2009 Castan Centre Intern

Marianna Linnik

Australian Delegation to the Human Rights Council, Geneva

Report

I was very fortunate to attend the tenth session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. I was one of two interns at the Australian delegation and I was supervised by Australian diplomats from the Australian Mission in Geneva. It truly was one of the most interesting experiences of my life.

Prior to the internship, I was extremely interested in the United Nations and its role in protecting and promoting human rights around the world. However, I knew very little about what this actually entailed. I am very grateful to the Castan Centre for the opportunity to participate in this United Nations initiative on human rights and to get hands-on experience in this field.

As an intern at the Australian delegation, I attended the plenary session of the Council and many side meetings and events. At these sessions, I took notes that I summarised and emailed to the Australian Mission in Geneva. These notes would be used to inform the Department of Foreign Affairs in Canberra what was occurring at the Council. I was also very fortunate to deliver some statements on a number of human rights issues on behalf of Australia during various interactive debates. Furthermore, I was given the opportunity to lobby delegates from other countries to support a resolution on torture.

A great deal of human rights issues were addressed at the Council, ranging from the rights of children and people with disabilities to the situations in North Korea, the Middle East and Somalia. All of these issues were discussed in the plenary session of the Council and in side meetings, where diplomats from different states debated on and refined the wording of resolutions that would be passed at the conclusion of the Council. I also very much enjoyed attending the meetings put on by various NGOs. One of the best aspects of attending the Human Rights Council is that there were seemingly endless opportunities to attend talks put on by many prominent speakers about a vast number of different human rights issues. One meeting that sticks out in my memory was a panel of speakers that discussed forced disappearances in South America and the possibility of using forensic science to find and identify the bodies of the victims. One of the speakers was an elderly lady, who represented the organisation of grandmothers that were looking for their grandchildren, who had disappeared through various regimes. The passionate stories told by this woman and her relentless search for her grandson brought tears to my eyes.

Of course, the Human Rights Council is not without its problems. Throughout the internship, the strengths and weaknesses of multi-lateral forums, and the Human Rights Council in particular, were brought to my attention. This was highlighted by the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). The UPR is a process by which the human rights situation in every country is reviewed by other states and by civil society. Over a number of years, every state is given the opportunity to present a report and other countries and NGOs may make comments and recommendations regarding the report and the general state of human rights in that country. At the session that I attended 16 countries were reviewed. It was clear from the outset that the process was very political and that despite a country's actual conduct in relation to human rights, it was often praised by its peers and criticised by its enemies. It was difficult to escape politics throughout the duration of the Council and, even though this was disheartening, overall I still believe that the United Nations and large multi-lateral meetings have a role to play in promoting and protecting human rights around the world. 

Another aspect of the Council that I enjoyed is that it truly is an international experience. It was incredible to look around the room and see faces of representatives from almost every country in the world. Similarly, I really enjoyed living in Geneva, as it is also a very international city. Whether at the United Nations or on my days off, I met many interesting people from all around the world and this added to the richness of the experience. The city itself is very quaint and beautiful and the mountains surrounding it are spectacular. I spent some of my best weekends going on trips to the Alps with some of the other interns.

Overall I had an amazing experience, and once again Ia would like to express my gratitude to the Castan Centre. I would not have been able to learn so much about so many human rights issues and to get an insight into the intricacies of the United Nations without this opportunity.

Profile

Marianna Linnik has been interested in human rights for as long as she can remember and this interest has been reinforced by her travels through Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa, and by her academic and practical experiences. Last summer, Marianna pursued her passion for Indigenous rights by completing an Aurora internship with the Northern Land Council in Darwin. She worked for the legal branch of the organisation, which provides assistance to Indigenous groups seeking to have their land rights recognized in the Northern Territory. Marianna is also very interested in the rights of refugees and asylum seekers. In the past, she visited asylum seekers at immigration detention centers to assist them in finding legal representation. More recently, Marianna volunteered with the Darfur Documentation Program, which sought to document the stories of refugees from Darfur, Sudan, in relation to the atrocities that they saw and experienced.

Marianna has also been involved in a number of mooting competitions, including the 2007 Castan Centre Charter of Rights Mooting Competition. Following the competition, she conducted research for a Melbourne barrister on the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities. Marianna is currently working as a research assistant at the Monash Law Faculty, where she is conducting research on human rights and how they relate to the World Trade Organisation.

In 2006, while on exchange at the University of Copenhagen, Marianna interned at Lawhouse.dk, a Danish firm specialising in human rights and corporate social responsibility. As part of her internship she co-wrote a paper on corporate social responsibility that was published by the International Labour Organisation. After Denmark, Marianna travelled to Ghana, where she volunteered to teach international human rights to high school students at the Buduburam Liberian Refugee camp.

Marianna is very excited about the opportunity to join the Australian Delegation at the United Nations Human Rights Council and to witness how human rights are discussed, debated and enforced in the international arena.

Marianna has one more semester left of an Arts/Law degree. Her Arts major is geography, with a focus on human geography and development studies, and she has undertaken numerous human rights law electives.

Australian Delegation to the Human Rights Council, Geneva