Under the title “From threats to opportunities: Business and Human Rights Defenders” the International Service for Human Rights [ISHR] organises a side event on Friday 13 June 2014, 12h15 – 13h45 in Room IX of Palais des Nations, Geneva. Note that it will be the first public appearance of the new Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Michael Forst. (https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/05/08/finally-it-is-final-michel-forst-the-new-rapporteur-on-human-rights-defenders/). For those unable to attend, a live webcast will be available at www.ishr.ch/webcast. You may also follow the event on Twitter @ISHRGlobal, using the hashtag #HRDs.
Posts Tagged ‘Michel Forst’
Business and Human Rights Defenders in Side Event on Friday 13 June
May 27, 2014Finally it is final: Michel Forst the new Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders
May 8, 2014It took a lot of wrangling but finally the President of the Human Rights Council has transmitted the list of candidates for mandate holders to be appointed on 8 May 2014 at the organizational meeting of the Human Rights Council. Michel Forst will succeed Margaret Sekaggya as Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders. To see the letter and list of all mandate holders: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6XUJ0SW4C68V0pTN25LdDhDTlk/edit
For previous posts in the saga see: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/tag/un-special-rapporteur-on-human-rights-defenders/, with a picture of Michel Forst in the post of 13 March.
Here we go again: appointment UN special rapporteurs postponed
March 31, 2014Contrary to what I hoped in my post of last week, there are still problems with the appointment of the slate of special rapporteurs of the UN Human Rights Council. The session that just finished SHOULD have seen the appointment of 19 special procedure mandate holders, including the Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders. The appointments were, however, postponed until April at the request of Peru. It seems that Peru argued that the President had not justified the few instances in which he had chosen to select another candidate than the one recommended by the consultative group based on the interviews they had carried out; and that the final group of selected candidates did not adhere to requirements of gender or regional balance. Peru was specifically unhappy at a lower representation of experts from Latin America amongst the special procedures. So, we wait a bit longer!
New UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders indeed Michel Forst
March 28, 2014While two weeks ago I was a bit too quick in announcing Michel Forst‘s appointment as the new UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders [https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/03/13/margaret-sekaggya-succeeded-as-hrd-rapporteur-by-michel-forst-reassuring/], a letter from the Chair of the Human Rights Council of 27 March 2014 fortunately confirms that he is the sole candidate and most likely to be endorsed by this session of the Council.
correction: Rapporteur on human rights defenders not yet confirmed
March 18, 2014Well, it seems that my announcement of 13 March (https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/03/13/margaret-sekaggya-succeeded-as-hrd-rapporteur-by-michel-forst-reassuring/) was a bit premature and the world will have to hold its collective breath until the announcement is confirmed towards the end of this month. But the rest of the post (the re-assuring part) stands.
Margaret Sekaggya succeeded as HRD Rapporteur by Michel Forst: Reassuring
March 13, 2014
In March, Margaret Sekaggya will finish her term as the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders. For more than five years the Ugandan Margaret Sekaggya has served the mandate with dedication and commitment, and has played an integral role in promoting the work of and furthering protection for human rights defenders around the world.
Also it has been announced that the new Special Rapporteur will be Michel Forst , from France.
He is a lawyer by training and the Secretary General of the Commission Nationale Consultative des Droits de l’Homme de la Republique Française. From 2008 – 2013, he was the Independent Expert of the United Nations on the situation of human rights in Haiti. He was Director General of Amnesty International in France and worked in the human rights department of UNESCO. Mr. Forst is also a founding trustee of Front Line Defenders.
In short, Margaret Sekaggya did a great job – like her predecessor Hina Jilani – and the credentials of the new Rapporteur give all reason to hope that the level of knowledge and commitment will be maintained. Glad to report something good coming out of the Council!
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 