Shows
RightsCastArts and Human RightsWhat contribution can and does art and artists make to the human rights project? This episode brings together experts from the Essex human rights community to consider a relationship which is all-too often overlooked by the mainstream human rights community. The host, Dr Andrew Fagan is joined by Dr Gavin Grindon, Anastasiia Korabljova, and Professor Lars Waldorf.
2024-05-281h 00RightsCastAI and Human Rights: Just Good Friends or Hostile Forces?This week, leading experts on AI and human rights discuss the relationship between AI and human rights. Is AI bad for our rights? Should human rights supporters embrace AI? Dr Andrew Fagan is joined by Essex Law School and HRC colleagues Dr Antonio Coco, D Giulia Gentile and Dr Zhenbin Zuo
2024-05-151h 15RightsCastIn Conversation With Professor Paul HuntHost Dr Andrew Fagan discusses the current state of human rights with Essex professor of law and globally renowned human rights advocate, Paul Hunt. Does human rights have a future? If so, what is this likely to look like and what do we have to do now to support human rights?
2024-05-0159 minRightsCastDefending the Right to Peaceful Protest in Dark TimesStanding up for your rights is becoming increasingly difficult in many countries. What rights do we have to peacefully protest and why are these rights under attack? Liberty UK's Sam Grant and Essex sociologist and HRC member, Dr Anna Di Ronco join our host Dr Andrew Fagan to consider this complex and all important topic.
2024-04-211h 06
RightsCastThe Future of Copyright in the age of AAIIn this podcast, you will listen to the book launch of Dr Aviv Gaon’s latest book: ‘The Future of Copyright in the Age of Artificial Intelligence’, in which Dr Gaon explores the fundamentals of copyright law and AI, suggesting new models for considering the future of authorship and basic concepts in copyright as we further move into a world where we see more AI generated content.
Discussants include Prof. Peter Menell from UC Berkeley (USA), Prof. Pina D’Agostino from Osgoode Hall Law School, York University (Canada), Prof. Stavroula Karapapa from the University of Essex, School of Law...
2022-02-031h 28RightsCastProblematizing Law, Rights, and Childhood in Israel/PalestineIn this podcast, you will listen to the book launch of Dr Hedi Viterbo’s latest book: ‘Problematizing Law, Rights, and Childhood in Israel/Palestine’, in which Dr Viterbo radically challenges our picture of law, human rights, and childhood, both in and beyond the Israel/Palestine context. Commentators include Alexandra Cox, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Essex Department of Sociology; Maryam Jamshidi, an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law; and Yaël Ronen, Professor of Law at the Academic Center for Science and Law at Hod Hasharon, and the Minerva Center...
2021-12-231h 35RightsCastLGBTQ+ Rights: LGBTQ+ Community in ItalyIn the third episode of the LGBTQ+ Podcast, our guest, Cate Fantacci, discusses the public perception of LGBT+ people in Italy and how it is influenced by the Catholic Church.
Although Italy is a secularised country, the Catholic Church often expresses its opinion on political matters. Few Church officials affirm LGBT+ people. In 2003, the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith stated that same-sex marriage would be inconsistent with Christian conscience. In 2013, the Church started to condemn the so-called ‘gender philosophy.’ More recently, in 2020, in debates regarding the bill on discrimination and hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people, religious acto...
2021-10-2527 minRightsCastLGBTQ+ Rights: LGBTQ+ Community in IsraelOur second podcast is with Dr. Haim Abraham, a lecturer at the University of Essex. He gives us an informative discussion on surrogacy in relation to the LGBTQ+ community in Israel, educating us on the developments being made and the ones needed to ensure they have equal rights to surrogacy.
As the LGBTQ+ community in Israel grows so does their advocation of equal rights. Within Israel, the Embryo Carrying Agreement Act is how surrogacy is regulated. However, its requirements discriminate against the LGBTQ+ community, such as only allowing surrogacy to be available for married heterosexual couples.
2021-10-1840 minRightsCastLGBTQ+ Rights: Asylum Seekers in the UKIn the first episode of the LGBTQ+ Podcast, our guest, Vinnosh Kumar, discusses the situation of LGBTQ+ asylum seekers in the UK.
