FAU Students at the UN Human Rights Council
FAU goes international politics? On Friday, November 7th, a group of students, ac-companied by Prof. Katrin Kinzelbach, got the opportunity to gain insight into the work of the United Nations (UN) in Geneva. The trip was conducted following a human rights clinic during which students, under the guidance of Prof. Kinzelbach and Zuzana Jurasova and in cooperation with the non-governmental organization Scholars-at-Risk (SAR), produced so-called shadow reports on academic freedom. SAR then submitted these shadow reports to the United Nations Human Rights Council as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process. A report on the United States of America (USA) can be found here, and a report on Singapore here.
With travel funding from the ZEIT Bucerius Foundation and thanks to accreditation by SAR, the students were able to gather their own impressions directly on site at the Human Rights Council. The trip to Geneva was intended to give students a first-hand, live experience of how the Human Rights Council reviews the human rights situation based on country reports and shadow reports, using the United States of America as an example. However, the planned schedule was turned upside down by a decision of the US, which announced at short notice that it would not participate in the planned review – a rare exception in the UPR process, which normally enjoys high participation by UN member states. Despite this news, the students set off and witnessed a historic non-event: many state delegates and NGO observers came at the announced day and time but then the session was cancelled due to the absence of the US delegation.
Alternatively, the FAU group followed a UPR session on the human rights situation in Honduras. Afterwards, they attended an event organized by the American Civil Liberties Union, a non-governmental organization, which critically examined the current human rights situation in the United States. US representatives who, on behalf of their states, regions, or cities – but not the federal government – addressed the international community and appealed to the United Nations to exert pressure on the US government to change course, drawing attention to human rights concerns in an impressive and memorable way.
The day was rounded off with a meeting with a human rights expert working in Geneva and an exchange with a UN staff member who provided exciting insights behind the scenes of the international human rights system and opened up many new perspectives. After a celebratory visit to the United Nations souvenir shop, the group reviewed the exciting day over a delicious dinner and reflected on it together.
FAU would like to thank the ZEIT Foundation for financially supporting the excursion.
