Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards

Theo van Boven (c) Dovana

With the start of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, there is also a plethora of side events scheduled. I will focus only on those that have Human Rights Defenders as a central theme (e.g. https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/02/14/important-human-rights-council-side-event-on-11-march-to-be-followed-on-internet/). Another one that promises to be interesting is organised by the Permanent Missions of the Netherlands and Argentina on 14 March 2014 from 13h00 – 15h:00 in Room XXI of the Palais des Nations. The main ingredient is the screening of a documentary:  “Theo van Boven: a tribute”.

[Theo van Boven was Director of Human Rights in the UN in the early 80’s and was instrumental in creating what are now called the special procedures. How he was “hired and fired” by the UN in 1982 for the same reason – his deep concern for the right of people – is described in my collection of speeches by Theo van Boven: People Matter: Views on International Human Rights Policy (Meulenhoff: Amsterdam 1982)]

The film is introduced by Kees Flinterman (member of the Human Rights Committee) and Ms Flavia Pansieri, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights. The screening is followed by a panel discussion with:

• Roderick van Schreven, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (moderator)
• Alberto Pedro D’Alotto, Ambassador of the Argentine Republic
• Tom McCarthy, former senior officer of the UN Centre for Human Rights/OHCHR
• Bertrand Ramcharan, former acting High Commissioner for Human Rights
• Adrien-Claude Zoller, founder of human rights NGOs

Finally Theo himself will give some closing remarks.

For those who want to know more about his academic work there is an anthology that brings together a selection of his writings from 1966 to 1998:  http://www.brill.com/human-rights-exclusion-inclusion-principles-and-practice. And to show how he continues to contribute in practical terms see his explanation of why the Theo van Boven fund has been established and what the goals are, on You Tube:

This entry was posted on March 5, 2014 at 13:39 and is filed under films, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, UN.

Tags: argentina, films, Flavia Pansieri, flinterman, Geneva, Hans Thoolen, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, human rights films, human rights mechanisms, images, large scale violations, Netherlands, People Matter, short documentary, side event, the Human Rights Council, Theo van Boven, UN