On the occasion of Human Rights Day, a Human Rights Talk will focus on the consequences of the Covid-19 crisis on human rights, address how the pandemic has aggravated pre-existing threats on human rights of vulnerable groups, but also shed light on possible avenues for a democratic and human rights compliant recovery. Join the online event on December 2nd 2020!
On 14 March 2019, the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights (BIM) organised the panel discussion “HUMAN RIGHTS TALK: ‘Under construction’: How does the EU grow and develop with the help of the instrument ‘Twinning’ as an area of freedom, security and justice?”. The event was hosted by the Representation of the European Union in Vienna.
The crisis of the EU and an enlargement scepticism are reported widely and the question is raised: is the project still to be saved? However, there are concrete successful ways of cooperation. Twinning has been an important partnership instrument between EU countries and enlargement candidates for 20 years, also in the areas of human rights, the rule of law and democratization. Successes and challenges of the instrument will be discussed at this Human Rights Talk.
Former Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke spent his whole life fighting for freedom and changing society for the better. Already at the young age of 15, one year after he joined the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) to stand up against the apartheid regime, he was arrested and sentenced to ten years of imprisonment in Robben Island for his activism. There, Moseneke befriended his fellow prisoner Nelson Mandela and dedicated his time to educating himself. Upon his release, he not only had become a lawyer, but was also the first Black lawyer to join to the otherwise all white Pretoria Bar.
The findings of the Constitutional Court on the repetition of the Federal Presidential Election have brought to light problems in the Austrian electoral processes that have long been in need of a solution. As part of upcoming electoral reforms, some of which are enshrined in the new government agreement, future electoral rights reforms should also meet the recommendations of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Council of Europe's Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), as well as including civil society.
Sandra Breiteneder (Bundeskanzleramt), Jelena Gučanin (Journalist), Barbara Unterlerchner (ZARA), Dina Nachbaur (Weisser Ring) und Maria Windhager (Lawyer), will discuss what the term cyber-violence encompasses, who it affects and how, and ways in which governments, schools, workplaces and individuals can deal with this phenomenon and ensure that women and girls can express themselves and their views in a safe, online environment.
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The involvement of the population in police work is a controversial topic. For some, it represents a significant contribution to increasing the sense of security of the inhabitants, an opportunity to make police work more democratic and participatory. Others, however, fear the softening of the state's monopoly of violence, which could promote whistle-blowing and the formation of neighbourhood watches. Which human rights perspectives and considerations are relevant to the implementation of community policing strategies and how can digital solutions promote them?