Asylum claims based on sexual orientation and gender identity are systematically rejected both in the UK and Europe. The officials often expect the claimant to convince them that they are ‘truly’ gay or trans or other. One in three claimants is refused asylum because the officials did not believe their sexual orientation or gender identity. According to international human rights law, instead of asking whether the claimant is undoubtedly gay, the officials should ask whether they f...
2021-10-1145 minRightsCastCounter-Terrorism and Human Rights: Avoiding the Terrorist Trap (with Tom Parker)Tom Parker, a counter-terrorism practitioner and former UN war crimes investigator, recently published a book called Avoiding the Terrorist Trap, in which he argues that counter-terrorism strategy grounded in respect for human rights is the only truly effective approach to defeating terrorism. In this episode, Tom joins Daragh Murray in a discussion exploring everything from why people engage in terrorism, to how existing counter-terrorism approaches can be counter-productive.
Tom Parker has worked as a European Union-sponsored adviser to the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) in Baghdad, Iraq, prior to which he served as a Counter-Terrorism...
2020-07-3054 minRightsCastQualified Immunity: How Police Get Away with Murder (with Haim Abraham, Nimra Azmi, Joanna Schwartz and Jennifer Page)The doctrine of qualified immunity protects government officials from being held personally liable for constitutional violations, and thus poses a significant challenge for individuals seeking compensation for abuses of public power in the US. In light of continuing police brutality against Black Lives Matter protesters, many are calling for the doctrine to be reformed or abolished.
In this episode, Dr Haim Abraham is joined by Nimra Azmi, Prof. Joanna Schwartz and Dr Jennifer Page to discuss how qualified immunity shields police officers from personal liability for wrongful use of force, and how other avenues of justice and...
2020-07-2428 minRightsCastArticle 18 of the European Convention on Human Rights (with Prof. Başak Çalı and Dr Corina Heri)Article 18 of the European Convention on Human Rights prohibits the restriction of rights for any other purpose than those for which they are prescribed. It aims to prevent the abuse of power by state authorities, or the restriction of rights for illegitimate purposes. In this episode, Prof. Başak Çalı and Dr Corina Heri join Daragh Murray to discuss the history of Article 18, the case law around it, and whether it can speak to the rule of law crisis unfolding in Europe today.
Prof. Başak Çalı is Professor of International Law at the Hertie...
2020-07-0934 minRightsCastA Guide to On/Offline Protestor Privacy (with Shakiba Mashayekhi, Leenah Bassouni and Rachael Cornejo)Open Source Researchers of Color (OSROC), a collective of open-source researchers and investigators, recently published a guide to help protestors protect themselves against police surveillance both online and offline. Their guide includes tips on how to communicate safely before and during protests, how to evade facial recognition technology, and how to responsibly post or preserve photos and videos.
Access the Protestor Privacy Guide here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12On3cg4figX2arDOl3ymDGOyBqbtpB1bNVh7maCurRU/edit
Read more about the project here: https://citizenevidence.org/2020/06/03/protecting-protester-privacy-against-police-surveillance/
Shakiba Mashayekhi...
2020-07-0238 minRightsCastThe Hostile Environment and No Recourse to Public Funds (with Kimberly Garande, Andy Jolly and Koldo Casla)No Recourse to Public Funds is a key part of the UK government's Hostile Environment policy, designed and intended to make the lives of illegal immigrants difficult. In this episode, Kimberly Garande of We Belong and Andy Jolly of the University of Wolverhampton join Daragh Murray to discuss the impact that NRPF has on migrants' lives, and how hostile environment policies more widely have turned regular people, from NHS workers to school teachers, into agents of border enforcement. Plus, Koldo Casla of the University of Essex explains how the No Recourse to Public Funds policy puts the UK in...
2020-06-2535 minRightsCastHoliday Hunger: The Right to Food and Free School Meals (with Candice James and Imogen Richmond-Bishop)In England, 1.3 million school-aged children rely on Free School Meals throughout the year. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has launched a food voucher scheme to ensure that children who were missing school do not go hungry. However, by planning to end the voucher scheme before the summer holidays, the government is leaving children to go hungry and increasing the strain on local organisations already struggling to meet the basic needs of desperate families across the UK .
In this episode, we hear from Candice James, who manages a community centre in Brixton and works directly with families...
