On 13 June, UpRights will lead a training on the promotion of human rights for participants of the Matra Rule of Law Training Programme led by the Netherlands Helsinki Committee, the Leiden Law School, and The Hague Academy for Local Governance. The Programme is an initiative aimed at strengthening the rule of law for officials of national governments. Through the training program participants gain practical skills and knowledge on rule of law themes and obtain the necessary tools to implement human rights standards effectively.

UpRights will provide an overview on the role of international human rights law in the effective documentation of human rights violations. Participants will interactively engage on issues relating to the cooperation between national actors and NGOs to safeguard fundamental rights.

Participants will also reflect on specific challenges in their own countries to identify areas for reform and exchange practices with peers to mutually enhance their knowledge in developing sustainable policies for rights protection. By providing participants with an overview of mechanisms and policies that can be employed to implement internationally agreed standards, the training programme empowers them to implement the newly gained knowledge and insights in their respective organisations.

From 12 to 14 January , UpRights Co-founder, Valérie Gabard, led a training in Niamey (Niger) for the Commission Nationale des Droits Humains (“CNDH”) designed to improve the effectiveness of drafting human rights investigation reports.

Around 20 participants, technical staff at the central and regional level and certain Commissioners from the CNDH actively participated in the training. Over the course of three days, participants shared their experience in relation to the drafting of human rights reports. The training provided participants with the tools to analyse information collected during human rights investigations and effectively report on them in order to obtain positive change. The training involved presentation of best practices, practical analysis and drafting exercises and targeted discussions and experience sharing on exisiting reports of the CNDH.

These capacity-building initiatives are part of the “Human Rights and Access to Justice in Niger” project “Adalci Project” implemented by a consortium of organisations including the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI), Freedom House, Search for Common Ground and PACT. This four-year program is funded by USAID.

This activity was building on the expertise acquired by the technical staff and Commissioners of the CNDH last October during a first training on investigation’s best practices.

From 11 to 15 October, UpRights Co-founder, Valérie Gabard, in coordination with an on-site facilitator and investigator, led two trainings designed to build capacity to investigate serious human rights violations and abuses during crises to support victims in their quest for justice in Niamey, Niger.

The first training involved 25 participants, composed of technical staff at the central and regional level and certain Commissioners from the Commission Nationale des Droits Humains (“CNDH”). It was a targeted and practical three-day training. The training aimed to strengthen existing investigation practices of the CNDH and to equip participants with best practices to conduct secure, ethical and victim-centered human rights investigations with a focus on victim and witness protection and investigation planning. This training was followed by a two-day training on the same topic for 20 representatives of civil society organizations located in conflict-affected areas of Niger and who cooperate with the CNDH.

These capacity-building initiatives are part of the “Human Rights and Access to Justice in Niger” project “Adalci Project” implemented by a consortium of organisations including the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI), Freedom House, Search for Common Ground and PACT. This four-year program is funded by USAID.

On Friday, September 30, from 9 to 18:30, the Faculty of Law of the University of Bologna will host the Seminar “Migrants’ rights and international crimes. New perspectives and challenges for international and domestic jurisdiction” (Sala Armi, Palazzo Malvezzi, via Zamboni 22, Bologna and online).

The seminar is organized by StraLi for strategic litigation, UpRights and the Faculty of Law of the University of Bologna. Together with journalists, researchers, civil society’s representatives, lawyers, prosecutors, and judges, we will discuss pivotal issues at the intersection of migration and criminal law, such as the qualification of abuses against migrants as international crimes and the impact of European migration policies on human rights. It will comprise of three panels (panel 1 and 2 will be held in English, panel 3 in Italian) which will deal respectively with: migration policies from a human rights perspective; migrations and international criminal law; migrations and Italian criminal law.

Alessandro Pizzuti will be among the speakers of panel 1 to discuss human rights’ application at sea. Alice Giannini and Tomas Manguel will be among speakers of panel 2 and will discuss StraLi’s, UpRights’, and Adala for All’s Article 15 Communication on War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity Committed Against Migrants and Asylum Seekers in Libya.

The full program, including the list of the topics discussed and the panelists, are available here.

No registration needed.

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