This time we all mourn with the Ukrainian people suffering from the full-scale Russian military invasion. Unfortunately, at present, we do not observe sufficiently effective international legal means capable of stopping Russian external aggression. At the same time, we also see difficulties in tackling human rights violations inside Russia. In addition to increasing levels of domestic repression, there is a transformation of international human rights mechanisms in relation to Russia. On the one hand, some former means have stopped work in Russia (e.g., the European Court of Human Rights). On the other hand, new mechanisms have been created or discussed (the UN Special Rapporteur on Russia, the “red-line-mechanisms” suggested in the report under the Moscow Mechanism, etc.). Under such conditions, the UN institutions are becoming of great importance to Russian human rights defenders.
The guest lecturers, Tanya Smith* and Denis Shedov*, will share their experience working with the UN institutions on Russian human rights issues, as well as discuss the current challenges and ideas.
* Tanya Smith, J.D., Present: Special Assistant “Memorial” and UN Human Rights Consultant; 1995-2011 United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights – Primary areas of work: Special Procedures and work in the region of the former USSR and the South Pacific; 1989-1995 Moscow – Amnesty International Moscow Representative, CEU and OSF. Tanya has extensive experience working and volunteering in international and national NGOs, and teaching international human rights. She has written numerous reports and public statements on human rights for the United Nations, Amnesty International and for academic publications. She has a chapter in “The Protection Roles of Human Rights NGOs”, ed. Bertrand Ramcharan, (Martinus Nijhoff, November 2022) on the Foreign Agent laws in relation to the Russian organizations “Memorial”.
** Denis Shedov is a lawyer and analyst of the Human Rights Media project OVD-Info, focusing on politically motivated persecution in Russia. His sphere of expertise is freedom of assembly and expression. Denis also is a board member of the Human Rights Defense Center “Memorial”. Additionally, Denis is a doctoral student at the University of Helsinki and a guest researcher at the Free University of Berlin.
Join Zoom Meeting: https://ceu-edu.zoom.us/j/92977232404?pwd=SVRKcE1GbTF6VGthMExJTllyUERndz09
Meeting ID: 929 7723 2404
Passcode: 298939