Bring your own lunch and hear, in person and via video-conference with Boston, experts discussing the United Nations’ new Human Rights Council.

The new Human Rights Council was created by a resolution of the UN General Assembly on March 15, 2006 and the new members were elected on May 9 during the 60th session of the General Assembly. The inaugural meeting will be held on June 19.

Professor Walter Kälin, considered the “architect” of the new UN Human Rights Council, is a special representative of the UN Secretary General on the Human Rights of internally displaced persons, expert of the UN Committee for Human Rights and professor of constitutional and international public law at the University of Bern, Switzerland. The organizers of the video-conference took advantage of his presence at SHARE in Boston, where he will be attending a two days seminar on human rights, to establish a dialogue with San Francisco, the birthplace of the United Nations.

During the video-conference, Prof. W. Kälin will introduce the new UN body (from Boston), exchange ideas with human rights experts in San Francisco and answer their questions. Announced experts in San Francisco are Julianne Cartwright Traylor (Associate Director, International Programs USF School of Law and President of the Board of Directors of the Human Rights Advocates) and Rita Maran, Ph D. (lecturer, Human Rights, UC Berkeley).

Scholars, professionals, students and other parties interested in human rights are invited to take part in this event. Questions from the audience will be welcome.


PROGRAM:
11:30 am: Doors open, registration
11:45 pm: Welcome
11:50 am: Introduction by Mr. J.F. Lichtenstern, Consul General of Switzerland in San Francisco
12:00 pm: panel discussion via video-conference
13:00 pm: end


For more information on the new Human Rights Council: http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil