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International Organizations - UN

The Fighting Discrimination Program was initiated in the aftermath of the 2001 Durban UN World Conference Against Racism, which was attended by senior staff of Human Rights First. Hence, the United Nations is an important stage for our initiatives. Apart from engaging in various advocacy opportunities at the UN, we have also played a role in moving the venue for the Durban Review Conference from South Africa to the Geneva, Switzerland. Tad Stahnke, HRF’s Director of Policy and Programs, and Joëlle Fiss, the Fighting Discrimination Program’s Pennoyer Fellow for Combating Hate Crime, are attending the Durban Review Conference in Geneva.

Our Advocacy Activities at the United Nations:

Improved Outcome Document Adopted by UN Racism Conference

Human Rights First Delivered a Statement at the Durban Review Conference at Geneva, welcoming the consensus approval of the Conference’s Outcome Document and highlighting several key issues that must be addressed to ensure that victims of racism and intolerance are protected.

Durban Review Conference Statement

HRF Working Paper on Incitement Laws and Religious Defamation Laws

HRF Advocacy at WCAR

04/24/09

Ahmadinejad Threatens to Hijack UN Racism Conference

Following Iranian President's address at the Durban Review Conference, Human Rights First urges Participating Nations to refocus on ending racism. HRF believes that it is incumbent on governments who have stayed to challenge any efforts to curtail free speech, to promote the concept of defamation of religion and to single out Israel or any other country in the final text of the outcome document.

Press Release

04/20/09

As U.N. Antiracism Day Is Marked, Racist Violence on the Rise

On International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Human Rights First reminds governments to combat racist and other bias-motivated violence, which has been rising across the globe. Key findings pertaining to racially motivated violence are summarized in the Fact Sheet on Violence Based on Racism and Xenophobia. Many states continue to downplay the problem and still do not have adequate policies to successfully tackle hateful attacks.

Press Release

Ten-Point Plan for Combating Hate Crimes

Report: Violence Based on Racism and Xenophobia

03/20/09

HRF Welcomes U.S. Engagement in Durban Review Process

Human Rights First and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, leading U.S. rights organizations, welcome the Obama administration’s decision to engage in the Durban Review Conference in order to try to change the direction in which the conference is heading.

Read Press Release

Hate Crimes a Prominent Issue during the Review of Russia

A high number of country delegations raised the need to strengthen initiatives to combat extremism and hate crimes in Russia during the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the Russian Federation at the United Nations Office at Geneva. The rise of violent hate crimes in Russia has been at the focus of the Fighting Discrimination Program, which urged UN Member States to address this important issue at the Human Rights Council.

HRF's Stakeholder Submission on Russia to the UN Human Rights Council

HRF's Report on Hate Crimes in Russia

Highlights: Review of the Russian Federation (UN)

02/09/09

HRF Urges Obama Administration to Address Concerns with the Durban Review Conference

The incoming Obama Administration should lead an international effort to reshape the United Nations Durban Review Conference into a forum for credible discussion of racism and intolerance, rather than boycott the conference, Human Rights First and two other leading human rights organizations, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights of the American Jewish Committee, said today in a letter to Secretary of State designee Hillary Clinton.

Read Press Release

01/12/09

HRF and LCCR Urge UN High Commissioner to Address Serious Concerns in Durban Review Conference

Elisa Massimino, CEO/Executive Director of Human Rights First, and Wade Henderson, President/CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, wrote UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay, urging her to address serious concerns in connection with the Durban Review Conference in order to prevent a recurrence of the problems that marred the 2001 World Conference Against Racism and ensure that the review conference is a forum for credible discussions on racial discrimination and related intolerance.

Human Rights First and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights encourage states to take an active role in the preparatory process in order to address these concerns. Both organizations support the recent Resolution of the U.S. House of Representatives (H. Res. 1361), which charts a course for U.S. engagement at the highest level. HRF and LCCR have recently worked together to call on Durban Review Conference PrepCom to Protect Freedom of Speech.

Read the Letter

Read H. Res. 1361

October 2008 Durban Prepcom Statement

11/17/08

HRF and LCCR Call on Durban Review Conference PrepCom to Protect Freedom of Speech

Read the Statement

The Fighting Discrimination Program Director Tad Stahnke delivered a statement at the Durban Review Prepcom on behalf of HRF and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. HRF and LCCR offered five principles for provisions on incitement in the future Outcome Document of the Durban Review Conference (to take place in 2009).

Read the Full Statement.

Our Advocacy at the United Nations.

10/09/08

HRF Makes a Written Stakeholder Submission on Hate Crimes in Russia

Fighting Discrimination Team has submitted a report on "Violent Hate Crime in the Russian Federation" to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The submission was made in the framework of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process. UPR is a new mechanism of the United Nations which consists of the review of the human rights practices all States in the world, once every four years. The Russian Federation's appearance before the fourth Universal Periodic Review session is scheduled to take place in February 2009. Fighting Discrimination Program hopes to influence the outcome documents that will result from the Russian Federation's upcoming review.

The report provides an overview of the rise of hate crimes in Russia, analyzes the State's failure to adequately address the problem, and provides concrete recommendations to the relevant government bodies and agencies in Russia, including President Medvedev, Prime Minister Putin, the Interior Ministry, and criminal justice and law enforcement officials. Human Rights First's forthcoming Hate Crime Survey, to be released on September 24, 2008, will include a substantial report on the situation in Russia and a full list of recommendations to the Russian authorities.

Read the Submission

09/08/08