2020-06-1622 minRightsCastBefore the COVID-19 Crisis there was the Refugee Crisis: Protecting Forcibly Displaced Persons in a Global Pandemic (with Prof. Geoff Gilbert and Dr Madeline Garlick of UNHCR)UNHCR have released a set of documents relating to protection considerations in the context of the COVID-19 response here: https://www.refworld.org/covid19.html
Roughly 75% of refugees live in overcrowded camps, settlements or shelters around the world, where they lack access to adequate sanitation, and are therefore extremely vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this episode of RightsCast, Dr. Madeline Garlick of UNHCR and Professor Geoff Gilbert of the University of Essex discuss the work to protect the 80 million people of concern to UNHCR globally, and how that work is adapting to the challenges posed by...
2020-06-0344 minRightsCastThe Al-Khatib Trial: Holding Syrian Regime Officials to Account in Germany (with Joumana Seif and Andreas Schueller of ECCHR)Get updates from ECCHR on the trial here: https://www.ecchr.eu/en/case/trial-monitoring-first-trial-worldwide-on-torture-in-syria/
In the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz, Germany, two former Syrian intelligence officials are currently on trial for crimes against humanity. Anwar R and Eyad A are both accused of torture which allegedly took place between 2011 and 2012 at the General Intelligence Directorate’s al-Khatib detention facility in Damascus, also known as Branch 251.
The landmark Al-Khatib trial marks the first time that any former members of Assad’s Syrian regime are being put on trial, and it is an important first step...
2020-05-2728 minRightsCastHuman Rights in the Time of Coronavirus (with Judith Bueno de Mesquita, Koldo Casla and Matteo Bassetti)The human rights issues emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the globe are unprecedented and wide-ranging. In this episode, Daragh Murray is joined by Judith Bueno de Mesquita and Koldo Casla to discuss the right to health and economic and social rights, but also the importance of international solidarity extending beyond human rights. Plus, we hear from Human Rights Centre alum Matteo Bassetti, who gives an insight into the current situation in Italy, where they are more than two weeks into a nationwide lockdown.
Judith Bueno de Mesquita is a Lecturer and Co-Deputy Director of the Human...
2020-03-2444 minRightsCastDigital Witness: Using Open Source Info for Human Rights Investigations (with Alexa Koenig and Sam Dubberley)Modern technology - and the enhanced access it provides to information about human rights abuses - has the potential to revolutionise human rights reporting and documentation, as well as the pursuit of legal accountability. However, these new methods for information gathering and dissemination have also created significant challenges for investigators and researchers. The capture and dissemination of content often happens haphazardly, and for a variety of motivations. For this content to be of use to investigators it must be discovered, verified, and authenticated. These skills have therefore become critical for human rights organisations and human rights lawyers.
...
2020-02-2854 minRightsCastPolicing and Human Rights: Building A Universal Protocol for Investigative Interviewing (with Graham Dossett)Graham Dossett is a former police officer who now uses his experience to advise on policing and human rights issues. He is currently a member of the advisory council for the development of a Universal Protocol for Investigative Interviewing, led by the Association for the Prevention of Torture, the Anti-Torture Initiative and the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights. In this episode, Graham joins Daragh Murray to discuss the importance of ethical, non-coercive interviewing practices.
Graham Dossett is a Visiting Fellow of the Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex. Having served as a police officer in...
2020-02-1727 minRightsCastMaking Rights Real: The Human Rights Law Implementation Project (with Anne-Katrin Speck and Prof. Clara Sandoval)In this episode, Anne-Katrin Speck and Professor Clara Sandoval discuss the findings from their research into the implementation—or non-implementation—of human rights judgements/decisions in the Inter-American and European human rights systems. Their work was undertaken as part of the ESCR-funded Human Rights Law Implementation Project (HRLIP), in collaboration with colleagues from leading human rights centres (Bristol, Essex, Middlesex and Pretoria). The project aims to examine the factors which impact on human rights law implementation across Europe, Africa and the Americas, with the hope that the research will impact the compliance by states and result in greater justice for...
