09:00 – 09:45 WELCOME
Michael Lysander Fremuth
Professor of Fundamental and Human Rights, University of Vienna
Scientific Director of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Fundamental and Human Rights
Alexander Schallenberg
Federal Minister for European and International Affairs of the Republic of Austria
Sebastian Schütze
Rector of the University of Vienna
Brigitta Zöchling-Jud
Dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of Vienna
Frank Suder
Director of the Fritz Thyssen Foundation
09:45 – 10:00 VIDEO MESSAGE
Volker Türk
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
10:00 – 11:30 PANEL I
Combatting Climate Change – What Role for the Judiciary and Civil Society?
Responsible Organisation:
Academy for European Human Rights Protection, University of Cologne
Chair: Angelika Nußberger
Academy for European Human Rights Protection, University of Cologne
The German Climate Ruling – An Intertemporal Understanding of Fundamental Rights
Susanne Baer
Humboldt University of Berlin
(Strategic) Climate Litigation and the Separation of Powers - An Uneasy Relationship?
Lorenz Wielenga
Academy for European Human Rights Protection, University of Cologne
Protecting Fundamental Rights – Climate Civil Disobedience in Court
Joschka Selinger
Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte/ Society for Civil Rights e.V., Berlin
11:30 – 11:45 COFFEE BREAK
11:45 – 13:15 PANEL II
Minority Rights After the Vienna Declaration: Positive Progress or Missing in Action?
Responsible Organisation:
Sussex Centre for Human Rights Research, University of Sussex
Chair: Stephanie Berry
Sussex Centre for Human Rights Research, University of Sussex
Reflections on the Role of ICERD in the Global Protection of Minorities
David Keane
Dublin City University
An Afterthought No More – Mainstreaming the Rights of Minorities in UN Treaty Body Practice
Isilay Taban
Brighton University
Global Governance on Minority Rights: Assessing Participation and Normative Trends in the UN Forum on Minority Issues
Anna-Mária Bíró and Corinne Lennox
Tom Lantos Institute; University of London
Minority Rights after the Vienna Declaration: Positive Progress, Missing in Action...or an Unfinished Story?
Fernand de Varennes
UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues
13:15 – 14:30 LUNCH BREAK
14:30 – 16:00 PANEL III
Women's Rights as Human Rights
Responsible Organisation:
Birmingham City University's Centre for Human Rights
Chair: Rebecca Smyth
Birmingham City University's Centre for Human Rights
Locating Egyptian Feminist Practices in Counter Hegemonic Human Rights Spaces
Shaimaa Abdelkarim
University of Birmingham
Emerging Issues in Violence Against Women – Changes, Challenges and Opportunities
Reem Alsalem
UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Girls
The UN Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls' Focus on Reasserting Gender Equality and Resisting Rollbacks: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities
Melissa Upreti
Member, UN Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls
The UN's Universal Periodic Review: Towards the Eradication of Violence Against Women?
Alice Storey
Birmingham City University
16:00 – 16:30 COFFEE BREAK
16:30 – 17:30 PANEL IV
Human Rights in the Digital Age
Responsible Organisation:
Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
Chair: Thérèse Murphy
Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
The Slow Violence of Fast-Developing Technologies – How AI Unravels the Normative Justifications of the Right to Privacy and Human Dignity
Sue Anne Teo
Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
From Moderation to Regulation – Embedding Human Rights in the New Wave of Government Response to Online Harms
David Kaye
Former UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression
Advancing the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights through the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI
Doaa Abu-Elyounes
UNESCO
17:30 – 18:30 PODIUM DISCUSSION
The Legacy of the World Conference on Human Rights - in memoriam Felix Ermacora
Responsible Organisation:
Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Fundamental and Human Rights
Chair: Christina Binder
Bundeswehr University Munich
Manfred Nowak
Global Campus of Human Rights, Venice
Frederick John Packer
University of Ottawa
Christian Strohal
Former Ambassador for the UN World Conference on Human Rights 1993
19:30 EVENING PROGRAMME
Reception at the Vienna City Hall and Conference Dinner
Thursday, 28 September 2023
Palais Trautson
09:00 – 09:15 WELCOME
Alma Zadić
Federal Minister of Justice of the Republic of Austria
09:15 – 10:30 PANEL V
Human Rights of LGBTI Persons – Far from Universal Recognition?
Responsible Organisation:
University of Lausanne
Chair: Andreas R. Ziegler
Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics (SOGIESC) Law Project at
the University of Lausanne
Seven Years of the Mandate of the United Nations Independent Expert on Protection Against Violence and Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity – What Has Been Done, What Remains?
