Human rights protect elements and areas of human existence that people need for physical survival (e.g. human right to food) and for a life with human dignity (e.g. human right to education). Thus, they constitute only a minimum standard. Nevertheless, there is criticism of their universal validity – yet some states and companies as well as fundamentalist groups, among others, violate human rights. How can this criticism be refuted? How can human rights violations be prevented? How can human rights be realized? These and similar questions will be discussed at the annual International Human Rights Symposium IHRS of the Institute of Social Ethics ISE of the University of Lucerne.

Oleksandra Romantsova, Executive Director of the Center for Civil Liberties, Kyiv, Ukraine, organization awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize

Oleksandra Romantsova studied at the University of Economics and Law KROK in Kyiv, where she obtained a Master's degree in International Economics from the Faculty of International Relations, receiving a second Master's degree in Project Management after a couple of years. At the end of 2021, she obtained a master's degree in conflict management and mediation.

Since May 2014, she has pursued her professional career as a human rights defender at the Center for Civil Liberties (CCL). Oleksandra's first project involved monitoring and documenting human rights violations and political persecution in Russian-occupied Crimea. From May of 2014 until the end of 2016, Oleksandra has coordinated mobile observation of human rights violations and war crimes in eastern Ukraine, and has continued monitoring political persecution in occupied Crimea. Since September 2017, Oleksandra has served as Executive Director of the “Center for Civil Liberties”, and from February 24, 2022, she has also worked to coordinate the documentation of war crimes and advocacy as part of the global initiative "Tribunal for Putin". Oleksandra participates in field missions in the Kyiv region.

H. E. Prof. Dr. Bertrand Ramcharan, former UN-High Commissioner for Human Rights

Dr. Bertrand Ramcharan was Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights and Assistant Secretary-General when Mr. Sergio Vieira de Mello, then High Commissioner, was killed on 19 August 2003 during the attack on the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad. Dr. Ramcharan then assumed the post of acting High Commissioner for Human Rights, which he held until July 2004, when a new High Commissioner, was appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General.

More information about H. E. Prof. Dr. Bertrand Ramcharan

Prof. Dr. Raphaela Cueni, LL.M., President of the Swiss National Human Rights Institution SHRI

Prof. Dr. Raphaela Cueni is Assistant Professor of Administrative Law at the University of St. Gallen. Her research is focused on Swiss and Comparative Constitutional Law, including the areas of Fundamental Rights, State Organisation and Media Law.

Her current research project “Transparency in Swiss Constitutional Law” aims at identifying principles and variations of transparency in different areas of Swiss Constitutional Law.

Prof. Dr. Raphaela Cueni holds law degrees from the University of Basel (BLaw 2012), the University of Geneva (MLaw 2013) and Columbia University Law School (LL.M. 2016). Her dissertation, completed at the University of Basel in 2018, discusses the protection of satire under freedom of speech.

More Information on Prof. Dr. Raphaela Cueni, LL.M.

Christine Löw, Deputy Head of the Peace and Human Rights Division, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, and Coordinator of the former Working Group mandated to create the Swiss Human Rights Institution SHRI

Christine Löw has been the Deputy Head of the Peace and Human Rights Division (in the rank of a Minister) at the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) since August 2021. She is responsible for the Swiss human rights diplomacy, humanitarian diplomacy, foreign policy on migration and the deployment of Swiss civilian experts.

Before her current position, Ms Löw served at UN Women as Head of the Generation Equality Forum Secretariat in New York and Director of the UN Women Liaison Office in Geneva.  From 2015-2017, she was Head of the International Law Section at the Directorate for International Law at FDFA in Berne, and served at the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations in New York, from 2011-2015, responsible for human rights and social issues. During that time, she was Vice-Chair of the 58th and 59th sessions of the Commission on the Status of Women and successfully facilitated complex negotiation processes. She also had different positions as legal advisor at the Swiss FDFA and worked at the Embassy of Switzerland to the UK in London. She holds a law degree from the University of Basel and an M.A. in European Political and Administrative Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium.

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Prof. Dr. Catrin Misselhorn, University of Goettingen

Catrin Misselhorn is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Göttingen since 2019. From 2012-2019, she held the Chair for Philosophy of Science and Technology at the University of Stuttgart. Previously, she taught at the University of Zurich, the Humboldt University Berlin, and the University of Tübingen. 2007-2008, she was a Feodor Lynen Fellow at the Center of Affective Sciences in Geneva as well as at the Collège de France and the Jean Nicod Institute for Cognitive Sciences in Paris.

Her research areas are philosophical problems of AI, robot and machine ethics. She leads a number of externally funded projects on the ethical evaluation of robots and AI in different areas, e.g. in care, in the workplace, and in education. She is the author of a large number of international papers in this area as well of the two books:

• Künstliche Intelligenz und Empathie. Vom Leben mit Emotionserkennung, Sexrobotern & Co (Reclam 2021).
• Grundfragen der Maschinenethik (Reclam Verlag 2018, 5th edition 2022) – elected on the 3rd place of the non-fiction bestseller list of ZEIT, ZDF and Deutschlandfunk Kultur

Prof. Dr. Bruno Staffelbach, President of the University of Lucerne and Professor for Business Administration

Prof. Dr. Bruno Staffelbach is full Professor for Business Administration, Director of the Center for Human Resource Management (CEHRM) and President of the University of Lucerne, President of the Executive MBA of the University of Zurich, Member of the Board of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Brigadier General and former Commander of an Infantry Brigade of the Swiss Armed Forces.

Prof. Dr. Peter G. Kirchschlaeger, Director of the Institute of Social Ethics ISE, University of Lucerne

Professor of Theological Ethics and Director of the Institute of Social Ethics ISE, University of Lucerne. Author and editor of various publications on Ethics of Human Rights, Ethics of Digital Transformation and so-called “Artificial Intelligence” as well as Business Ethics and Ethics of Finance.

Die Menschenrechte schützen Elemente und Bereiche der menschlichen Existenz, die Menschen zum physischen Überleben und zu einem menschenwürdigen Leben brauchen. Sie sichern also nur einen Minimalstandard. Trotzdem gibt es Kritik an ihrer universellen Geltung, zudem verletzen einige Staaten und Unternehmen sowie fundamentalistische Gruppen die Menschenrechte. Wie kann die Kritik an den Menschenrechten entkräftet werden? Wie lassen sich Menschenrechtsverletzungen verhindern? Wie können die Menschenrechte realisiert werden? Diese und ähnliche Fragen werden anlässlich des 75-Jahre­Jubiläums der Allgemeinen Erklärung der Menschenrechte von 1948 diskutiert.

Der 6. Band der Religionsrechtlichen Studien erscheint zu Ehren von Prof. Dr. Georg Lohmann, der 2023 seinen 75. Geburtstag gefeiert hätte.

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