Human Rights Initiatives – Program Reports

Feb. 17, 2010
U.S. Engagement With the U.N. Human Rights System (PDF)
The Carter Center and the Brookings Institution's Managing Global Insecurity Initiative convened human rights advocates from Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia,Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, and the United States to evaluate the impact of the U.N.'s human rights system on their work.

Dec. 3, 2008
Human Rights Leaders Urge President-Elect Obama to Renew U.S. Commitments to Human Rights
An international group of human rights organizations and human rights defenders meeting at The Carter Center today issued an urgent appeal for President-elect Barack Obama to renew U.S. commitments to human rights principles and practices that have been abandoned since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks against the United States.

Sept. 7, 2007
Final Report: The Fourth Human Rights Defenders Policy Forum (PDF)
The forum, titled "Faith and Freedom: Protecting Human Rights as a Common Cause," convened on Sept. 6–7, 2007. Human rights defenders from 20 countries around the world to discuss the importance of faith communities in protecting human rights and to propose strategies for addressing mass atrocities.

Sept. 7, 2007
Final Statement:  2007 Human Rights Defenders Policy Forum
On Sept. 5, human rights defenders, including several from faith-based organizations, came from 20 countries to discuss the challenges they face in addressing mass atrocities and to develop recommendations for the international community. On Sept. 6 and 7, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour co-chaired a meeting to consider the recommendations and to discuss the matter in more detail with representatives of governments and multilateral institutions.

May 23, 2006
Defenders Gather to Examine Global Human Rights in Age of Democratization
The May 23-24 Human Rights Defenders Policy Forum, sponsored by The Carter Center and Human Rights First, seeks to amplify the voices of those on the front lines of the struggle for human rights and democracy, and initiate action on pressing human rights issues to the international community.

May 5, 2005
Global and National Trends Affecting the Protection of Human Rights: Discussion Document
This represents a summary of major issues discussed by participants in the Human Rights Defender Policy Forum organized by The Carter Center and Human Rights First in Atlanta. It is not an exhaustive review of the discussions, nor does it necessarily represent the views of any of the individual participants in the meeting or the organizations they represent. A full report of the meeting will be issued later this year.

May 14, 2004
Human Rights Defenders on the Frontlines of Freedom: Protecting Human Rights in the Context of the War on Terror
Carter Center report from the Human Rights Defenders Conference, November 11-12, 2003.

July 1, 1992
Investigating Abuses and Introducing Safeguards in the Democratization Process
A report from the 1990 Carter Center conference, "Investigating Abuses and Introducing Human Rights Safeguards in the Democratization Process." Includes welcome address by Jimmy Carter and opening presentation by Jamal Benomar (PDF format).