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international

from persecution and prosecution, the as those States being “named”
democratization of the media, the self- do not recognize the legal or
determination of peoples, disarmament for moral authority of the person
development, corporate social responsibility, or institution doing the
IMF loan conditionalities, etc. I have served as “naming”. Special Procedures
president of PEN Centre Suisse Romande need to be reformed, so that
(2006-9 and again 2013-17) and as a delegate the rapporteurs think of
to its Writers for Peace Committee and innovative ways of persuading
attended conferences in Mexico, Germany countries that it is in their own
and Slovenia among others. As representative interest to adopt reforms that
of several ngo’s, including the International will make their populations
Human Rights Association of American happier. Rapporteurs must
Minorities, I have spoken at the Human Rights come down from their high
Council and participated in countless side- horses and engage with
events. One does what one can, even if the government officials and not
result be limited. It is a matter of conscience. just condemn them top down.
Besides, that is not at all what the victims want
What are your best memories of you time as or need. More advisory services and technical
Chief of Petitions at the Human Rights assistance should be provided by the Office of the
Committee? High Commissioner for Human Rights and the
The Human Rights Committee has been the United Nations Development Program to help
leading United Nations quasi-judicial treaty governments improve their human rights
body and over the past 46 years has created a performance.
considerable corpus of jurisprudence that is
citied in national and international tribunals. Talk about your mission to Venezuela.
On many points we were ahead of the Inter- I was the first United Nations rapporteur to visit
American and European Courts of Human Venezuela in 21 years. My mission in November/
Rights, and our decisions have led to legislation December 2017 resulted in the immediate release
reform in many countries. It was and is a of 80 detainees, including an opposition leader,
privilege to be part of a team that drafts legal Roberto Picon, whose wife and son I had met and
texts that are then discussed by the Committee whose dossier I studied before pleading his case
experts and directly become international law. personally with Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza.
Surely, we have advanced the rights of women When in Venezuela I endeavoured to see every
and indigenous peoples worldwide, vindicated person or group who would see me, members of
the rule of law, saved hundreds if not thousands the opposition, the National Assembly, the Chamber
of persons from capital punishment. of Commerce, the diplomatic corps, the media, the
Personally, I enjoyed friendship with several churches, professors, students, more than 40 NGO
experts including Christine Chanet, Elizabeth representatives, as well as government ministers
Evatt, Torkel Opsahl, Hipólito Solari Yrigoyen and officials, whom I pressed for concrete answers
and Christian Tomuschat. to precise questions. I also convened a meeting
with all United Nations agencies in Venezuela and
What were your most revealing experiences as proposed new Memoranda of Understanding with
Independent Expert? the government so as to better navigate the
Perhaps that, although most experts have complications caused by the unilateral coercive
expertise, many are not independent. Most measures and financial blockades imposed by the
rapporteurs toe the line and ultimately do not U.S., which had resulted in economic chaos,
have the courage to engage in the constructive, bankruptcies, unemployment, scarcity of foods and
non-confrontational work that brings results. medicines, and mass emigration. I decided not to
It seems like most rapporteurs see themselves hold an end-of-mission press conference, because I
as hammers, and all they can do is to hit nails. needed time to study and digest the enormous
The very popular sport of “naming and amount of information I had received from all
shaming” has proven to be largely ineffective, stakeholders. I did not consider my function to be

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