Press Releases

The Geneva Centre strongly condemns the flagrant violations of human rights carried out by radical terrorist groups in Libya, which involve violent systematic acts targeting innocent civilians and diplomatic missions, including the demolition and burning of the house of the Libyan Permanent Representative to UN Office at NewYork Ibrahim Dabbashi on 16 September 2014. This event follows other previous kidnappings and murder attacks on members of more than twenty diplomatic mission, as well as representatives of humanitarian and international organizations. In this context, the Geneva Centre calls for the need to restore security, bring peace, and support the legitimate Libyan institutions including the Parliament elected in last June.

In the framework of the continuous efforts made by the Sultanate of Oman to enhance capacity building and develop political and legal institutions, H.E. Ambassador Abdullah Al-Rahbi, Permanent Representative of Oman to the United Nations in Geneva, organized a meeting with the Geneva Centre. The meeting was attended by a high-level Omani delegation representing more than twenty-four deputy Ministers, Governors and heads of Local Authorities, who were following an intensive training program in Switzerland, and by UN Senior Officials and Experts. The aim was to exchange views on generic human rights issues, as well as on the modalities to further enhance Oman’s involvement in the Human Rights Council and its related Mechanisms.

On 1st September 2014, H.R.H. Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein from Jordan assumed his functions as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, following the General Assembly’s approval, on 16 June, of his appointment by the UN Secretary-General. It is a turning point in the history of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, led for the first time since its creation in 1993 by an Asian, Muslim and Arab.

H.E. Dr. Hanif Al-Qassim, Chairman of the Geneva Centre’s Board of Management, has met with Mr. Sylvain Thévoz, Member of the Municipal Council and Advisor for Culture and Community Action at Ville de Genève, in order to discuss areas of cooperation, notably in the cultural field. Their attention was particularly drawn by the importance of organising and developing activities and programmes aimed to enhance cultural exchanges as a means to dispel stereotypes. The ultimate goal is to promote tolerance between the different components of each community, and establish dialogue as a main factor of nations’ progress.

The Geneva Centre signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Laboratory of Sociology of Third World Societies of the University of Geneva, founded in 1989 by Prof. Jean Ziegler, Member of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee.

On the sidelines of the visit of a high-level ministerial Arab delegation to Switzerland, H.E. Dr. Hanif Al-Qassim, Chairman of the Geneva Centre’s Board of Management, has met with H.E. Dr. Nabil El Araby, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, in order to discuss future areas of cooperation and enhance coordination on Arab issues, particularly with regard to the work of the United Nations Human Rights Council and its related mechanisms.

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In the framework of the efforts made by the Geneva Centre to develop and strengthen the existing international human rights mechanisms, notably the system of the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council almost fifty years after its establishment in 1967, H.E. Dr. Hanif Al-Qassim, Chairman of the Board of Management, held a number of meetings with various stakeholders. The purpose of these meetings was to discuss ways to galvanize and strengthen the system of Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council.

A delegation from the Ministry of Education of Bahrain paid a visit to the Geneva Centre last week. Formally welcomed by Chairman Dr. Hanif Al Qassim and executive director Imad Zuhairi, the delegation raised the discussion on the current levels of education in Bahrain.

In December 2013, the United Nations General Assembly decided by its Resolution 68/192 “Improving the coordination of efforts against trafficking in persons” to observe July 30th as the World Day against Trafficking in Persons. The rationale behind the choice of this date lies in the fact that the UN Global Plan of Action against Trafficking in Persons, the first universal and comprehensive document concerning the issue of combating human trafficking, was adopted on July 30th, in 2010. The Global Plan of Action, which calls for integrating the fight against human trafficking into the United Nations’ broader programmes to boost development and strengthen security around the world, was defined by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as “a clarion call” of the need to take immediate steps “to stop this terrible crime against human dignity, which shames us all”.