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At each gathering of the Executive Session, we invite a guest from a human rights organization outside of the United States to address the members of the Session and to discuss commonalities and differences in approach. Like commissions across the United States, national human rights institutions (NHRIs) around the world take many different forms. At our May 2006 meeting, Harvard Law School Professor Ryan Goodman and Mindy Jane Roseman, Academic Director of the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School, presented an informal review of some of the broad similarities and differences between the U.S. commissions and NHRIs.
In May 2006, we were joined by Emilio Alvarez Icaza Longoria,
President of the Federal District Commission of Human Rights
(CDHDF), or the Mexico City Human Rights Commission. In
October 2006, we were joined by Trevor Phillips, then Chair
of the Commission for Racial Equality in England and Wales
and currently Chair of the new Commission for Equality and
Human Rights. In March 2007, we will be joined by Jody Kollapen,
Chairperson of the South African Human Rights Commission.
Leaders of U.S. commissions can learn a great deal from human rights organizations around the world. Plus, when advocating for particular policies or legislation, U.S. organizations can point to international instruments, such as the International Bill of Rights, and the seven core international human rights treaties. Also, the United Nation's "Paris Principles" set out the characteristics of effectively functioning commissions, which can help a commission evaluate its own strengths and weaknesses.
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