Center for International Human Rights
A group from CIHR visited the offices of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (UNCTED) on May 2, 2025. UNCTED is a Special Political Mission of the United Nations established in 2004 to assist the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in monitoring the implementation of resolutions related to counter-terrorism. The group comprised of CIHR staff, undergraduate and graduate students from John Jay College, and doctoral students from the Graduate Center. Our team received briefings from Ms. Cecilia Naddeo, Ms. Nesrine Elmansouri and Ms. Lea Namouni about the history of UNCTED, the key UNSC resolutions that guide its work, and their experiences in addressing the challenges associated with the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism. The session was very informative and led to a series of thoughtful exchanges that kept our team engaged till the very end of our visit.
2024-2025 Theme of the Year: Academic Freedom and Human Rights
The recent events on university campuses in the US and abroad have generated critical questions about the continuing relevance and resilience of academic freedom in the academy. Traditionally considered a defining feature of the academic universe, academic freedom is under attack on multiple fronts. Questions have been raised concerning its conceptual reach and, in particular, whether it should be confined to "freedom of inquiry and research and freedom of teaching within the university" or whether it can also encompass "freedom of extramural utterance and action" (as per the AAUP's 1915 Declaration). Questions have also been raised concerning the relation between university autonomy and academic freedom in light of the growing interventions by entities outside the academy (lawmakers and donors) and the impact of such interventions on institutional autonomy and shared governance. These queries also point to the broader issue of the university as a bearer of rights and responsibilities.
Our year-long focus on academic freedom and human rights will seek to address some of the following focal issues and questions:
- What is the relation between academic freedom and human rights?
- What does academic freedom entail for faculty? for students?
- What is the relation between academic freedom and university autonomy?
- What are the main challenges posed to university autonomy and shared governance by entities inside and outside the academy?
- The university as a bearer of rights and responsibilities-whose rights? whose responsibilities?
- How are challenges to academic freedom perceived and addressed in other countries?
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