Public Lecture - 'Giving Teeth to International Human Rights Treaties: Reflections on Forty Years of Human Rights Diplomacy'
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Speaker: Professor Brian Burdekin
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Date: Friday, 3 May. 12.30 - 13.30
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Venue: Ui Chadhain Theatre, Arts Building, Trinity College
Professor Brian Burdekin is an international advisor to a number of national human rights institutions in Africa, Asia and Central and Eastern Europe. From 1995 to 2003, as Special Advisor on National Institutions to the first three United Nations High Commissioners for Human Rights, he conducted over 200 missions to 55 countries in Africa, the Asian-pacific, Europe and Latin America where governments or civil society had expressed a genuine interest in establishing an independent Human Rights Commission. He is generally considered to be the leading international expert on national human rights institutions.
In the public lecture Professor Burdekin reflected on forty years of human rights practice and diplomacy within the international human rights system. Reflecting on the ongoing challenge of translating human rights treaties into reality, Professor Burdekin welcomed the growing interest among students to study human rights and encouraged them to pursue a career in human rights at the practical as well as the academic level with a view to making a real difference. Reflecting on his work in the field over the past twenty years in places as diverse as Rwanda, Somalia, Bosnia and East Timor, Professor Burdekin recalled the recurring motif of “never again”. However, recent history paints a sombre picture of the repeated consequences of not having adequate institutions at the national and international level to effectively promote and protect human rights. Professor Burdekin noted that even in developed Western democracies such as Ireland, human rights rhetoric may often fall short of actual practice. National human rights institutions (NHRIs), such as the soon to be established Irish Equality and Human Rights Commission, can play a key role in promoting and protecting human rights on the ground as well as serve as a missing link in the transmission of international human rights standards. Professor Burdekin, drawing on his time as the first Federal Human Rights Commissioner of Australia, outlined how NHRIs can serve as powerful advocates for international human rights.