Special rapporteur is the title given to independent human rights experts whose expertise is called upon by the United Nations to report or advise on human rights from a thematic or country-specific perspective.
Juan E. Méndez is an Argentine lawyer, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and human rights activist known for his work on behalf of political prisoners.
Sir Nigel Simon Rodley KBE was an international lawyer and professor.
The Bruno Kreisky Prize for Human Rights is a biennial award created in October 1976 on the occasion of the 65th birthday of Bruno Kreisky. The laureates are rewarded for their achievements in the field of human rights. The prize was divided in 1993 into a human rights prize and a prize in recognition of merit. The Bruno Kreisky Foundation for Human Rights has awarded in 14 conferments more than 130 individuals, institutions and human rights projects for outstanding services to the development and protection of international human rights and extraordinary achievements in the area of humanitarian aid. The prize winners are chosen both by the board of trustees of the Bruno Kreisky Foundation and by an international jury.
Felix Ermacora was a leading human rights expert of Austria and a member of the Austrian People's Party.
The Otto Hahn Peace Medal in Gold is named after the German nuclear chemist and 1944 Nobel Laureate Otto Hahn, an honorary citizen of Berlin.
Vitit Muntarbhorn is an international human rights expert and professor of law at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. Muntarbhorn was designated in September 2016 as the first UN Independent Expert on violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity by the Human Rights Council before succeeded by Victor Madrigal-Borloz in 2018.
Martin Scheinin is an international law scholar who served as the first United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism in 2005–2011. He was selected for this position after serving for eight years (1997–2004) as member of the United Nations Human Rights Committee, the independent expert body monitoring states' compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. While on the committee, he was known as a defendant of the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples and opponent of capital punishment, as well as the drafter of the committee's General Comment No. 29 on states of emergency.
The Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights is a Vienna-based research institute affiliated with the Austrian Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft, that specializes in the area of human rights.
Hannes Tretter is an Austrian lawyer and human rights expert. He is Professor of Human Rights at the University of Vienna and Director of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institut für Menschenrechte, which he cofounded with Felix Ermacora and Manfred Nowak in 1992. He is also an expert with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, a board member of the Austrian League for Human Rights and chairs the Steering Committee of the Austrian EUMC Focal Point.
Felice D. Gaer is an American human rights defender and advocate. She has worked on human rights matters and was a longstanding member and the former chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. She is a member of the US National Commission to UNESCO.
The European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation (EIUC) is an interdisciplinary centre covering the area of human rights education and research formed by 41 universities from all European Union member states. The EIUC's activities include interdisciplinary education of students worldwide; developing training for senior officials of international organisations, field personnel, and other human rights professionals; identifying means of transferring academic expertise to the public, such as using visual arts and mass media; creating an environment for research cooperation; representing a network of graduates of the European Master's Programme in Human Rights and Democratisation. The centre is housed in the Monastery of San Nicolò al Lido which has been made available to the EIUC by the Municipality of Venice, Italy.
Naji Ali Hassan Fateel is a Bahraini human rights activist and member of the Board of Directors of the Bahraini human rights NGO Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR). Since 2007 he has been imprisoned, tortured and the target of death threats during the Bahraini uprising (2011–present). He has been the subject of urgent appeals by international human rights organisations and the United nations special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders.
Heiner Bielefeldt is a German philosopher, historian and Catholic theologian. He is Professor of Human Rights and Human Rights Policy at the University of Erlangen. From 2010 to 2016, he served as United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief.
Lilian Hofmeister is a leading Austrian expert in the field of advancement of women's rights, women's access to justice and in particular elimination of discrimination against women. She worked as a judge in Austria for more than 30 years and has served as Substitute Justice at the Austrian Constitutional Court since 1998.
University of Oslo's Human Rights Award honours individuals who have made important contributions in different fields. The award was launched in 1986 and since then, it is awarded every year to notable people from different walks of life. Those years when the award was not distributed are 1997, 1999, 2003, and 2004.
Christian Strohal is an Austrian diplomat. He was formerly the director of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights from 2003 to 2008.
The post of Special Rapporteur on Minorities has been created as minorities in all regions of the world are exposed to serious threats, discrimination and racism and are often excluded from participation in economic, political and social life. It shall provide for the implementation of the Declaration on the Rights of Members of National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, taking into account existing international norms and national minority laws.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment is a United Nations special rapporteur. The office is currently filled by Alice Jill Edwards, since 1 August 2022. It was previously held by Nils Melzer, and before him, Juan E. Méndez.
Wolfgang Benedek is an Austrian jurist and author.
