Dear colleagues,

Welcome back to the monthly newsletter. We have been inspired and energised by August's Annual Conference #AHRI2021.

This is the first newsletter with our new system. If you are a Member Institute who would like to share news, events, or vacancies, or other types of call, instead of sending an email, please follow this link Newsletter Link

This month our featured institute is the Centre for Human Rights Research, University of Manitoba, Canada. 

• The Annual AHRI Conference was hosted by the Maastricht Centre for Human Rights. Follow this link for the approved 2020 Annual Assembly Minutes. 
• AHRI adopted the Maastricht Declaration on the Human Rights Backsliding in Poland during the #AHRI2021 Assembly Meeting. The Declaration is also available in Polish, French, German, Italian, Chinese and Spanish. Many thanks to colleagues who provided translations. Read the declaration here.
• AHRI has a new member institution. We give a warm welcome to the International Law and Human Rights Unit, University of Liverpool, UK.
• The 2021 AHRI Assembly has also brought us two new Executive Committee members. We welcome Viviana Fernandez of the Human Rights Research and Education Centre, University of Ottawa, Canada and Aoife Nolan of the Human Rights Law Centre, University of Nottingham School of Law. UK.
• A big thank you to Antoine Buyse, who, after 9 years, stepped down from the Executive Committee. We thank Antoine for the years of hard work and dedication!
• The 2023 AHRI Conference will be hosted by Pedro Arrupe Human Rights Institute, University of Deusto, Spain. More information to follow.
• A huge thank you to all who attended the Conference and the wonderful speakers and moderators! And, of course, to our hosts at the Maastricht Centre for Human Rights!

The Centre for Human Rights Research (CHRR) is located at the University of Manitoba, on Treaty 1 Territory in Winnipeg, Canada. CHRR was established in 2012 to bring together people and organizations to enhance interdisciplinary and collaborative research capacity; create rich training opportunities for students; and facilitate the fusion of research-driven knowledge, public policy and intellectual debate on issues related to human rights and social justice. The Centre is directed by Dr. Adele Perry, distinguished professor of history and women’s and gender studies.

Dr Adele Perry, CHRR Director.

CHRR aims to facilitate research that is both academically rigorous and accessible to the public. Currently, CHRR focuses on the following thematic research areas:

• history and commemoration of human rights
• Indigenous peoples and human rights
• right to food and water, and
• sexual and reproductive rights

Ongoing research projects include a project exploring how public transit and the lack of it shapes the lives of Indigenous women and Two-Spirit Plus people in Western Canada, as well as the creation of an online platform to foster a dialogue surrounding Indigenous rights and human rights in the Prairie provinces of Canada, titled At the Forks.

FRA (European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights)

Selected recent publications: 

• 10 June:  

o   Fundamental Rights Report 2021 

o   Fundamental Rights Report 2021 Focus – The coronavirus pandemic and fundamental rights: A year in review 

o   Fundamental Rights Report 2021 – FRA Opinions (to be published in all languages) 

• 16 June: Coronavirus Bulletin #7 – Vaccine equality
• 18 June: NGO ships involved in search and rescue in the Mediterranean and legal proceedings against them - Update June 2021
• 24 June: Protective measures in the Employment Sanctions Directive: fundamental rights challenges and achievements
• 29 June: Consolidated Annual Activity Report 2020
• 7 July: Encouraging reporting of hate crime
• The Handbook on European non-discrimination law – 2018 edition is now also out in Slovenian. It is already available in English, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish and Spanish.
• A note on European standards on legal remedies, complaints mechanisms and effective investigations at borders is now also available in French. It draws on standards from the European Convention on Human Rights and EU law. 

Selected upcoming publications in September 2021: 

• Fundamental rights and civic space in the EU 
• Migration quarterly 
• Updates on NHRI accreditation 
• Forced return monitoring systems - Update 2021 

Selected recent events: 

• 16 September: FRA held a webinar with civil society organisations from its Fundamental Rights Platform. They explored how civil society organisations can be involved and contribute to the Conference on the Future of Europe 
• 24 August, FRA and the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL) signed a new Working Arrangement. The aim of the arrangement is to ensure that fundamental rights issues are well covered in law enforcement trainings, helping law enforcement officials to respect people’s rights in their daily work.  
• 30 June: FRA presented its EU LGBTI Survey results during a National Pride event in Finland on 30 June organized by the Finnish Ministry of Justice. 

Selected upcoming event: the FRF 2021 

• 11 and 12 October: Fundamental Rights Forum 2021: The FRF is amongst the most significant periodic human rights events in the European Union. This year, we are organising a hybrid event – offering the best of in-person and online events. It will be broadcasted live from Vienna City Hall and five other European cities – Strasbourg, Geneva, Warsaw, Ljubljana and Oslo. Its outcomes will feed into major EU and global debates on human rights that will shape our future.
• An integral part of the Forum are performances by musicians, poets, comedians, and artists. The Forum will host dozens of live art performances, highlighting the unique connection between art and human rights.
• Do you want to be part of the biggest human rights event in Europe this year? Then join the Forum! Browse the Forum Programme and Register for your sessions now.
• Here is a page with promotion communication material which you can use to promote the Forum. Promoting the Fundamental Rights Forum 2021 | Fundamental Rights Forum
• We look forward to seeing you in Vienna or online on 11 and 12 October 2021! Follow #RightsForum21! 

Other information of interest: 

• Check FRA publications here.  
• Check FRA news here.
• Subscribe the FRA newsletter here.  

Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice, Sheffield Hallam University, UK

UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR)

Dr Thomas Bundschuh, Senior Lecturer in Human Rights, responded to the CESCR call for written contributions to the draft general comment on Land and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The aim of this general comment is to clarify the States parties’ obligations relating to land and the governance of tenure of land under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Dr Bundschuh’s contribution is published on the CESCR website at the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights:   https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/CESCR/GC-Land-ESCR/71_Helena_Kennedy_CentreHKC_Sheffield_Hallam_UniversitySHU.docx

·    UN Women Los Angeles’s fundraising event

Dr Madhumita Pandey, Lecturer in Criminology, was invited to be a part of UN Women, USA's fundraising event. The event "India's Covid Widows: A New Humanitarian Crisis" focused on fundraising on behalf of UN Women for India’s women and girls deeply impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as highlighted the voices of India's Covid Widows. 

·    Fighting Knife Crime London and the Sheffield arm

Read more about QC Bruce Houlder’s new knife crime initiative, Fighting Knife Crime London, and the Sheffield arm which is being launched in partnership with Sheffield Hallam University and the Helena Kennedy Centre. Find out more: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/bruce-houlder-barrister-knife-crime-young-people-b951069.html

Halsbury’s law books presented by the HKC to the National University of Lesotho

The Helena Kennedy Centre presented a complete set of Halsbury's law books to the High Commissioner of Lesotho, to be delivered to the National University of Lesotho law department, in the virtual presence of senior representatives from NUL and our Vice Chancellor. Sheffield Hallam Hon Doc Ken Dunn of Africa's Gift made the presentation in London.

·    Tokyo 2020 Olympics Pro Bono Legal Team and the shadowing team of students  

Three LLM International Sports Law in Practice students have been selected to shadow the work of Dr Gregory Ioannidis and the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Pro Bono Legal Team. We asked the students about their thoughts on their appointment to the shadowing team. Read more: https://www.shu.ac.uk/helena-kennedy-centre-international-justice/research-and-projects/all-projects/olympics-probono-legal-team

• Vacancy: Mauro Chair in Human Rights and Social Justice Assistant or Associate Professor
• Event: "40 Years SIM Keynote lecture by UN High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet"
• Call for Applications: IMAGES of JUSTICE: The Right to Housing!
• Call for papers: Towards an inclusive governance of “EU fundamental values”

Centre for Human Rights Research, University of Manitoba, Canada

Vacancy

Deadline: Oct. 1, 2021

Mauro Chair in Human Rights and Social Justice (Position Number: 30862) Assistant Professor, Tenure Track Position (Position Number: 30863)

Winnipeg, University of Manitoba

The Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba invites applications for a full-time tenure-track or tenured position at the rank of Assistant or Associate Professor for the Mauro Chair in Human Rights and Social Justice in the Master of Human Rights (MHR) program. Salary and rank will be commensurate with qualifications and experience. The Mauro Chair in Human Rights and Social Justice will play a key role in building the MHR. The appointment will commence on January 1, 2022 or as soon thereafter as possible. The MHR program helps students address human rights challenges of the 21st century. While in the Faculty of Law, the MHR is an interdisciplinary program involving three other faculties (Social Work, Arts, Education) and three centres (Centre for Human Rights Research, Mauro Institute for Peace and Justice, and National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation). The program emphasizes critical engagement with the conception, practice and institutionalization of human rights. This position is supported by an endowment from the Mauro Family Foundation. The chair is renewable after five years. The University is a leading centre of excellence for human rights education and research.

Learn More here: 

Vacancy

Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM)

Event 

Deadline: October 2, 2021 

"40 Years SIM Keynote lecture by UN High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet"

We are greatly honoured to announce that on 2 October 2021, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, will deliver this year's SIM Peter Baehr lecture. 
The lecture, which the Commissisioner will deliver in a livestream from Geneva, will also form the keynote lecture of SIM's 40 years anniversary conference that day. For the conference entitled 'Life Begins at Forty: Human Rights for the Future', we have an exciting line-up of speakers both from academia and practice, including:
Bahia-Tahzib-Lie
Corinne Dettmeijer-Vermeulen
Jelle Klaas
Yvonne Donders
Daphina Misiedjan
Salvo Nicolosi
Barbara Oomen
Lorena Sosa

More information can be found here.

Human Rights Research and Education Centre, Canada

Call for Application

Deadline November 1, 2021

IMAGES of JUSTICE: The Right to Housing!

The Human Rights Research and Education Centre (HRREC) is pleased to participate, in partnership with CONTEKST, The SHIFT, the Faculty of Law, Common Law Section, the Ryerson Lincoln Alexander School of Law, and The Law Foundation of Ontario, in the third edition of IMAGES of JUSTICE: The Right to Housing!

This edition will exhibit satirical and comic visualization of various facets and challenges of the human right to adequate housing. The images of this series will shed light upon challenges, inconsistencies, and flaws within the current framework of the human right to housing and its full realization.

We invite cartoonists and illustrators to submit their work by NOVEMBER 1st, 2021 to info@contekst.education.
To view previous editions of Images of Justice, visit https://contekst.education/exhibits/.

Third edition of IMAGES of JUSTICE: The Right to Housing. https://cdp-hrc.uottawa.ca/en/images-justice-2021-right-housing-call-artists

Human Rights Centre “Antonio Papisca”, University of Padova, Italy

Call for papers

Sept 29th

Towards an inclusive governance of “EU fundamental values”

Call for papers for the Human Rights Centre “Antonio Papisca” and Department of Political Science, Law and International Studies, University of Padova, Italy in the context of the International Research Conference:  ‘Towards an inclusive governance of “EU fundamental values”: current pitfalls and possible solutions for a consistent multi-level protection of the rule of law, democracy and human rights within and outside the EU’. The Conference is on 8-9 November 2021. Learn more here.