Declarations: The Human Rights Podcast

Technology is redefining the experiences of refugees and asylum seekers in this globalised world, whether it is artificial intelligence (AI) being used to screen their immigration applications or mobile applications designed to help them to access information and healthcare. The implications are far-reaching and complex, since such technological innovations could either strength or undermine human rights. Moreover, how human bodies are sorted reflects power dynamics and values in the 21st century. For instance, AI could expedite decision-making for immigration agents and reduce the backlog. Yet it is potentially dangerous to use AI in making decisions which could bear life-or-death consequences, by approving or denying a request for asylum. On this episode, we consider these questions about the current and future use of technology in the immigration space, plus how we should change the conversation so that people can become more informed in using and developing these tools. From the University of Cambridge an

In this episode we discuss how the infrastructure of the US-Mexico border wall has become a weapon in and of itself. Since Trump’s campaign promise, “the wall” has captured onlookers’ horror and imagination. It is a frontline for so-called wars on drugs, terror, and migrants, but resistance to it is also a frontline in the fight for human rights. We explore the impact of the wall as weaponised infrastructure – not only a deadly symbol, but also a physical object that shapes the lives of those at or around the border. Our guest for the episode, Dr. Ieva Jusionyte, has worked as an emergency responder on both sides of the border in Arizona and Sonora. She is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Harvard, and Editor of the University of California Press Series in Public Anthropology. Her most recent book, Threshold: Emergency Responders on the US.-Mexico Border is written from the perspective of firefighters and paramedics working along the border. Music by Blue Dot Sessions, Borrtex, and Seed

This week’s episode explores how the petroleum industry in the Niger Delta takes place at the intersection of contentious relations between multinational oil companies, the Nigerian nation-state, and local communities in the oil-producing regions. The guest on the show is Dr Elias Courson, a lecturer at Niger Delta University, Nigeria and a former postdoc fellow at the Centre of African Studies, University of Cambridge.

In this episode, we speak with Donatella Rovera, Senior Crisis Advisor at Amnesty, Milena Marin, Senior advisor for Tactical Research, and Katya alkhateeb a senior researcher at the Essex Human Rights Centre, about launching the immersive investigation titled 'Rhetoric Versus Reality in the War in Raqqa' project. The project set out to document US-led Coalition civilian harms in Raqqa in 2017, through a collaboration between some 3,000 digital volunteers, and Amnesty's on-the-ground researchers. 

In this episode we discuss the notion of a human rights-based approach to the socio-economic and cultural development of the UK, particularly in relation to race. The discussion explores the relationship between political representation and racial equality, alongside the development of political literacy amongst young people from minority backgrounds. Our guest for the panel discussion was Mr Simon Woolley, Director and one of the founders of Operation Black Vote & Chair of the Race Disparity Advisory Group at 10 Downing St. Soundtrack: 'Highway to the Stars' by Kai Engel, and 'Ascent' by Jon Luc Hefferman. 

In this episode we will be talking about the use of mapping and social media technologies to conduct human rights work, both outside the field and inside the field (what has come to be known as “Open Source Intelligence” or OSINT).  This kind of work increasingly supports how human rights workers know with certainty when something has happened, and is becoming an important part of denouncing and reacting to human rights abuses.  We were joined by Sam Dubberley, Senior Advisor to the Crisis Response Team at Amnesty International, and Manager of the Digital Verification Corps.

The documentary “Cities of Sleep” explores the world of insurgent sleeper communities, as well as the infamous 'sleep mafia' in Delhi. Filmmaker Shaunak Sen and Cambridge PhD candidate Shreyashi Dasgupta join us to discuss the intersection between urban development, changing societies, city life and communities experiencing homelessness.

Over 10,000 migrant children have been lost after arriving in Europe. Where do they end up? What are their stories? And who is responsible for their increasing vulnerability and their being forgotten? Our guests are Cecilia Ferrara and Ismael Einashe, investigative journalists from Lost in Europe: an investigative network committed to recovering the stories of these missing children.

Everyone's asking, "How did he win? What does this mean for Brazil's future?" But Jair Bolsonaro's victory in the October presidential election also raises more systemic questions. Our guest, Dr Malu Gatto from the University of Zurich, joins us to explore the legacy of Brazil's not-so-dated dictatorship for Bolsonaro and for resistance movements like #NotHim.