2020-02-101h 06RightsCastPromoting Tolerance and Tackling Hate with Human Rights (with Paul Hunt, Malcolm Evans, Ruth-Anne Lenga, Andrew Copson, and Simona Cruciani)Globally, there appears to be a rise in hatred threatening to destroy societal harmony and the foundations of peace. Against this backdrop, this panel discussion, held last year to commemorate International Tolerance Day, features leading practitioners who are working on identifying ways to promote societal cohesion and democracy using human rights as a beacon. Panellists speak to a broad range of issues related to tolerance and intolerance, especially on the intersections between freedom of expression, freedom of religion or belief and the rights of minorities, and consider conceptual challenges in addressing ‘hate speech’ and concrete examples of good practice.
2020-01-301h 03RightsCastR v Brown: Can We Consent to Harm? (with Dr Matt Lodder, Dr Emily Jones and Alexandra Grolimund).In this episode, Dr Daragh Murray chairs a discussion with Dr Matt Lodder, Dr Emily Jones and Alexandra Grolimund about the lasting impact of the infamous judgement in R v Brown [1994], which established the legal precedent that the “consent” of a victim is not a valid defence when it comes to the criminalisation of assault through certain ‘extreme’ but consensual acts, including sadomasochism and, more recently, body modification, in the case of R v BM [2018].
Operation Spanner was a police investigation into sadomasochism among homosexual males across the UK in the 1980s. As a result of this investig...
2020-01-2344 minRightsCastLitigating Business and Human Rights Cases (with Dr Miriam Saage-Maaß and Daniel Leader)In this episode of RightsCast, we bring you a panel discussion, chaired by Sheldon Leader, with Dr Miriam Saage-Maaß and Daniel Leader, both leading practitioners in the business and human rights field, as they outline recent developments in the litigation of business and human rights cases.
Taking Lessenich’s and others’ sociological concept of the “imperialistic lifestyle” to describe the dynamics of global economy and the lack of fundamental resistance against it, Miriam Saage-Maaß demonstrates how the law organises and enables exploitative practices of global economy. She also analyses how the law nevertheless opens space to d...
2020-01-1548 minRightsCastProtecting Social Media Users: Arguing for a Duty of Care (with Prof. Lorna Woods)Professor Lorna Woods and Will Perrin, with support from Carnegie UK Trust, have been working on a public policy proposal to introduce regulation designed to protect social media users from harm, drawing on existing duty of care models such as those in health and safety law. In this episode, Lorna joins Dr Daragh Murray to discuss this proposal, which argues that social media platforms, viewed as public spaces, should be subject to a duty of care to their users, and also to discuss how regulation intersects with competing tensions of free speech and innovation.
Lorna Woods is...
2019-12-1737 minRightsCastKilling Machines: A Posthuman Feminist Approach to Autonomous Weapons Systems and Military Technologies (with Dr Emily Jones)From drone warfare to 'autonomous' weapons like the SGR-A1, technology has drastically altered the nature of modern conflict. In this episode, Dr Emily Jones joins Daragh Murray in a discussion about how posthuman and feminist theoretical approaches can be used to better understand the debate around autonomous weapons systems and other military technologies. Emily explains the different types of autonomous weapons systems and the role of humans in deploying these systems, as well as exploring the differences between human-in-the-loop, on-the-loop and out-of-the-loop technologies. Discussion also covers what the development of such technologies might mean for Global North/South power...
2019-12-0539 minRightsCastInvestigations and Advocacy with Amnesty International’s Crisis Response TeamThis episode of RightsCast features a panel discussion with senior members of Amnesty International’s Crisis Response Team, who explore a range of issues central to their work, including how to conduct investigations on the ground, how to use remote and open source tools to conduct or support investigations, and how to translate those investigations into effective human rights advocacy.
Brian Castner is a Senior Crisis Advisor with the Crisis Response Team, specialising in arms and military operations. He is a former Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) officer in the United States Air Force, where he served in Ir...
2019-11-2156 minRightsCastFreedom, Peace and Justice: The Sudanese RevolutionIn December 2018, emergency austerity measures and the rising cost of living in Sudan sparked demonstrations demanding economic reform, which quickly broadened into demands for long-standing President Omar al-Bashir to step down.
On 6th April, protestors began a sit-in outside of the military headquarters in Khartoum. Five days later, the military announced that al-Bashir had been ousted, and a transitional government was formed in his place. However, demonstrations continued, and pro-democracy protestors repeated their calls for a civilian-led government. Military forces reacted brutally, massacring protestors at the Khartoum sit-in in June.
In this episode, Mitch Paquette...
