Today the Australian reported on visit by Stanislaw Michalkiewicz to Australia in an article titled “Anti-Jewish jock’s tour sparks fury” (attached).

Stanislaw Michalkiewicz is an ultra-conservative shock jock working for a Catholic radio “Radio Maria” known for his anti-Jewish commentary. Recently he is facing legal action for equating 13 years old victim of a rape by Catholic priest with a prostitute.

I congratulate Mr Aleksander Gancarz OAM, President of the Australian Institute of Polish Affairs of taking a principal stand against the visit and writing to Polish community groups to denounce Michalkiewicz.

We do not need bigots visiting Australia to undermine good name the Poles have earned here and the good relations between Polish and Jewish communities in Australia.

Article

Ms. Agnes Callamard (France), the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, leading an independent human rights inquiry into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi delivered her early findings. Her probe concluded that:

• Evidence points to prima facie case of brutal, premeditated killing
• Planned and perpetrated by officials from Saudi Arabia
• Expert denounces “immunity for impunity”
• Final report will be delivered to Human Rights Council in June
• An important role for the UN and the international community

“Evidence collected during my mission to Turkey shows prime facie case that Mr. Khashoggi was the victim of a brutal and premeditated killing, planned and perpetrated by officials of the State of Saudi Arabia,” said Agnes Callamard, at the end of a visit to Turkey.

The Special Rapporteur said the killing of Mr. Khashoggi was part of a well evidenced pattern of killings globally of journalists, other human rights defenders, activists and opponents of various regimes. “Fleeing abroad in search of safety has become less and less a reliable form of protection,” the Special Rapporteur said. “The international community must take a strong and collective stand against these practices,” she warned.

Callamard’s final report, to be presented to the Human Rights Council in June, will make a range of recommendations, including for the purpose of formal criminal accountability, and their bases in international law. “The human rights inquiry I have committed to undertake is a necessary step, among a number of others, towards crucial truth telling and formal accountability.”

The mission, from 28 January to 3 February, was the Special Rapporteur’s first official visit to the country.

A report published today indicates that  over 90% of published articles reporting on transplant research from China fail to report on where the organs came from, despite international prohibition against the use of prisoner organs.  The article is freely available here:
https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/2/e024473

There is a companion discussion piece in the online academic newspaper the conversation:
https://theconversation.com/whose-hearts-livers-and-lungs-are-transplanted-in-china-origins-must-be-clear-in-human-organ-research-108077

The Guardian is running a front page story here:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/feb/06/call-for-retraction-of-400-scientific-papers-amid-fears-organs-came-from-chinese-prisoners

I write to expresses my serious concern for the welfare of Mr Hakeem al-Araibi, an Australian resident and professional footballer, who has been detained in Thailand pending possible extradition to Bahrain and call for his immediate release and return to Australia.

 This course of action taken by the Thai and Bahrain governments contravenes international human rights law and places Mr al-Araibi, a recognised refugee and torture survivor, at grave risk of imprisonment and torture if forcibly extradited.  According to the Gulf Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, (GIDHR) there are currently over 4,000 prisoners of conscience in Bahrain. 11 citizens died as a result of torture in Bahrain’s prisons in 2017.

 I fully support actions to secure safety of Mr al-Araibi by Mr Craig Foster, former Socceroos captain and member of Australian Multicultural Council who visited Mr al-Araibi in prison and recently met with FIFA in Zurich to present more than 50,000 petition signatures calling for Mr al-Araibi release.

I urge the Australian government and civic society to use all the leverage at their disposal to assist in Hakeem’s immediate release, so that he can be safely reunited with his wife and rebuild the new life the Australian government has granted him in Australia.

Professor Audrey Osler, Editor-in-Chief Human Rights Education Review www.humanrer.org and myself plan to publish a special edition HRER featuring some of the best papers from the International Conference on Human Rights Education in Sydney in December 2018.  If you presented a paper at this conference and would like it to be considered you should submit an extended abstract (max 300 words) by 31 January  2019 to HRER clearly marking your submission ‘9th ICHRE SYDNEY’. Full papers will be required by 31 March. Further details on word length,  formatting and submission via the HRER platform can be found at https://humanrer.org/index.php/human/about/submissions  Please note that the 300 word abstract is designed to help us make an initial choice. Final papers should follow the normal abstract length. HRER is an open access journal that doe not charge either authors or readers. We  work with authors to give published papers maximum exposure.

The editors will make a selection of potential papers for the special edition after 31 January 2019, when we will contact all those who have submitted abstracts. It is possible that if we have more than enough strong papers for the special edition that some authors will be encouraged to submit through the standard process.

We invite you to register for HRER here so that you get future updates on the journal: https://journals.hioa.no/index.php/human/user/register

If you experience any difficulties in uploading an abstract, please contact Gabriela Mezzanotti Gabriela.Mezzanotti@usn.no

You can also follow HRER on Twitter: @humanrer

We look forward to receiving your abstract in due course.

I am writing to inform you about the outcome of the 9th International Conference on Human Rights Education (9^th ICHRE) held in Parramatta on 26-29 November 2018, and to thank you for your support for the international human rights education movement.

This year’s conference theme Unleashing the Full Potential of Civil Society proved to be well chosen and popular with human rights scholars and advocates, as some 250 paper proposals were received.  Only 90 of the best paper and workshop proposals were chosen for presentation at the conference.

The 9^th ICHRE was an absolute success with the attendance of over 380 delegates and speakers from around 50 countries. Feedback from those who participated has been very positive, the high quality of the presentations, as well as the depth of experience of speakers was noted by all, and contributed to the high standard of the conference. The participation of some 110 high school students in the closing discussion panel was a most welcomed innovation. I also hope that the conference has made a positive contribution to human rights education worldwide.

The 9^th ICHRE Report has been prepared. It includes the Sydney Declaration on Human Rights Education that was adopted by conference participants by acclamation in the last session of the Conference on Thursday 29 November 2018.  The Report, photos taken at the conference and other materials related to the ICHRE conference series, can be found on the Office of Equity and Diversity, Western Sydney University Website – please see:

https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/equity_diversity/equity_and_diversity/conferences/international_human_rights_education_conferences

Photographs taken at the conference can be found on the conference website at http://www.ichre2018.com.au/index/1697

Please note that the 10^th ICHRE will be held in Kathmandu, Nepal in late 2019.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2019.

Today we celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the adoption by the UN General Assembly of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR); a document which set out a new direction for humanity.

The Declaration was a visionary document; a triumph of hope and optimism. It was the first global statement of universal human rights standards; of which we now take for granted. Article 1 proclaimed that “Everyone is born free and equal in dignity and with rights”.

Although the Declaration is not binding on states, by now it forms part of customary international law although its educational power over the years exceeded its legal effect.

For more see:
70th Anniversary of UDHR – opinion piece

See below the final press release for the incoming 9th International Conference on Human Rights Education.
Press Release

Attached is the Newsletter, Positive Peace Report 2018