Welcome to Season 3 of Declarations. This episode introduces our brand new team of regular panelists, as well as this year's three themes: Memory, Community, and Futures.

In this special episode, we sat down with Jackson Odong of the Refugee Law Project, and Shama Ams from the Centre of Development Studies, to discuss justice in post-conflict and post-colonial contexts. Jackson describes the important role of documenting memory, while Shama speaks to the possibility for rights and weaponisation of citizenship. Are there alternative routes to justice and rights outside the context of the state? What obligations in terms of justice are owed, when one regime is replaced by another? All of this and more in this episode of declarations.

In this episode we talked about external borders and internal politics, trying to get to grips with what democracies owe refugees. As a long-standing former policy-maker and MP, Lord Smith helped us shed light on the domestic dimensions of the politics of the Syrian refugee crisis.

Declarations went to Washington DC earlier this year to talk to researchers and practitioners who are dealing with disinformation. While there we met Alexa Koenig, Executive Director at the Berkeley Human Rights Center. Alexa has had an illustrious career working in the arts, education and politics, before making the jump to a career in Law and Human Rights in particular. She's the author of the highly rated 'Hiding in Plain Sight: The Pursuit of War Criminals from Nuremberg to the War on Terror', and has helped pioneer one of the most significant human rights "innovations" in the digital age; the Human Rights Investigations Lab. Declarations PROFILE is a new series that covers a wide range of notable and inspiring figures in the human rights world.

The Copenhagen Declaration - adopted April this year - unveiled tensions about the relationship between democracy and human rights. If human rights are universal, then they are not only for voting citizens. The views of the citizen majority in any given nation might not be in support of protecting the rights of minorities – non-citizens who cannot vote are particularly vulnerable. However, the alternative to this can also be viewed as problematic: an independent court that can overrule the decisions of the nation-state is seen by many as having excessive authority and little relevance to domestic concerns. Professor Çalı shared her expertise on what the Declaration (in draft form at the time) means for the state of human rights in Europe. Music on this episode was generated by JukeDeck (theme song), and by Alex Finch ('Seeking Clarity')

Listen to the full extract on our latest episode.

In this episode, we are joined by Helen Jennings and Caitlin de Jode, who are organising a conference on ‘The Development of Abortion Rights in a Changing Europe’; the first of its kind in Cambridge. Helen, Caitlin, and their team, want to bring together scholars, activists and experts on the matter, to talk about how we can develop a meaningful framework through which abortion rights - amidst brexit and Ireland’s referendum on the 8th amendment - can be realized. What european, as well as global phenomena, are currently in motion that make this a particularly pressing matter now? What is the impact of conscientious objection on the provision of abortion to women in the UK? How should these competing rights be balanced? What changes - beyond the legal - are necessary, and who can help affect change?

Is Human Rights just a fable? To uncover this question, we venture down 'history' lane with Professor Samuel Moyn. What’s so special about the 1970s, and how does how we think about the emergence of human rights impact how we think of what human rights are, and what they are supposed to do? Join us and find out on this episode of Declarations.

In this episode, we talk about race, racism, borders, and human rights. What kinds of borders are erected around the rights you have - and the rights you don’t? Are human rights a language of liberation from structural oppression, or can it be an oppressive language itself? How can we decide? We were joined by Dr Monica Moreno Figueroa, a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Cambridge. Monica’s research interests include the lived experience of ‘race’ and racism; feminist theory and the interconnections between beauty, emotions and racism with a focus on Latin America.

In this episode, we talk about the law, politics, and human rights implications of drones and targeted killings. What can international humanitarian law tell us about the legal status of rights? Can human rights prevent drone strikes? Should they - and if so, how? We were joined by Christof Heyns, the former U.N. Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. Today, he serves on the U.N. Human Rights Committee and is Professor of Human Rights Law at the University of Pretoria.

In this episode, we talk about occupation, refugee rights, and the status of Palestine. Are there systematic ways to remedy human rights abuses against an occupied people? How has human rights language been used to facilitate occupation? What can be done? We were joined by Dr Ruba Salih (SOAS), expert on Transnational Migration and Gender, and Odette Murray, who is a lecturer in Law.