Week 1 of the Human Rights Council!

Hi Everyone!

            Sorry it took me so long to write another post! I have had such a crazy week learning about the UN, the Dominican Order, and exploring Geneva! J I have been having a GREAT time and am really enjoying my experience thus far! Here is what I did last week:

Tuesday

            Tuesday was my first full day at the UN! Fr. Olivier took me on a tour of the grounds and refreshed my memory from the day before about where exactly I will be working and the best ways to get around. It was slightly overwhelming but a week later, I definitely feel that I am getting more comfortable here!

            One of the most incredible things I learned on the tour is that there are entire meeting rooms here named after Francisco de Vitoria, a Dominican Friar who lived in the 1400s and is known as the father of international relations! There is a plaque on the wall with his picture and a description of his contributions to the field of international relations. The Dominicans really are everywhere! J Although the Dominican Delegation at the UN is very small, the impact that the Order has made here is undeniable!

Religion in the UN! The Francisco de Vitoria Room is right below this.

            After the tour, I attended the Human Rights Council for the rest of the day. Currently, there are Special Rapporteurs (SRs) presenting their research on a specific issue to the council. These SRs were appointed by the UN to investigate a certain topic, such as health care, education, and the right to freedom of expression, for example, and then return to the Human Rights Council with a comprehensive report about the topic. After they present their research, members of the UN have the opportunity to comment on the findings. Many states appreciated the work of the SRs, some agreed with the findings while others took issue with what was discovered. These sessions can get a little long with delegate after delegate sharing their thoughts, but it is definitely interesting to see the different ways member states and NGOs respond and to see which members agree on certain issues.

Maybe I will be a Delegate! 

I LOVE walking down this road :)

In one of the large meeting rooms! This is where the very
 important UN guests will come to speak (Presidents of Countries!)

           

Wednesday

            Wednesday was a very exciting day because I was able to determine what I was going to do for myself! I came to the UN in the morning and went to the Human Rights Council meeting and then a side event discussing Cultural Rights. The side event was essentially a panel discussion with the Special Rapporteur for Cultural Rights speaking, along with some other specialists, and then allowed some time for questions. The panel discussion revolved around the question of what cultural rights are and how they relate to human rights. For example, some countries have traditions ingrained in their societies that clearly violate human rights. The panelists discussed the ways in which cultural rights can be altered to align with current day standards of human rights without disrupting the culture and causing unrest among the citizens of these areas. It was very interesting to see what the SR had learned on this topic and I was very impressed by her wealth of knowledge on such a large and potentially controversial issue.

I am finding it very exciting that I have been given a great deal of autonomy in this placement thus far. I was able to come into the Council by myself and choose what side event I thought would most relate to Human Rights and then attend that as well. It is still a little surreal that I come to the UN everyday and am able to explore and attend events as I wish! I can’t believe how lucky I am and am truly grateful for this experience each day!

           

Thursday

            I had a very busy but also very rewarding day on Thursday. First, I attended a Side Event sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union on the United States and targeted killings. The main concerns brought up by the panelists relating to this issue were the precedent they believe the US is setting and the lack of both transparency and accountability by the US as it relates to this issue. Obviously, this is a very controversial issue and I am not completely sure where I stand on it at this point. I thought it was very interesting to be on the outside of the US looking in with a number if specialists discussing a huge issue that relates to my country. I feel that I received a different picture of the situation than I did when I was in the US and am curious which one is the correct one. However, it seems that I may not ever know.

            There is an article below discussing the UN’s inquiries to the US about drone attacks and other targeted killings that I discovered online during the session. I found it extremely interesting that I was in the same room as Christof Heyns, the UN’s independent investigator on extrajudicial killings, while my newspaper at home was posting about him and is work at the UN! I found his comments extremely enlightening.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2012/06/21/us_government_challenged_on_drone_tactics/

            After the session, Fr. Olivier and I discussed the issue of Human Rights as it relates to targeted killings. We spoke about whether the individuals that the US is allegedly killing should be entitled to the same rights that US citizens are entitled to, for example, a fair trial. I began to wonder about the issue of believing human rights are really correct, because if the US believes that the way it treats its citizens is the correct way to treat humans, shouldn’t they treat humans everywhere that way? Isn’t there only one correct way to treat a human being, with justice and dignity? Or do some individuals forfeit their human rights based on their actions and an inability to treat others with justice? I am in no way trying to start any controversy or debate, just sharing my thoughts on the issue! I am planning to attend more side events of this sort and am hoping to gain some more perspective and information in the next few weeks on this issue.

            After attending the rather controversial Targeted Killings event, I attended a less controversial side event on the right to education. The most interesting aspect of the side event for me was the fact that if focused on the quality of education, rather than just access to education. The panelists talked about the way that many nations around the world have some sort of educational system in place but that the goal needs to be providing effective and quality education that is going to benefit all students. Panelists discussed both access to better resources as well as increased teacher training. This event was co-sponsored by the Dominican Delegation so it was interesting for me to learn more about a topic that the Dominicans so strongly support.

            Finally, on Thursday, I had the privilege of meeting Fr. Carlos and Sister Anne, two Dominicans who were visiting the UN for a few days. Fr. Carlos is actually the reason that I decided to pursue this Fellowship (I mentioned him in my first post) so it was amazing to get to meet him! We all walked around the UN for a little while and then I had the opportunity to interview them both and learn more about their lives and stories! They are both incredible, inspirational people and I thoroughly enjoyed speaking to them. I going to do a formal write up of both the interviews and will post them when I complete them!

Sr. Anne, Fr. Carlos, and I!

Interviewing Sr. Anne in the office!

Friday

            Friday was probably the most difficult day of my work in Geneva thus far. The Dominican delegation had a religious youth group from Lyon, France visiting and Fr. Olivier and I gave them a tour of the UN. I was very excited to meet this tour group but became a little discouraged when I discovered that even though most of them spoke some English, they were nervous to communicate in that language and much preferred French. As a result, the entire day was conducted in French and I found myself an observer on a tour and a guest at a lunch that I did not understand at all. I was able to speak about my experiences at the UN thus far in English at a few points, but Fr. Olivier conducted the majority of the tour. I was very disappointed in myself that I had not made more of an effort to learn French prior to arriving in Geneva and wished that I could have participated more in the day. However, I was grateful that after a week here in Geneva, that was my first frustrating experience with a language barrier! In that sense, I am certainly lucky!

            On the tour, Fr. Olivier and I spoke with the youth group about the way that the Dominicans are able to preach without mentioning the Gospel. Additionally, the group plans a number of debates on religious and theological issues and they were very interested to learn about the ways that discussion and debate at the UN works. Overall, even though it was frustrating, I was very glad to meet the group and enjoyed their visit!

Fr. Olivier explaining the structure of the UN to the group from Lyon.

With the group in front of the UN!

            So there you have it! My first week! I have been having an incredible experience thus far and am getting very excited about the opportunities the next few weeks hold! Until my next post!

(All photos copyright OP)