Rosa Freedman, University of Birmingham
Once again, the Human Rights Council has been hijacked to promote the agendas of states who are trying to undermine the very same human rights the UN is supposed to protect.
A recently circulated draft resolution on “protection of the family” looks likely to be passed by the council, even though the text clearly plays into the hands of countries trying to make it legitimate to oppress individuals based on their gender or sexual orientation. Read more
Rosa is now writing for CNN.com. Her first piece is: “Why do peacekeepers have immunity in sex abuse cases?”
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/22/opinions/freedman-un-peacekeepers-immunity/
Rosa Freedman, University of Birmingham
Negotiations on the UN’s 15-year development strategy, which involve all 193 member states, have at last produced a set of ambitious Sustainable Development Goals. These focus on social justice, poverty, human rights, development, and other related areas that require concerted effort over the coming years.
The goals incorporate strategies to protect and ensure the equality of individuals belonging to vulnerable groups – all individuals, that is, except those who belong to sexual orientation or gender identity minorities. Read more
Rosa Freedman, University of Birmingham
The European Union is spearheading a campaign to enable military action against the boats carrying migrants seeking to leave Libya and arrive on EU shores – and on May 11, a draft resolution will be presented to the UN Security Council proposing that a UN mission in Libyan waters be authorised. Read more
Rosa Freedman, University of Birmingham
EDITOR’S NOTE: After this article was published, it became clear that the report it mentions is not about UN peacekeepers. It is about the French forces based in CAR, part of the French-led military operation known as Operation Sangaris. They were authorised by the UN Security Council in December 2013, but do not operate under the leadership of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO). The article has been updated to make this distinction clear.
The article also originally stated that the report had been leaked to the advocacy group Aids-Free World. This was inaccurate, and has been corrected.
It has emerged that a UN senior humanitarian aid worker has been suspended for leaking an internal report on child abuse committed by French peacekeepers in the Central African Republic (CAR).
The details that emerge from the report, Sexual Abuse on Children by International Armed Forces, show that once again, UN-sanctioned forces have abused their position and power to prey on vulnerable individuals in the most horrific circumstances. Read more
Inderjeet Parmar, City University London; Clodagh Harrington, De Montfort University; Rosa Freedman, University of Birmingham; Russell Bentley, University of Southampton; Scott Lucas, University of Birmingham, and Tom Packer, University of Oxford
Former secretary of state, senator and first lady Hillary Clinton has announced her long-awaited 2016 presidential campaign. With the race for the presidency now truly underway, our panel of experts unpack what Clinton’s announcement really means. Read more
Rosa Freedman, University of Birmingham
The NGO, Aids Free World, has released a copy of a report on sexual violations committed by UN peacekeeping personnel.
The UN’s opaque nature means that rather than address the points made by the independent experts, the report was not circulated – but copies of it were leaked to Aids Free World, which sent it to the ambassadors and permanent representatives of every UN member state. Read more
Rosa Freedman, University of Birmingham
The verdict has been returned on the first prosecution for female genital mutilation in England and Wales – and the defendant has been found not guilty. This is a damning indictment for the Crown Prosecution Service, for our police forces – and for our society. A jury took less than half an hour to find Dr Dhanuson Dharmasena not guilty of FGM, and rightly so.
The FGM legislation is not aimed at doctors who treat previously mutilated women during and after childbirth. It is aimed at the practitioners of FGM who perform the initial mutilation of girls and women and at the parents who seek out, collude in and enable this grievous bodily harm to take place. Read more
Rosa Freedman, University of Birmingham
January 12 2015 marks five years since Haiti was hit by a devastating earthquake. Countless victims were killed, homes destroyed, and vital infrastructure reduced to debris.
Already one of the world’s poorest and most fragile countries, Haiti was particularly vulnerable to the effects of a major natural disaster. But perhaps the most deadly and destructive event that year was the introduction of cholera into Haiti for the first time in over a century. Read more
Aoife Nolan, University of Nottingham and Rosa Freedman, University of Birmingham
The use of unpaid internships in the human rights sector has ballooned in recent years. While human rights bodies have employed interns in a general work experience capacity for decades, the last few years have seen an upsurge in the use of interns to support the work of human rights actors, including UN human rights experts and monitoring bodies. Read more