The grand opening of the VIII Summer School on Human Rights took place at Kazan Federal University
Today, Kazan Federal University once again hosts participants of one of the most important and significant forums in terms of the development of legal culture in society - the VIII Summer School on Human Rights "Human Rights for New Generations".
The Summer School is an obligatory event within the framework of the inter-university master's program "International Protection of Human Rights", implemented by the Consortium of Russian Universities with the support of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The opening ceremony was attended by the Rector of KFU Ilshat Gafurov, responsible for the joint program of the OHCHR and the Russian Federation Rashid Aluash, Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation Tatyana Moskalkova, Ombudsman for the Republic of Tatarstan Sariya Saburskaya and other invited persons.
Opening the event, the rector of Kazan University stressed that it is necessary to instill respect for human rights at an early age.
“The work of the Summer School 2021 is dedicated to the rights of young people and their willingness to solve social problems. I must say that Kazan Federal University is actively working within the framework of the topic being raised. Today, we effectively interact with the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tatarstan and make our own contribution to the development of legal culture, being always open for cooperation and joint projects,” said Ilshat Gafurov.
He also noted that the Summer School is a great opportunity to exchange useful information on topical issues of international law, an opportunity to share knowledge and existing practices.
In turn, Rashid Aluash expressed gratitude to the Kazan Federal University for the quality work in terms of recruiting students for the master's program in human rights protection, as well as the confidence that the university will hold the Summer School at the highest level.
At the end of his speech, the person responsible for the joint program of the UNHCHR and the Russian Federation presented the rector of KFU with a letter of thanks from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for his assistance in organizing the event.
Tatyana Moskalkova, Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, said that Kazan Federal University was again chosen as the venue for the Summer School not by chance.
“It is in Tatarstan that such a unique document as the “Human Rights Strategy for 2014-2021” appears. And this year we can take stock and see how important it is to have a conceptual policy document that defines the legal personality of each link in the system responsible for the observance and protection of human rights.”
Moskalkova also recalled that within the framework of this strategy, a scientific and educational center “Human Rights, International Law and Integration Problems” was created at KFU on the basis of the Faculty of Law, which formed the theory of human rights, which today is not only of great scientific interest, but also has applied meaning.
“We need to determine how these mechanisms and norms work in practice. - said the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation. - Today we are talking about human rights in the new realities - in the age of information technology and global digitalization. And given the powerful impact of the pandemic on social processes, we can safely say that a new concept has been formed - “covid rights”. And it is very important to determine the proportionality between the need for restrictions and human rights.”
During the opening ceremony, welcome speeches were also made by the UN OHCHR Deputy High Commissioner Nada Al-Nashif, Ombudsman for the Republic of Tatarstan Saria Saburskaya, Deputy Chairman of the State Council Committee on Law and Order Alexander Chubarov and UN Representative in Russia Vladimir Kuznetsov.
The VIII Summer School on Human Rights will be the venue for plenary lectures, seminars, presentations, round tables, the Stalker film festival on human rights and the European Court of Human Rights model competition in English.
As part of the event, a round table of human rights commissioners in the Russian Federation and constituent entities of the Russian Federation will be held on the topic: “The role of human rights commissioners in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals”.
More than 200 students from different regions of Russia and the CIS will have the opportunity to interact with experts and practitioners in the field of human rights, as well as with guest lecturers representing the UN treaty bodies, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the European Inter-University Center (EIUC) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), as well as well-known representatives of non-governmental organizations.