Victor Madrigal-Borloz
United Nations Independent Expert on Protection against Violence and Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
From Absence to Contested Advances – The Long Road Towards the Recognitoin of SOGIESC Issues
Julia Ehrt
ILGA World – The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association
The 'M' in LGBTQ – The Evolution of Sexual and Gender Paradigms Through Nation Building in the Levant Region
Suhail Abualsameed
Independent International Consultant
10:30 – 10:45 COFFEE BREAK
10:45 – 12:15 PANEL VI
Regional Perspectives on Human Rights from the Global South
Responsible Organisation:
Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria & Association of Human Rights Institutes
Chair: Magnus Killander
Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria
The Impact of Special Mechanisms on the Work of the African Commission of Human and Peoples Rights
Jainaba Johm
National Human Rights Commission, The Gambia
Evolving Human Rights Mechanism in the Asian Region
Vitit Muntarbhorn
UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Cambodia
Elizabeth Salmón
Pontifical Catholic University of Peru
Chile and Human Rights – 50 Years After the Coup
Tomás Pascual
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Chile
12:15 – 13:30 LUNCH BREAK
13:30 – 15:00 PANEL VII
Business and Human Rights
Responsible Organisation:
Centre for Human Rights, Erlangen-Nuremberg
Chair: Markus Krajewski
Centre for Human Rights, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg
Humberto Cantú Rivera
Universidad des Monterrey
Surya Deva
UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development
Justine Nolan
Australian Human Rights Institute, University of New South Wales Sydney
Anita Ramasastry
University of Washington
15:00 – 15:15 COFFEE BREAK
15:15 – 16:30 PANEL VIII
Realising the Human Right to Science – Threats, Challenges and Possibilities
Responsible Organisation:
Austrian Human Rights Institute & European Training and Research Centre for Human Rights and Democracy
Chair: Philip Czech & Gerd Oberleitner
University of Salzburg and University of Graz
Gabriela Ramos (video message)
UNESCO Assistant Director-General
The Right to Science – Possibilities and Challenges
Helle Porsdam
University of Copenhagen
The UNESCO Recommendation on Science and Scientific Researchers – Perspectives for Advancing the Right to Science
Konstantinos Tararas
UNESCO
16:30 – 16:45 COFFEE BREAK
16:45 – 18:00 PANEL IX
Respecting and Ensuring Human Rights of Migrants and Refugees
– Contemporary Challenges and Good Practices
Responsible Organisation:
UNHCR, Office in Austria
Chair: Birgit Einzenberger
UNHCR, Office in Austria
A Long Way To Go – Addressing Protection Challenges in Mixed Movements of Refugees and Migrants
Madeline Garlick
UNHCR Division of International Protection, Geneva
Climate Change and Migration
Vasilka Sancin
University of Ljubljana
Enhancing the Protection of Refugees and Other Migrants Through Human Rights – Good Practices from Latin America
Liliana Lyra Jubilut
Catholic University of Santos
Seeking Asylum – Addressing Human Rights Violations and Protecting Refugee Rights from Lived Experience Perspective
Shaza Alrihawi
Global Refugee-led Network
19:00 EVENING PROGRAMME
Reception at the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs of the Republic of Austria (only on personal invitation)
Friday, 29 September 2023
Palais Trautson
09:00 – 09:15 WELCOME
Martin Polaschek (video message)
Federal Minister of Education, Science and Research of the Republic of Austria
09:15 – 10:30 PANEL X
Human Rights Protection within the EU – The EU's Role
Responsible Organisation:
European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights
Chair: Gabriel Toggenburg
The EU as a Human Rights Organisation – Limitations and Potential
European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights
The EU and the Fundamental Rights of Migrants – Challenges and Concerns
Marie-Laure Basilien-Gainche
University Jean Moulin Lyon 3, Institut Universitaire de France
An Assessment of the EU’s Human Rights Performance – The Case of Equality and Disability
Delia Ferri
Maynooth University
The EU’s Human Rights Performance from the Perspective of the UN and the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action
Elena Kountouri Tapiero
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Regional Office for Europe
10:30 – 10:45 COFFEE BREAK
10:45 – 12:00 PANEL XI
Reform of the UN Treaty Bodies
Responsible Organisation:
Human Rights Centre of the University of Potsdam
Chair: Norman Weiß
Human Rights Centre of the University of Potsdam
Strengthening the UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies
Nils-Hendrik Grohmann
University of Potsdam; Kammergericht Berlin
Hélène Tigroudja
Aix-Marseille University
Treaty Bodies in Challenging Times – Upholding the Integrity of the UN Human Rights System in face of Contestations
Andreas Zimmermann
Human Rights Centre, University of Potsdam
12:00 – 13:00 LUNCH BREAK
13:00 – 14:00 PODIUM DISCUSSION
Ombuds Institutions as Human Rights Stakeholders
Responsible Organisation:
Austrian Ombudsman Board (Volksanwaltschaft)
Chair: Johannes Carniel
Austrian Ombudsman Board (Volksanwaltschaft)
Kholeka Gcaleka
Acting Public Protector of the Republic of South Africa
Tena Šimonovic Einwalter
Ombudswoman of the Republic of Croatia
Barbara Liegl
Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Fundamental and Human Rights
14:00 – 15:00 PANEL XII
National Human Rights Institutions – Bringing Human Rights Home
Responsible Organisation:
German Institute for Human Rights
Chair: Beate Rudolf
German Institute for Human Rights
NHRIs and the Rights of Refugees
Gillian Triggs
UN Assistant Secretary-General and Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, UNHCR
NHRIs and the Domestic Realisation of Economic and Social Rights
Bongani Majola
Human Rights Commission of the Republic of South Africa
NHRIs, Human Rights Defenders, and Civic Space
Sirpa Rautio
Human Rights Centre, European Network of National Human Rights Institutions
15:00 – 15:15 COFFEE BREAK
15:15 – 16:30 PODIUM DISCUSSION
Human Rights Defenders – How Civil Society Makes A Difference
Responsible Organisation:
Austrian League for Human Rights
Chair: Angelika Watzl
Austrian League for Human Rights
Guadalupe Marengo
Amnesty International
Alice Mogwe
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH); Ditshwanelo – The Botswana Centre for Human Rights
Michael Phoenix
Office of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders
Marianne Schulze
Board Member, Global Initiative on Psychiatry
16:30 – 17:30 PODIUM DISCUSSION
Conference Outlook: The Universality of Human Rights Is Beyond Question?
Chair: Michael Lysander Fremuth
University of Vienna, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Fundamental and Human Rights
Michael O'Flaherty
European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights
Erika de Wet
University of Graz
17:30 END OF CONFERENCE