Thomas Hammarberg
Thomas Hammarberg (born 2 January 1942 in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden) is a Swedish diplomat and human rights defender.
He is currently the Commissioner for Human Rights at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. He took up his position on 1 April 2006, succeeding the first Commissioner, Álvaro Gil-Robles.
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[edit] Human Rights
Prior to his appointment, Hammarberg had spent several decades working on the advancement of human rights in Europe and worldwide. He had been Secretary General of the Stockholm-based Olof Palme International Center (2002–05), Ambassador of the Swedish Government on Humanitarian Affairs (1994–2002), the Secretary General of the NGO "Save the Children Sweden" (1986–92), and Secretary General of Amnesty International (1980–86). He received on behalf of Amnesty International the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977.
Between 2001-03, Hammarberg acted as Regional Adviser for Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. For several years, he was the Swedish Prime Minister's Personal Representative for the UN Special Session on Children, as well as the Convener of the Aspen Institute Roundtables on "Human Rights in Peace Missions". Between 1996 and 2000, he was the appointed representative of the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, for human rights in Cambodia. He also participated in the work of the Refugee Working Group of the multilateral Middle East Peace Process.
The Commissioner regularly conducts visits to promote the respect of human rights in all Council of Europe member states, in accordance with his mandate.[1]
[edit] Publications
Hammarberg has published widely on various human rights issues, and particularly on the rights of the child, refugee policy, minority issues, xenophobia, islamophobia, Roma rights as well as international affairs and security. He is also well known for his presentations and lectures on human rights at various intergovernmental and academic institutions. As Commissioner he has published a series of "Viewpoint" articles on human rights issues in Europe on the institution's website.[2] He regularly publishes comments focusing on main human rights issues.[3]
Since he was appointed Commissioner in April 2006, Thomas Hammarberg has visited and published reports about almost all of the Council of Europe 47 member states.
[edit] References
- ^ Mandate Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights
- ^ Commissioner for Human Rights Council of Europe
- ^ Human Rights Comments Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights
[edit] External links
- Commissioner for Human Rights Council of Europe
- PalmeCenter
| Preceded by Martin Ennals |
Secretary-General of Amnesty International 1980–1986 |
Succeeded by Ian Martin |
| Preceded by Álvaro Gil-Robles |
Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights 2006–present |
Succeeded by |
