kirsch is a member of the Bar of the Province of Quebec and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1988.
In cooperation with
Lund Association of Foreign Affairs
23 November 2009
SVT:s ger just nu en ny säsong av “Världens konflikter”. I höst får vi bakgrunderna till konflikterna i Afghanistan, Nordirland, Algeriet, Eritrea, Libanon, Kurdistan, Liberia och Uganda. Snyggt och allmänbildande, men ibland lite väl förenklat. Se på SVT Play.
LINDE LINDKVIST
20 November 2009
Idag är det 20 år sedan Barnkonventionen antogs av FN:s Generalförsamling. FN:s barnrättskommitté firade redan den 8-9 oktober med en konferens i Genève under rubriken Dignity, Development and Dialogue.
Spelet bakom barnkonventionen skildras i en ny bok av Simone Ek som heter Självklart barnets rättigheter. Simone var chef för Rädda Barnen International i Genève 1981-1989 och högst delaktig i förhandlingarna som ledde fram till antagandet för 20 år sedan. Boken handlar inte minst om frivilligorganisationernas roll i internationella forum och har därför bred relevans. Ärtsoppa och punsch, menar Simone i en intervju för Rädda barnen, var ett framgångsrikt recept för att få diplomaterna att lyssna.
Vi var flera NGO:s som beslutade att samarbeta för att starkare kunna föra fram våra argument. Och på vårt första möte föreslog jag att vi skulle bjuda in alla delegater som var med i förhandlingarna om Barnkonventionen, på ärtsoppa. Visserligen var många av dem misstänksamma mot NGO:s, men de tyckte att det var roligt att få komma hem till mig. Och så fick varje organisation i uppgift att prata med varsin delegat om våra förslag. Det blev ett väldigt bra samspel på de där träffarna, bröt isen.
LINDE LINDKVIST
