URG Advisory Committee Member Edwards Professor George E. Edwards, the author of LL.M. Roadmap, was named a Member of the Advisory Committee of the Universal Rights Group (URG), which is a small, independent international human rights law think tank based in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Universal Rights Group is dedicated to analyzing and strengthening global human rights policy-making and policy-implementation. Based in Geneva, which is the European Headquarters of the United Nations, the Universal Rights Group is the only think tank in the world focused exclusively on human rights.
The Universal Rights Group provides rigorous yet accessible, timely and policy-relevant research, analysis and recommendations. The URG provides a forum for discussion and debate on important human rights issues, and offers a window into the work of mechanisms within the United Nations Human Rights Council and other U.N. bodies. The URG promotes transparency, accountability, awareness and effectiveness. The URG seeks to make the international human rights system more accessible to, and bring it into closer orbit with, policy-makers and other stakeholders—including the victims of human rights violations and human rights defenders—at regional, national and local levels.
Professor Edwards’ Human Rights Background and Experience
Professor Edwards’ decades of teaching, research and practical accomplishments in international human rights law are consistent with the work of the Universal Rights Group.
In 1997, Professor founded the Program in International Human Rights Law (PIHRL) at Indiana University McKinney School of Law. The PIHRL offers human rights courses, and also assists governmental, inter-governmental and non-governmental
The Universal Rights Group is dedicated to analyzing and strengthening global human rights policy-making and policy-implementation. Based in Geneva, which is the European Headquarters of the United Nations, the Universal Rights Group is the only think tank in the world focused exclusively on human rights.
The Universal Rights Group provides rigorous yet accessible, timely and policy-relevant research, analysis and recommendations. The URG provides a forum for discussion and debate on important human rights issues, and offers a window into the work of mechanisms within the United Nations Human Rights Council and other U.N. bodies. The URG promotes transparency, accountability, awareness and effectiveness. The URG seeks to make the international human rights system more accessible to, and bring it into closer orbit with, policy-makers and other stakeholders—including the victims of human rights violations and human rights defenders—at regional, national and local levels.
Professor Edwards’ Human Rights Background and Experience
Professor Edwards’ decades of teaching, research and practical accomplishments in international human rights law are consistent with the work of the Universal Rights Group.
In 1997, Professor founded the Program in International Human Rights Law (PIHRL) at Indiana University McKinney School of Law. The PIHRL offers human rights courses, and also assists governmental, inter-governmental and non-governmental
Nobel Laureate Jose Ramos Horta, Honorary URG President organizations on human rights projects around the world. The PIHRL has facilitated over 180 law student intern placements at human rights groups working on many issues in 57 countries worldwide, and has presented over a dozen “Shadow Reports” to United Nations Treaty Bodies in New York and Geneva, assessing human rights situations in numerous countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
The PIHRL has performed pro bono legal work on behalf of multiple detainees in U.S. Military Commissions at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on the case of Slobodan Milosevic who was charged with international crimes at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), for a person sought to be extradited by Croatia on war crimes charges purportedly committed in the 1990s, on a 100-year old case involving Breaker Morant’s execution during the Boer War, and on behalf of others, in multiple corners of the globe. Professor Edwards and the PIHRL have published widely in the field of human rights, in the U.S. and overseas.
The United Nations awarded Professor Edwards’s PIHRL United Nations Special Consultative Status, through the U.N. Economic & Social Council, on 25 July 2011. Approximately 2,000 non-governmental organizations around the globe hold this status, averaging about 10 such groups per U.N. member state. The United Nations relies on groups such as the PIHRL with UN Special Consultative Status to supplement oral and written submissions by governments and UN staff members on important human rights issues. Groups with this status may address UN bodies on the floor of official proceedings, to circulate written advocacy and policy documents to UN governmental delegations, and to hold annual grounds passes for UN facilities around the globe to facilitate access, cooperation, and consultations.
Professor Edwards and International Education – A United Nations Declaration on Rights of International Students
Professor Edwards has significant experience in international education generally, and specifically in international legal education, working with graduate law students from around the world beginning when he was a Juris Doctor student at Harvard Law School. Professor Edwards authored the seminal book on the topic of Master of Laws (LL.M.) students: LL.M. Roadmap: An International Student’s Guide to U.S. Law School Programs (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business, 2011) (624 pages), and manages the book’s accompanying website (www.LLMRoadMap.com) which has had visitors from 157 different countries.
Professor Edwards has called for a United Nations Declaration on International Students’ Rights to help ensure that when students leave their country to study abroad, that they are afforded rights associated with their status as non-citizen students. Professor Edwards believes that these “international students” are vulnerable, and have rights that need to be protected.
Professor Edwards stated:
The PIHRL has performed pro bono legal work on behalf of multiple detainees in U.S. Military Commissions at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on the case of Slobodan Milosevic who was charged with international crimes at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), for a person sought to be extradited by Croatia on war crimes charges purportedly committed in the 1990s, on a 100-year old case involving Breaker Morant’s execution during the Boer War, and on behalf of others, in multiple corners of the globe. Professor Edwards and the PIHRL have published widely in the field of human rights, in the U.S. and overseas.
The United Nations awarded Professor Edwards’s PIHRL United Nations Special Consultative Status, through the U.N. Economic & Social Council, on 25 July 2011. Approximately 2,000 non-governmental organizations around the globe hold this status, averaging about 10 such groups per U.N. member state. The United Nations relies on groups such as the PIHRL with UN Special Consultative Status to supplement oral and written submissions by governments and UN staff members on important human rights issues. Groups with this status may address UN bodies on the floor of official proceedings, to circulate written advocacy and policy documents to UN governmental delegations, and to hold annual grounds passes for UN facilities around the globe to facilitate access, cooperation, and consultations.
