By Lucianna Ciccocioppo
(March 11, 2010) Not too many university students can say they contributed to a human rights report on Iran which was submitted to the United Nations for review. But these two law students can.
Aneesa Walji and Nicole Simes |
Aneesa Walji and Nicole Simes did legal research for the US-based non-governmental organization the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, as part of the international human rights clinic course at the Faculty of Law.
Simes and Walji were given a file related to Iran's post-election violence in June 2009. The IHRDC was documenting human rights abuses that occurred leading up to and after the Iranian elections. It was interviewing witnesses.
"We used the facts the Documentation Center had at the time and applied international law in three areas-- freedom of assembly, freedom of association and free and fair elections," says Walji. "We submitted a final memo with our analysis."
In this case, the students found that the legal argument under the right to assembly was strongest. Their research contributed to three out of five parts of the report.
The report was presented last month at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva at a session called the Universal Periodic Review. There was one day dedicated to a discussion on the situation in Iran.
But it's going to take a lot more than this report to get Iran to change its ways.
In a media release following the report discussion, the IHRDC says "The Iranian delegation not only failed to address many concerns of members of the Council, but often lied about the human rights situation in Iran." The next step takes place in June, when the Council will consider the outcome of a review.
Still, the students hope to eventually see the impact of their work.
"Iran is sensitive to the views of the international community on its human rights record," says Simes.
"In domestic law, there's a traditional way to keep people accountable-- through the courts," says Walji. "But in the international domain, it's often about 'naming and shaming.'"
"If the Human Rights Council relies on the IHRDC report, then we'll have helped make a difference in some way," Simes adds. "Working on the Iran project was good experience on how NGOs pursue international justice."
Photo by Lucianna Ciccocioppo