2019-11-1438 minRightsCastNazanin’s Story (with Richard Ratcliffe and Dr Carla Ferstman)In this episode of RightsCast, Dr Carla Ferstman is joined in conversation by Richard Ratcliffe, who has been campaigning tirelessly since 2016 for the release of his wife, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, from prison in Iran. This discussion was held in advance of a performance of Nazanin’s Story, a play which continually evolves as her case develops.
Dr Carla Ferstman is a senior lecturer in the School of Law at the University of Essex. She has worked with Richard since Nazanin was arrested, and recently worked with a team of students at the Human Rights Centre Clinic to prepare a...
2019-11-0837 minRightsCastIllustrating Patterns of Repression: How Amnesty International Responded to the Hong Kong Protests (with Sam Dubberley)When protests against Hong Kong's proposed extradition bill were met with the police's heavy hand, Amnesty International responded, showing evidence of repression and violence to support its call for a full, independent inquiry into police action. In this episode of RightsCast, we are joined by Sam Dubberley from Amnesty International’s Crisis Response Team, as he explains how they worked remotely and on the ground to monitor the situation as it emerged, collecting evidence of excessive and unnecessary force being used against protesters by the police.
Sam Dubberley is the manager of the Digital Verification Corps (DVC) in...
2019-11-0433 minRightsCastEngaging Socio-Economic Rights at the Local Level (with Dr Andrew Fagan, Lucy Davies and Rebecca Rocket) In his recent report on extreme poverty in the UK, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights Philip Alston highlighted our local areas of Jaywick and Clacton as places experiencing high levels of deprivation, where there is a sense among residents that they have been abandoned by the state.
In this episode, Mitch Paquette is joined by a panel of human rights organisers and academics who have been working on poverty-related human rights issues within these communities. While noting the destructive impact of austerity measures on the social protection afforded to these communities, such as c...
2019-10-3050 minRightsCastHuman Rights and Law of Armed Conflict Investigations by UN Bodies (with Prof. Francoise Hampson and Prof. Charles Garraway)In this episode, Dr Daragh Murray is joined by Professor Francoise Hampson and Professor Charles Garraway as they draw on their impressive careers to discuss how human rights investigations are conducted, particularly within the framework of UN mandated fact-finding missions. The discussion also delves into a debate around the role of human rights courts in investigating violations in situations of armed conflict.
Professor Francoise Hampson is an Emeritus Professor in the School of Law and Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex, and is currently a member of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Burundi. Professor...
2019-10-241h 09RightsCastAn Introduction to RightsCast (with Lorna McGregor and Daragh Murray)Welcome to RightsCast, a podcast about human rights, broadly understood. To begin the series, we bring you a discussion between Lorna McGregor and Daragh Murray as they set out their hopes for the podcast and offer some insight into what to expect from our upcoming episodes.
Lorna McGregor is a Professor in the School of Law and is the Director of the Human Rights Centre. Daragh Murray is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Law and Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex.
You can follow the Human Rights Centre blog at hrcessex...
2019-10-2413 min
UnencryptedOVRCLKD 56: the human rightscastSouth Africa's most accessible consumer tech podcast discusses rugged smartphones, the fragile Samsung Galaxy Note 10+, why Netflix should get into hardware and Gavin teaches you how to text from your computer. Follow Gavin at https://facebook.com/TechMagazineZA/
Find Lindsey at http://thatopinionguy.co.za or @SharpSchutters on twitter.
Email us at overclocked@gmail.com
Produced by Lindsey Schutters
Music by Lindsey Schutters
Mixed on Samsung Galaxy Note 10+
Recorded on iPad Pro + Samson Go Mic
2019-10-0226 min
OverclockedZAOVRCLKD 56: the human rightscastSouth Africa's most accessible consumer tech podcast discusses rugged smartphones, the fragile Samsung Galaxy Note 10+, why Netflix should get into hardware and Gavin teaches you how to text from your computer. Follow Gavin at https://facebook.com/TechMagazineZA/Find Lindsey at http://thatopinionguy.co.za or @SharpSchutters on twitter. Email us at overclocked@gmail.comProduced by Lindsey Schutters Music by Lindsey Schutters Mixed on Samsung Galaxy Note 10+Recorded on iPad Pro + Samson Go Mic This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or...
2019-10-0226 min