Defending Human Dignity

This booklet contains the texts of the Theo van Boven Lectures held in 2014 and 2015. They deal with the subject of defending human dignity by looking at the different roles the human rights defender, the scholar and the human rights NGO can play in achieving this goal. Hina Jilani looks at the opportunities and limitations of human rights defenders in their fight to stand up for the protection of human dignity. Jean Allain discusses the role of the legal scholar in studying contemporary forms of slavery. Finally Aidan McQuade denounces practices of slavery from the perspective of a human rights NGO.The Theo van Boven Lecture Series are organised annually by the Maastricht Centre for Human Rights as a tribute to Theo van Boven, emeritus Professor of International Law at Maastricht University, and formerly Director of the UN Division of Human Rights, member of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and UN Special Rapporteur on Torture. The themes covered by the lectures reflect the wide range of interests of Theo van Boven.This publication is interesting for human rights practitioners, scholars and students.

Fons Coomans holds the UNESCO Chair in Human Rights and Peace at the Department of International and European Law at Maastricht University.Since July 2009 is the Head of the Department of International and European Law. He is also the coordinator of the Maastricht Centre for Human Rights, and Senior Researcher at the Netherlands School of Human Rights Research. His fields of research include the international protection of economic, social and cultural rights in general and the right to education and food in particular, as well as international supervisory mechanisms in the field of human rights.He is the coordinator of the courses on economic, social and cultural rights of the European Masters Degree in Human Rights and Democratisation in Venice. He is also a consultant for UNESCO, an adviser to Foodfirst Information and Action Network (FIAN) and a member of the Dutch Section of the International Commission of Jurists (NJCM). Since 2014 he has become a member of the board of the School of Human Rights research (SIM).