Launch of the new ECCHR-Report: ‘Blacklisted: Targeted Sanctions, Preemptive Security and Fundamental Rights’

ECCHR-Office, 10 December 2010, 6.30 pm

With a short presentation and discussion by Wolfgang Kaleck, Gavin Sullivan, Ben Hayes and Professor Amir Attaran (University of Ottawa, Canada)

Blacklisted critically analyses the terrorism 'targeted sanctions' regimes set up by the UN and EU in the years following the attacks of 11 September 2001. The lists nominally aim to disrupt the activities of terrorist groups by criminalising their members, cutting off their access to funds and undermining their support. However, they have been the subject of considerable legal challenge and are being seriously undermined by growing doubts about their legality, effectiveness and disproportionate impact on the rights of affected parties.

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Discussion, Exhibition and Office Party

ECCHR Office, 13 November from 5 pm on

Invitation
© Nihad Nino Pušija
5 pm „Torture and Accountability"
Lecture (in English) by Prof. Manfred Nowak, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Director of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Human Rights in Vienna, followed by a discussion.

7 pm Opening of the exhibition "Zigeuner Art"
An installation by the the Bosnian photographer Nihad Nino Pušija focusing on the Roma people who were deported from Germany to Kosovo, and the common stereotypes about them.

7.30 pm Party

RSVP: party@ecchr.eu

Please support our party and / or our work by a donation: Berliner Volksbank, BIC: BEVODEBB, IBAN No. DE77100900008853607011 (Please provide your address for a contribution receipt)

SOUTH KOREAN HUMAN RIGHTS MOVEMENT AND THE NORTH KOREAN PROBLEM – SOME LESSONS FOR GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS MOVEMENTS

ECCHR OFFICE, 6 October 2010 at 6 pm

WITH PROF. HYO-JE CHO

South Korea is often said to have achieved a rare combination of industrialization and democratization among developing countries in a short period of time. In this process one cannot underestimate the role of the pro-democracy human rights movement in the democratization and political liberalization of the country. Although the legitimacy, visibility, and moral fortitude of the human rights movement in South Korea were largely undisputed, the movement has recently been scrutinized for its perceived lack of interest with regard to the growing concern about human rights situation in North Korea. What made the traditional human rights movement reluctant to engage with the North Korean human rights issue?

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FIGHT AGAINST IMPUNITY: THE CASE OF ARGENTINA

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, BRUSSELS, Room: PHS 1A002

30 September 2010, 15.00-16.45

WITH THE JUDGE DANIEL RAFECAS, THE LAWYER RODOLFO YANZON AND WOLFGANG KALECK

On the public hearing "Fight Against Impunity: The Case of Argentina", which can be followed here online, judge Daniel Rafecas, who raised the cases against the military in Argentina, the lawyer Rodolfo Yanzon and Wolfgang Kaleck are speaking. Rodolfo Yanzon has been the leading attorney for the German victims of torture and disappearances in Argentina for many years. ECCHR-Interviews with Rodolfo Yanzon on the current trials and with Wolfgang Kaleck on the german history of the proceedings are here.
Please download the draft program:
Program Program (314.3 kB)

INFRASTRUCTURE AND HUMAN RIGHTS

DIETRICH-BONHOEFFER-HAUS, BERLIN, 4. MAY 2010, 6 PM

Organizer: ECCHR, GegenStrömung, Urgewald

Infrastructure projects such as Dams provide opportunities for regional economic development but they pose significant risks to local populations. Development in regions with an inadequate democratic authority can lead to forced displacement, the destruction of natural resources and cultural repatriation without adequate compensation, and consequently, grave human rights violations. Our upcoming event "Infrastructure and Human Rights" will focus on three case studies, and addresses the legal and political roles and responsibilities of European corporations, banks and governments that participate in projects that violate human rights abroad.

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GUANTÁNAMO AND THE PROSECUTION OF TORTURE AFTER ONE YEAR OBAMA

ECCHR-OFFICE, 26 April 2010, 7pm

WITH THE AMERICAN ATTORNEY MICHAEL RATNER

With an introduction of General Secretary Wolfgang Kaleck to the current cases of ECCHR: the complaint against Lidl and the case Kundus.
Michael Ratner is President of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), a non-profit legal organization dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Michael Ratner was co-counsel in representing Guantanamo Bay detainees in the United States Supreme Court in 2004. He is the author of many books and articles, including The Trial of Donald Rumsfeld A Prosecution by Book, Guantanamo: What the World Should Know and the textbook, International Human Rights Litigation in U. S. Courts.

CIA-'EXTRAORDINARY RENDITION' PROGRAM

WHAT´S NEXT FOR LITHUANIA?

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON 22 MARCH 2010 IN VILNIUS

Organized by Human Rights Monitoring Institute (HRMI), Law School of Vilnius University and European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR)

In August 2009 the existence of a secret prison close to Vilnius came to light. The prison was to be used in the CIA's 'Extraordinary Rendition' Programme. Although an investigative committee from the Lithuanian parliament was able to confirm its existence, it was not able to clarify whether or not  CIA prisoners were interrogated on Lithuanian soil. Taking into consideration the European involvement in the CIA secret programme, this conference will ask which legal steps can be taken  to further illuminate the facts of this case, and which might be employed to prosecute those responsible, should this become necessary.

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FEMICIDE IN OAXACA, MEXICO - IMPUNITY AND COUNTERSTRATEGIES

ECCHR-OFFICE, 31 January 2010

WITH YESICA SÁNCHEZ, advocate and human rights defender from Oaxaca

Yesica Sánchez is a human rights lawyer who works with the NGO Consorcio against the impunity of the ever increasing incidents of violence against women and femicide in Oaxaca, Mexico. Impunity has been committed at all levels of government: by prosecutors, legislators and judicial officials. During the event Ms Sánchez will explain the factors that allow for the increase in violence against women that has been recorded over the last years. She will also talk about strategies that a civil society can develop to counteract this phenomenon.

Organized by: ECCHR, German Human Rights Coordination Mexico and Ecumenical Office, Munich.

CURRENT CHALLENGES IN REFUGEE PROTECTION

ECCHR-OFFICE, 21 January 2010

WITH DR. TILLMANN LÖHR, Advisor to the parliamentary faction of the SPD

The discussion gives an overview of current problems of international, european and German protection of refugees. We will also talk about prospective and legal political action.