Alice Jill Edwards | |
---|---|
United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment | |
Assumed office August 2022 | |
Secretary-General | António Guterres |
Preceded by | Nils Melzer |
Personal details | |
Born | Australia |
Alma mater | University of Tasmania University of Nottingham International Institute of Human Rights Australian National University |
Occupation | Lawyer,scholar |
Alice Jill Edwards is an Australian lawyer and scholar. She is the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel,Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Edwards was born in Australia and took a bachelor's degree at the University of Tasmania. She holds a Master of Laws from the University of Nottingham and a Diploma in International and Comparative Law from the International Institute of Human Rights in France. She returned to Australia to take a PhD in Public International Law at Australian National University. [1] She previously worked for Amnesty International and a Mozambique-based NGO. [2]
Edwards began working at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 1998 in Bosnia and Herzegovina,followed by field assignments in Rwanda (twice) and Morocco,rising to become Chief of Section –Protection Policy and Legal Advice,the key institutional legal position,from 2010 until 2015. Then from 2016 until 2021,she led the secretariat of the inter-governmental diplomatic Convention against Torture Initiative (CTI). [3] She also sits on the editorial board of the journals Torture and Migration Studies. [3]
She has held academic appointments in law at the universities of Oxford [4] and Nottingham,teaches at universities around the world,and is widely published with over 50 publications.
She was appointed the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel,Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in July 2022,taking up the position in August 2022. [2] In a report presented to the United Nations in March 2023,Edwards stated "the national duty to investigate torture is alarmingly,universally,under-implemented". [5] She encouraged countries to do more to investigate allegations of torture. [6]
She investigated torture in the context of the Russo-Ukrainian War. [7]
Prior to Julian Assange's final appeal against extradition to the United States,Edwards urged the UK to stop his extradition because of concerns he would be subject to torture if extradited. [8] She has since welcomed his release. [9]
She has warned the Hong Kong courts not to rely on evidence purportedly obtained via torture in mainland China,in the trial of Jimmy Lai. [10]
She tried to intervene with Russia on behalf of Alexei Navalny prior to his death in February 2024,alleging that he was being mistreated,was not receiving appropriate medical care for his serious health conditions,and that his constant solitary confinement was against international law [11] And she has since called for a full investigation into his death. [12]
She also raised the cases of his colleagues Liliya Chanysheva,Vadim Ostanin and Daniel Kholodny who remain detained.
She wrote to airlines and aviation regulators together with Gehad Madi and Siobhán Mullally in April 2024 to caution them against moving people seeking asylum to Rwanda on behalf of the British Government as they could be "compliant" in creating human rights violations. Madi,Edwards and Mullally wrote to the airlines as the UN's special rapporteurs on migrants’human rights,torture and trafficking to identify the need for companies to comply with international human rights laws. [13]
She has been criticised for failing to raise issues about Israeli torture of Palestinians. [14]
She denounced the attacks committed by Hamas and other armed groups on October 7th 2023 and called for the release of hostages. [15] She was among the first to acknowledge the scale of the atrocities including mass killings and acts amounting to torture including sexual torture. [15]
She has called for a probe into allegations of mistreatment and torture by Israeli authorities against Palestinians. [16] [17] [18]
She was vocal in respect of the Hamas-Israel armed conflict,calling for accountability for all international crimes. [19]
In 2024 she was nominated for Australian of the Year. [20]
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The Manual on Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel,Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,commonly known as the Istanbul Protocol,is the first set of international guidelines for documentation of torture and its consequences. It became an official United Nations document in 1999;the most recent revision was in June 2022.
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Richard Anderson Falk is an American professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University,and Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor's Chairman of the Board of Trustees. In 2004,he was listed as the author or coauthor of 20 books and the editor or coeditor of another 20 volumes. Falk has published extensively with multiple books written about international law and the United Nations.
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Julian Paul Assange is an Australian editor,publisher,and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. He came to international attention in 2010 after WikiLeaks published a series of leaks from Chelsea Manning,a former United States Army intelligence analyst:footage of a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad,U.S. military logs from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars,and U.S. diplomatic cables. Assange has won multiple awards for publishing and journalism.
Nils Joachim Melzer is a Swiss academic,author,and practitioner in the field of international law. From 2016 until 2022,Melzer was the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel,Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. He is a professor of international law at the University of Glasgow. From 2011-2013,he was Swiss Chair of International Humanitarian Law at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. Melzer has criticised the governments of the U.S.,the U.K.,Ecuador and Sweden over their treatment of Julian Assange.
Assange v Swedish Prosecution Authority were the set of legal proceedings in the United Kingdom concerning the requested extradition of Julian Assange to Sweden for a "preliminary investigation" into accusations of sexual offences allegedly made in August 2010. Assange left Sweden for the UK in 27 September 2010 and was arrested in his absence the same day. He was suspected of rape of a lesser degree,unlawful coercion and multiple cases of sexual molestation. In June 2012,Assange breached bail and sought refuge at Ecuador's Embassy in London and was granted asylum.
Agnès Callamard is a French human rights activist who is the Secretary General of Amnesty International. She was previously the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial,summary,or arbitrary executions appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council,and the former Director of the Columbia University Global Freedom of Expression project.
Israeli torture in the occupied territories refers to the use of torture and systematic degrading practices on Palestinians detained by Israeli forces in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The practice,routine for decades,was eventually reviewed by the Supreme Court of Israel in 1999,which found that "coercive interrogation" of Palestinians had been widespread,and deemed it unlawful,though permissible in certain cases. Torture is also practiced by the Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
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Francesca P. Albanese is an Italian international lawyer and academic. On 1 May 2022,she was appointed United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories for a three-year term. She is the first woman to hold the position.
Women in the Israel–Hamas war refers to the experience of Israeli and Palestinian women as victims of violence,combatants,leadership partners,and as participants in informational campaigns during the Israel–Hamas war. The conflict has been marked by violence towards women,including reports of rape and sexual violence by Hamas militants. Following the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7,2023,there were testimonies and videos indicating that Hamas employed methods of severe torture,including violence and sexual violence against Israeli women and children. Close to 100 Israeli women were taken hostage and held in Gaza,leading to efforts by Israeli women and organizations to raise awareness and promote their release. The UN Secretary-General and UN Women condemned the gender-based violence against Israeli women during the attacks.
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During the 2023–24 Israel–Hamas war,Israeli forces have committed wartime sexual violence against Palestinians women and men;including rape and torture. Two Palestinian women reported being raped by male Israeli soldiers while in prison. Palestinian men have also been raped and subjected to torture,and in some cases the torture has led to the victim's death.
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