Professor Edwards and International Education – A United Nations Declaration on Rights of International Students
Professor Edwards has significant experience in international education generally, and specifically in international legal education, working with graduate law students from around the world beginning when he was a Juris Doctor student at Harvard Law School. Professor Edwards authored the seminal book on the topic of Master of Laws (LL.M.) students: LL.M. Roadmap: An International Student’s Guide to U.S. Law School Programs (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business, 2011) (624 pages), and manages the book’s accompanying website (www.LLMRoadMap.com) which has had visitors from 157 different countries.
Professor Edwards has called for a United Nations Declaration on International Students’ Rights to help ensure that when students leave their country to study abroad, that they are afforded rights associated with their status as non-citizen students. Professor Edwards believes that these “international students” are vulnerable, and have rights that need to be protected.
Professor Edwards stated:
“International students, who study outside their home country, are vulnerable to having their human rights violated. Host governments or private individuals, including other students, may abuse international students. They may be discriminated against because of their race, color, nationality, religion, language, or other characteristic. Their security may be threatened, or they may be denied health, housing, or other services they need. International students may be exploited by schools, who may be more interested in generating revenues than in meeting these students’ reasonable expectations and needs.”
Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, URG Chairman of the Board Professor Edwards noted that various domestic and international governments and private entities have promulgated instruments that seek to protect the human rights of international students. These instruments are important, but if they are not binding, they do not have the full force they need to help ensure the guarantee of rights of international students.
Included among these instruments are the Australian Government Principles to Promote and Protect the Human Rights of International Students; the International Student Mobility Charter of the European Association for International Education (EAIE) (2012); and the Bill of Rights and Responsibilities for International Students and Institutions (of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (1969). The US-based Law School Admission Council (LSAC) promulgated the Statement of Good Admission and Financial Aid Practices for LLM Programs of the (2013) (For a discussion of these instruments, please see www.llmroadmap.com/llm-student-rights.html)
Professor Edwards continued:
Included among these instruments are the Australian Government Principles to Promote and Protect the Human Rights of International Students; the International Student Mobility Charter of the European Association for International Education (EAIE) (2012); and the Bill of Rights and Responsibilities for International Students and Institutions (of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (1969). The US-based Law School Admission Council (LSAC) promulgated the Statement of Good Admission and Financial Aid Practices for LLM Programs of the (2013) (For a discussion of these instruments, please see www.llmroadmap.com/llm-student-rights.html)
Professor Edwards continued:
“Each student is entitled to human rights protection. It does not matter who the student is, where they were born, where they received their first degrees, or in which country they currently reside or study. At the heart of these human rights are principles of dignity of the person, mutual respect, equality and non-discrimination.”
Professor Edwards has delivered lectures, held discussions, and met with students, government and UN officials, professors and university administrators, and many others in dozens of countries on the issue of human rights for international students. Many of his visits have been through EducationUSA, which is a United States Department of State Affiliate with over 400 Advising Centers in 170 countries. (http://educationusa.state.gov/)
“To generate progress towards the full realisation of the rights and freedoms contained in the universal human rights instruments through solutions-based policy research, forward-looking policy prescription, and through offering a respected platform for information-sharing and dialogue”. (http://universal-rights.org/who-we-are/our-mission)
Professor Edwards & Fulfilling Policy Missions of the Universal Rights Group
Professor Edwards agrees with the Universal Rights Group that academic experts around the world research and write about international law and policy, but their work is often not easily accessible to policy-makers and other stakeholders. He recognizes the benefits of the URG mode of work, whereby all URG's projects are implemented by URG analysts (including former diplomats or representatives of human rights NGOs) while working in concert with renowned international experts. He also recognizes the importance of engaging with and involving all relevant stakeholders.
Professor Edwards agrees with the Universal Rights Group that academic experts around the world research and write about international law and policy, but their work is often not easily accessible to policy-makers and other stakeholders. He recognizes the benefits of the URG mode of work, whereby all URG's projects are implemented by URG analysts (including former diplomats or representatives of human rights NGOs) while working in concert with renowned international experts. He also recognizes the importance of engaging with and involving all relevant stakeholders.
Through the Universal Rights Group, Professor Edwards hopes to participate in researching contributions to the policy debates about rights of international students, consistent with the mission of the URG, which follows:
“To generate progress towards the full realisation of the rights and freedoms contained in the universal human rights instruments through solutions-based policy research, forward-looking policy prescription, and through offering a respected platform for information-sharing and dialogue”. (http://universal-rights.org/who-we-are/our-mission)
The Universal Rights Group - Background
The Universal Rights Group Secretariat is made up of former UN diplomats and NGO representatives. The Board of Trustees comprises eminent human rights experts, including current and former UN Special Rapporteurs, members of United Nations Treaty Bodies and senior academics. The Honorary President of the Universal Rights Group is H.E. Mr. Jose Ramos-Horta, former President of Timor Leste / East Timor and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. The URG is based in Geneva, but has an office in Mauritius.
The Universal Rights Group Secretariat is made up of former UN diplomats and NGO representatives. The Board of Trustees comprises eminent human rights experts, including current and former UN Special Rapporteurs, members of United Nations Treaty Bodies and senior academics. The Honorary President of the Universal Rights Group is H.E. Mr. Jose Ramos-Horta, former President of Timor Leste / East Timor and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. The URG is based in Geneva, but has an office in Mauritius.
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