Professor E. Tendayi Achiume | |
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Academic background | |
Alma mater | Atlantic College Yale University Yale Law School |
Academic work | |
Institutions | University of California,Los Angeles Constitutional Court of South Africa |
E. Tendayi Achiume is a Professor of Law and former Faculty Director of the Promise Institute for Human Rights at the University of California,Los Angeles. She served as the United Nations special rapporteur on Racism,Racial Discrimination,Xenophobia and Related Intolerance from her appointment in September 2017 until November 2022. She was the first woman appointed to this position since its creation in 1993.
Achiume was born in Zambia. [1] When she was growing up,Achiume had an inspirational physics teacher,and first considered a career in physics and engineering. [2] She attended the Atlantic College in Wales,where she first became interested in international law. [1] Achiume earned her bachelor's degree at Yale University. She moved to the Yale Law School for her Juris Doctor,where she also earned a certificate in Development Studies. [3] During her training she specialised in international migration and refugee rights. [1] She was particularly interested in the humans rights abuses against Zimbabwean refugees who were seeking asylum in South Africa. [2] After earning her doctoral degree,Achiume moved to South Africa,where she worked as a legal clerk for Dikgang Moseneke and Justice Yvonne Mokgoro in the Constitutional Court of South Africa. [4] [5] She also served as a lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand. [6]
Following her positions as a legal clerk,she was awarded a Bernstein International Human Rights fellowship to join the migrant rights project at Johannesburg's Lawyers for Human Rights. [5]
In 2014 Achiume joined the faculty at University of California,Los Angeles. [7] At UCLA,Achiume leads the International Human Rights Clinic,a programme which teaches students international human rights through clinical projects. The projects led by Achiume include providing legal support for Indigenous peoples of the Americas,legal policies in Los Angeles and incarcerated women. [8] As part of the programme,Achiume worked with Dignity and Power Now,an organisation in Los Angeles that looks to support incarcerated people and their families. She and her students looked at violations against incarcerated women of colour who suffered from mental illness. She demonstrated that these women were regularly denied physical or mental health support. [9] She chaired the 2016 American Society of International Law annual meeting. [10] In 2017 Achiume was appointed to the United Nations Human Rights Council as the UN special rapporteur on Racism,Racial Discrimination,Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. [11] She was the first woman to hold such a position. [11]
In 2018 Achiume visited the United Kingdom to study the prevalence of race crimes and how they were being exacerbated by Brexit. [12] [13] Her verdict was that the Home Office hostile environment policy had "entrenched racism" across the United Kingdom. [14] She encouraged the Government of the United Kingdom to evaluate its policies on discrimination and to investigate the criminalisation of young Black men. [15] Achiume identified that the anti-foreigner rhetoric that developed during the Leave.EU campaign was permeating society,and that austerity measures were disproportionately impacted communities of colour. [15] In particular,she pointed out that "hateful and stigmatising discourse had become 'normalised' –even involving some high-ranking officials". [16] This visit was documented in her first report to the United Nations General Assembly,in which she concluded that "ethnonationalist populism" posed a considerable threat to racial equality. [17] In 2019,she benefited of the support of UCLA which received to this end a grant from the Ford Foundation,especially for research about raising issues from the Global South. [18]
During the COVID-19 pandemic,Achiume studied the rise in racism and xenophobia that spread alongside SARS-CoV-2. [19] [20] In particular,she said that people perceived to be of Chinese or East Asian descent were subject to xenophobic attacks. [20] Achiume emphasised the need for education in combating racism,and that racial and xenophobic discrimination should become a more substantial part of education. [20]
On October 4,2023,it was announced that Achiume had been awarded the MacArthur Fellowship for her work "reframing foundational concepts of international law at the intersection of racial justice and global migration." [21]
In October 2023,Achiume signed a letter to Joe Biden condemning Israel’s bombardment and intensifying blockade of Gaza and calling for an immediate cease-fire. The letter was signed by legal scholars from some of the United States' most prestigious law faculties. [22] [23]
Xenophobia is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression which is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-group and an out-group and it may manifest itself in suspicion of one group's activities by members of the other group, a desire to eliminate the presence of the group which is the target of suspicion, and fear of losing a national, ethnic, or racial identity.
Racism in Japan comprises negative attitudes and views on race or ethnicity which are held by various people and groups in Japan, and have been reflected in discriminatory laws, practices and action at various times in the history of Japan against racial or ethnic groups.
The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (VDPA) is a human rights declaration adopted by consensus at the World Conference on Human Rights on 25 June 1993 in Vienna, Austria. The position of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights was recommended by this Declaration and subsequently created by General Assembly Resolution 48/141.
Doudou Diène is a Senegalese jurist. He was United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance from 2002–2008.
The year 2001 was declared the International Year of Mobilization against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance by the United Nations General Assembly.
Ukraine is a multi-ethnic country that was formerly part of the Soviet Union. Valeriy Govgalenko argues that racism and ethnic discrimination has arguably been a largely fringe issue in the past, but has had a climb in social influence due to ultra-nationalist parties gaining attention in recent years. There have been recorded incidents of violence where the victim's race is widely thought to have played a role, these incidents receive extensive media coverage and are usually condemned by all mainstream political forces. Human Rights Watch reported that "racism and xenophobia remain entrenched problems in Ukraine". In 2012 the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) reported that "tolerance towards Jews, Russians and Romani appears to have significantly declined in Ukraine since 2000 and prejudices are also reflected in daily life against other groups, who experience problems in accessing goods and services". From 2006 to 2008, 184 attacks and 12 racially motivated murders took place. In 2009, no such murders were recorded, but 40 racial incidents of violence were reported. It is worth considering that, according to Alexander Feldman, president of the Association of National and Cultural Unions of Ukraine, "People attacked on racial grounds do not report the incidents to the police and police often fail to classify such attacks as racially motivated and often write them off as domestic offence or hooliganism".
El Mina is a suburb of Nouakchott and urban commune in western Mauritania. It has a population of 95,011.
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Defamation of religion is an issue that was repeatedly addressed by some member states of the United Nations (UN) from 1999 until 2010. Several non-binding resolutions were voted on and accepted by the UN condemning "defamation of religion". The motions, sponsored on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), now known as the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, sought to prohibit expression that would "fuel discrimination, extremism and misperception leading to polarization and fragmentation with dangerous unintended and unforeseen consequences". Religious groups, human rights activists, free-speech activists, and several countries in the West condemned the resolutions arguing they amounted to an international blasphemy law. Critics of the resolutions, including human rights groups, argued that they were used to politically strengthen domestic anti-blasphemy and religious defamation laws, which are used to imprison journalists, students and other peaceful political dissidents.
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Racism in Lithuania appears mainly in the form of negative attitudes and actions towards people who are not considered ethnically Lithuanian, mainly started and spread throughout themely dangerous. Especially if the foreigner is of different race. According to the data provided by the Centre for Ethnic Studies, Roma people, Chechens, refugees and Muslims are regarded with disfavour most of all in Lithuania. Anti-Polish sentiments are also very strong in Lithuania. However, recent research showed that Lithuanians themselves claim to be tolerant. The problem of racism is still not widely admitted, although the Government itself has put some effort to reduce xenophobia in Lithuania. Since the mid-2000s the Law on Equal Opportunities forbids any direct or indirect discrimination on the basis of racial or ethnic origin, gender, religion, nationality or belonging to any other group.
Expression of racism in Latvia include racist discourse by politicians and in the media, as well as racially motivated attacks. European Commission against Racism and Intolerance notes some progress made in 2002–2007, mentioning also that a number of its earlier recommendations are not implemented or are only partially implemented. The UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance highlight three generally vulnerable groups and communities: ethnic Russians who immigrated to Latvia under USSR, the Roma community and recent non-European migrants. Besides, he notes a dissonance between "opinion expressed by most State institutions who view racism and discrimination as rare and isolated cases, and the views of civil society, who expressed serious concern regarding the structural nature of these problems".
Githu Muigai is a Kenyan lawyer who was the Attorney General of the Republic of Kenya until February 13, 2018, when he resigned. He holds a bachelor's degree in law from the University of Nairobi, a master's degree in international law from Columbia University School of Law, and was awarded a doctoral degree in law in November 2002. Prior to becoming Attorney General Githu Muigai served in the defunct Constitution of Kenya Review Commission and at the United Nations as Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
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