Public Lecture: Promoting Human Rights in an Era of Terrorism, by Aryeh Neier

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YEREVAN, Armenia – On April 22nd, the American University of Armenia (AUA) College of Humanities & Social Sciences hosted a public lecture on “Promoting Human Rights in an Era of Terrorism”, led by former President of the Open Society Foundations Aryeh Neier.

Promoting human rights in an era of terrorism can be challenging because there is a strong temptation to prevent crimes of terrorism by using repressive measures. For the most part, such measures are ineffective, and acts of terrorism can tarnish the reputations of governments that employ them. The challenge is to identify ways to fight terrorism while reducing the disaffection of young people that foster the attraction to terrorism, and their readiness to sacrifice their lives for such causes.

Aryeh Neier is president emeritus of the Open Society Foundations. He was president from 1993 to 2012. Previously, he served for 12 years as executive director of Human Rights Watch, of which he founded in 1978. He worked 15 years at the American Civil Liberties Union, including 8 years as national executive director. He served as an adjunct professor of law at New York University for more than a dozen years and has also taught at Georgetown University Law School and the University of Siena (Italy). Since 2012, he has served as Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Paris School of International Affairs of Sciences Po.

Mr. Neier is a frequent contributor to the New York Review of Books, and has published in periodicals such as the New York Times Magazine, the New York Times Book Review, and Foreign Policy. For a dozen years, he wrote a column on human rights for The Nation.  He has contributed more than 300 op-ed articles in newspapers including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, and the International Herald Tribune. Author of seven books, including his most recent, “The International Human Rights Movement: A History” (2012), Mr. Neier has also contributed chapters to more than 20 books.

Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia and affiliated with the University of California. AUA provides a global education in Armenia and the region, offering high-quality, graduate and undergraduate studies, encouraging civic engagement, and promoting public service and democratic values.