Righting the Balance for Human Rights: State and Non-State Actors Since 1995
A Lecture by Bennett Freeman, Chair of the Advisory Board of Global Witness and Former Deputy Assistant of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
Matrix is located on the 8th floor of Barrows Hall, on the UC Berkeley campus, near Telegraph and Bancroft Avenues, just up the hill from Sather Gate. There are entrances at both ends of the building, but only one of the elevators on the eastern side goes directly to the 8th floor. You can alternatively take the stairs to the 7th floor and walk up the stairs from there.
The year 1995 was a turning point in the history of human rights. Three separate events triggered action to address mass atrocities, oppression of women, and corporate responsibility in ways that reflected and reinforced the emerging role of non-state actors alongside states in creating new standards and mechanisms.
In July of that year, the Srebrenica massacre—the genocidal killing of more than 8,000 Muslims— gave new impetus to the international community’s efforts to bring perpetrators to justice and to prevent such atrocities in the future.
Two months later, in September, then-First-Lady Hillary Clinton called on the world at the UN Women’s Conference in Beijing to “let it be that human rights are women's rights and women's rights are human rights, once and for all."
That November, Ken Saro Wiwa, the writer and environmental activist who campaigned against the pollution and exploitation of the Niger Delta by western oil companies, was executed by the Nigerian government amid international outrage.
To mark the 20th anniversary of these three landmark events—and to gauge the progress that has been made since—Bennett Freeman will deliver a lecture “Righting the Balance for Human Rights: State and Non-State Actors Since 1995.”
Freeman has been directly and indirectly involved in these and other key human rights challenges over the past two decades, as he has worked at the intersection of governments, international institutions, multinational companies, investors, NGOs, and trade unions to improve corporate conduct and to promote human rights and sustainable development around the world.
“2015 is the anniversary of three absolutely monumental events that separately and cumulatively enlarged the scope and focus of the global human rights agenda,” Freeman explains. “Yet despite the catalytic impact of these events, the last two decades offer grounds for both despair and hope as we seek to drive the human rights agenda in these and other critical areas. Mass atrocities are mounting in Syria; systemic violence continues against women around the world; and business respect for human rights is finally gaining ground, but in too few companies and industries. In each case to varying degrees, political will and governance capacity on the part of democratic and undemocratic states alike have been insufficient to sustain let alone to accelerate the progress being driven to a large extent by non-state actors.”
BIOGRAPHY
Bennett Freeman serves on the boards of diverse human rights organizations, including Global Network Initiative (GNI), which he co-founded; Global Witness; the Natural Resources Governance Institute; EG Justice; and the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) USA. He previously served on the Boards of Oxfam America and the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
As Senior Vice President for Sustainability Research and Policy at Calvert Investments, he led the environmental, social, and governance research, analysis, public policy, and shareholder advocacy work of the largest family of sustainable and responsible (SRI) mutual funds in the U.S, with $13-16 billion assets under management.
Freeman also served as a presidential appointee in three positions at the U.S. Department of State in the Clinton Administration. As Deputy Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, he was responsible for the State Department’s bilateral human rights diplomacy, as well as international labor rights diplomacy (including with the International Labor Organization). He began his career as a speechwriter and presidential campaign aide to former Vice President Walter Mondale. He earned an AB in History (Highest Honors) in 1979 from UC Berkeley and an MA (Honours) in 1981 in Modern History from the University of Oxford.
EVENT DETAILS
Please join us on October 27, 4PM for this lecture and discussion, which is co-sponsored by Social Science Matrix and the UC Berkeley Human Rights Program. Persons who wish to request disability-related accommodations, including sign-language interpreters, should call (510) 642-5040 as far in advance as possible. Please contact socialsciencematrix@berkeley.