Facing a growing crackdown on dissent around the globe, human rights advocates and scholars are engaged in a creative and critical fight to defend fundamental freedoms. The Bernstein Institute for Human Rights supports a range of education, research, and advocacy initiatives to protect dissent and promote the rule of law. These include:
Education: Conferences and Events
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Invited to present at an event to commemorate the “International Day of Lawyers in Danger,” organized by the International Observatory for Lawyers and the U.K. Law Society in London on January 20, 2024.
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Delivered a keynote presentation at the University of Nairobi on “Community Paralegals and the Global Movement for Grassroots Justice: How Grassroots Justice Advocates are using Research and Learning to build Community Power and drive Systemic Change around the World,” keynote presentation, March 22, 2023.
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Presented at a high-level convening in Accra, Ghana on July 5, 2024, concerning “The Importance of Gender Equality in the Judiciary and the Organized Bar,” organized by the Institute for African Women in Law.
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In April 2024, delivered the keynote address at the Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México, Mexico City on “Safeguarding Judicial Independence in the Context of Democratic Decline and Autocratization”.
Research and Advocacy
Spyware: The Institute convened an interdisciplinary team of technology, digital security, and human rights experts to address the rise in state surveillance of human rights defenders. In partnership with Amnesty International, NYU School of Law's Global Justice Clinic and the Technology Law & Policy Clinic, the Institute engaged in a path-breaking research project to investigate legal accountability measures to address surveillance of human rights defenders around the world.
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Commercial Spyware and the Surveillance State
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On March 1, 2019 the NYU Law team submitted a briefing paper on the spyware industry to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression. The paper, “Attempted Digital Surveillance as a Completed Human Rights Violation: Why Targeting Human Rights Defenders Infringes on Rights,” responded to the Special Rapporteur’s call for submissions concerning the surveillance industry and human rights.
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Supported the filing of a petition brought by members and supporters of Amnesty International Israel and others to the Israeli District Court demanding that the Israeli Ministry of Defence (MoD) revoke the explore license of NSO Group, a Israeli company whose spyware products have been used to attack human rights defenders around the world by states such as Saudi Arabia, Mexico, UAE, among others. The NYU team supported the drafting of a key affidavit in the case.
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To read more about the surveillance project check out an article by the NYU team on Just Security, "CTRL + HALT + Defeat: State-Sponsored Surveillance and the Suppression of Dissent".
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- International Human Rights Law Research Program
- The Institute supported innovative research and teaching related to international human rights and China, including thematic areas like the Internet, national security and terrorism, and Hong Kong.
Check out radio interviews from The Takeaway with Yara Sallam and Olga Sadovskaya, two human rights defenders who joined us for our 2017 Conference, Defending Dissent: