Our Top 5 Moments at the UN GA
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RWCHR Pursuing Justice at the UN
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1 : Launch of Landmark UN Report on Antisemitism
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RWCHR Senior Fellow Dr. Ahmed Shaheed - UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief - in his landmark UN Report, sounded the alarm on the virulence and violence of global Antisemitism, calling for urgent international action as a human rights priority.
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2 : Protecting Global Press Freedom
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The RWCHR - which has taken up the cases and causes of unjustly imprisoned journalists - joined UK Special Envoy for Media Freedom Amal Clooney in participating in a special Summit on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Beyond its pro bono legal representation, the RWCHR is working with Clooney and other leading lawyers as part of a High-Level International Legal Panel to protect and promote Global Press Freedom.
To read more about the Panel:
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[L to R] RWCHR Director of Policy and Projects Brandon Silver; RWCHR Founder and Chair Professor Irwin Cotler; UK Special Envoy Amal Clooney; High-Level Legal Panel Member Can Yeginsu
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3 : Defending International Law &
Dismantling Double Standards
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Following a meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the urgency of respect for the rules-based international order and international humanitarian law [pictured] - and action on the cases engaging them, notably Hadar Goldin and the missing and murdered Israelis in Gaza - the RWCHR worked with partners in Geneva to host Hadar’s family at the UN Human Rights Council, where they called for international support and solidarity anchored in the UN’s foundational principles.
The RWCHR also convened a side-event with partners on China’s crimes against humanity - highlighting the culture of impunity that enables it - and exposing the Communist Party’s widespread and systematic practice of forced organ harvesting and murder of minorities.
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4 : Partnerships for Justice
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The RWCHR formalized strategic partnerships with major international institutions, participating in their historic gatherings on the sidelines of the UNGA. This included a meeting with the leadership of Liberal International - including President of Senegal Macky Sall, former Morroccan Minister of Environment Hakima El Haite, and Andorran Foreign Minister Juli Minoves - for the signing of a landmark Declaration on Combatting Climate Injustice, and where there was agreement on the need to be further defending political prisoners. As well, a special partnership was signed with the Secretary-General of Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA), wherein the RWCHR and PGA will collaborate on projects defending democracy, preventing mass atrocity, and advocating for unjustly imprisoned parliamentarians.
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5 : High-Level Meetings for Human Rights
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The RWCHR spearheaded a number of major meetings with world leaders, pressing them on human rights. The RWCHR team advocated on behalf of dissidents whose cases and causes it has taken up, and accountability for the despots responsible for their torture and torment. Whether encouraging democracies to stand up for human rights, or dictatorships to stop persecuting those who do, the RWCHR was on the front lines of human rights advocacy at this past week’s UNGA, a snapshot of the Centre’s work pursuing justice throughout the year.
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