Professor Bennoune to Present to United Nations General Assembly

Professor Karima Bennoune, acting in her capacity as United Nations Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, will make a presentation to the United Nations General Assembly on October 26 concerning her report on the intentional destruction of cultural heritage.

Bennoune's report examines the impact of such destruction on a range of human rights, including the right to take part in cultural life.  It also calls for effective national and international strategies for preventing such destruction, for holding accountable those alleged to have taken part, and for support and protection of defenders of cultural heritage. 

Bennoune's report follows her UN mission to Cyprus in May and June of 2016, during which she assessed the country's efforts to improve the ability of citizens to participate in cultural life and to access cultural heritage. Her subsequent report criticizing the efforts of Turkish Cypriot authorities to restrict religious activities in ethnically split Cyprus drew international media coverage, including articles in the Associated Press, Ekathimerini, Cyprus Mail, and Greek Reporter.

Karima Bennoune is an author, lecturer, teacher, and international law scholar as well as the first Arab-American to be honored with the Derrick A. Bell Award from the Section on Minority Groups of the Association of American Law Schools. In October 2015, she was appointed UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights.  She was recently presented with the 2016 Rights and Leaderhip Award by IANGEL, the International Action Network for Gender Equity & Law.