Foreign Secretary launches Torture
Reporting Handbook
A new guide, to help torture victims bring the
perpetrators to justice, has been launched by Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook.
The handbook, written by Camille Giffard of the
University’s Human Rights Centre, is designed for use by human rights groups, victim
support organisations, doctors, lawyers and the families of the victims themselves.
The ‘Torture Reporting Handbook,’
commissioned by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), gives guidance on how to gather
evidence in a way which is most likely to be usable by the courts.
This unique collaboration between the FCO and the
University will allow non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to assist torture victims to
make proper and accurate reports on their ordeal and prepare cases to bring the
perpetrators to justice.
Mr Cook, speaking at the launch on 29 March,
said: ‘I am determined that the Foreign Office should match its commitment to an
enhanced human rights policy with practical assistance.
‘The torture handbook is an example of how
our excellent links with NGOs and academics in the field of human rights can make a real
difference.
‘It is vital that we do all in our power to
tackle the appalling practice of torture, which remains depressingly widespread even in
the modern world.’
Camille Giffard, who found herself in the media
spotlight following the launch, joined the Human Rights Centre as a Research Officer in
1996. Before that, she took two degrees at Essex - a LLB in English and French Law and
later a LLM in International Human Rights Law.
The handbook was launched internationally at the
UN Commission for Human Rights in Geneva in April. The cost of the 160-page handbook is
£150,000, including translation into French, Spanish, Russian and Arabic. Demand is
already high and the first print run is being distributed around the world with the help
of FCO missions overseas.
For more details see http://www.essex.ac.uk/torturehandbook/
Honorary Graduates announced for
2000/2001
The University has announced that the following
distinguished figures will be awarded honorary degrees at its degree congregations in July
2000 and 2001.
- Theodoros Angelopoulos, the Greek film
director and screenwriter.
- Chief Executive of British Telecommunications,
Sir Peter Bonfield CBE
- *Lord Braybrooke, JP
- Trevor Brooking CBE, the former England
football international, FA Cup winner and chairman of Sport England will be honoured for
his contribution to sport.
- The political pundit *Elinor Goodman, the
Political Editor of Channel 4 News since 1988.
- *Professor Robin Milner, FRS, FRSE,
Professor of Computer Science and Fellow of Kings College at the University of Cambridge.
- *Professor Howard Newby, CBE, is currently
President of the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principals (CVCP), the leading voice of
the UK’s universities.
- The art historian *Professor Michael Podro, FBA
- Gail Rebuck CB, Chairman and Chief
executive of the publishers Random House.
- *Dr Oliver Rackham, Fellow of Corpus
Christi College, Cambridge, one of the leading ecological botanists in Britain.
The candidates marked with an asterisk will
receive their degrees in July 2000. The remaining candidates will be honoured in 2001.
Degree day for Essex postgraduates
More than 780 successful former postgraduate
students of the University of Essex were awarded their degrees on Thursday 13 April.
The awards were presented over two ceremonies in
the Lecture Theatre Building at the Wivenhoe Park campus, Colchester.
Degrees across the University’s wide range
of postgraduate schemes were conferred individually on graduating students by the
University’s Chancellor, Lord Nolan.
During the morning ceremony, the University
awarded an honorary degrees to Lord Haskins, a businessman and adviser to the
British and Irish Governments. He has been Chairman of Northern Foods since 1986.
In the afternoon ceremony, honorary degrees were
awarded to ecclesiastical historian Professor Patrick Collinson, Regius Professor
of History at the University of Cambridge until 1996, and Charles Handy, formerly
Professor of Management at the London Business School, a writer and broadcaster, and one
of the leading writers on management theory in the UK.
Launch of the new Centre for
Cultural and Social History
The Departments of History and Sociology were
pleased to host Professor Martine Segalen of the University of Nanterre on 27 March.
Professor Segalen gave a lecture to mark the
launch of the new Centre for Cultural and Social History, and took part in a day-long
workshop on siblings and kinship organised by Professor Leonore Davidoff.
This event is the first of many that will be
organised by the new Centre, which aims to promote co-operation between the two
departments, to provide a forum for academics and students working on historically based
research across the University and to offer a base for visiting scholars.
From October 2000, the Centre will play an
important role in supporting students on the new MA in Cultural and Social History, which
will be jointly run by History and Sociology.
Professor observes Russian
Presidential elections
Professor Peter Frank, Professor of
Russian Politics in the Department of Government, was in Moscow recently to observe the
Russian presidential election.
Professor Frank in
Moscow being interviewed on election day (26 March) by ITN News
The elections saw Vladimir Putin’s election
as President, by a clear majority in the first round. He will now govern for four years.
While in Moscow, Professor Frank did commentaries
for and was interviewed by: Channel 4 News, ITN, BBC World TV, BBC TV 24 hours, LBC Radio,
BBC World Service, BBC Belfast, and BBC Radio Five Live.
