Theodoor Cornelis (Theo) van Boven (born 26 May 1934, Voorburg) is a Dutch

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

and

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

. In 1977, he was appointed director of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

' Division for Human Rights, a precursor of the UN Human Rights Office. From 1986 to 1991, he was the UN's Special Rapporteur on the Right to Reparation to Victims of Gross Violations of Human Rights and, from 2001 to 2004, Special Rapporteur on

Torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...

. He is also a member of the

International Commission of Jurists The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) is an international human rights non-governmental organization. It is supported by an International Secretariat based in Geneva, Switzerland, and staffed by lawyers drawn from a wide range of jurisdi ...

. From February 1994 to December 1994, he was the first registrar of the

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes in the Yugoslav Wars, war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to tr ...

. In 1985, he was awarded the Right Livelihood Award for "speaking out on human rights abuse without fear or favour in the international community", in 2004, the Wateler Peace Prize and in 2013, the Light of Truth Award. From 1995 to 2016 he was jury member of the Nuremberg International Human Rights Award. On 16 December 2005, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the resolution 60/147, titled ' Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law'. These principles are largely inspired from the work of Van Boven and Cherif Bassiouni and are known as the Van Boven/ Bassiouni Principles. In November 2009, he was given a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

'' from the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires (, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the second-oldest university in the country, and the largest university of the country by enrollment. Established in 1821 ...

. Van Boven has stated his support for the Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, an organisation which advocates for democratic reform in the United Nations, and the creation of a more accountable international political system.

Documentary film

He is starring the

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

''The Subversives''. The plot centers about his job as director of UN Human Rights affaires of the late 70s and early 80s. The film tells his commitment for the many thousands of disappearances and refugees, his actions against military dictatorships and his facing with UN Secretary General

Javier Pérez de Cuéllar Javier Felipe Ricardo Pérez de Cuéllar de la Guerra ( , ; 19 January 1920 – 4 March 2020) was a Peruvian diplomat and politician who served as the fifth secretary-general of the United Nations from 1982 to 1991. He later served as prime min ...

.The documentary film ''the subversives''
Retrieved 30 March 2020.

References

External links

*BASIC PRINCIPLES AND GUIDELINES ON THE RIGHT TO A REMEDY AND REPARATION FOR VICTIMS OF VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND HUMANITARIAN LAW
/small> ("Van Boven Principles")

with an introductory note by Theo van Boven * ttp://albumacademicum.uva.nl/id/id001857 Prof. mr. dr. T.C. van Boven, 1934 -at the Amsterdam University Album Academicum {{DEFAULTSORT:Boven, Theo Van 1934 births Living people Dutch jurists United Nations Special Rapporteurs on torture Leiden University alumni Academic staff of the University of Amsterdam Academic staff of Maastricht University Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau Recipients of the Order of the Liberator General San Martin International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia officials People from Voorburg People from Leidschendam-Voorburg Dutch officials of the United Nations

Documentary film

Further reading

References

External links