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Alice Jill Edwards

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Alice Jill Edwards
United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
Incumbent
Assumed office
August 2022 (2022-08)
Secretary-GeneralAntónio Guterres
Preceded byNils Melzer
Personal details
BornAustralia
Alma materUniversity of Tasmania
University of Nottingham
International Institute of Human Rights
Australian National University
OccupationLawyer, scholar

Alice Jill Edwards is an Australian lawyer and scholar. She is the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Early life

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Edwards was born in Australia and took a bachelor's degree at the University of Tasmania. She holds a Master of Laws from the University of Nottingham and a Diploma in International and Comparative Law from the International Institute of Human Rights in France. She returned to Australia to take a PhD in Public International Law at Australian National University.[1] She previously worked for Amnesty International and a Mozambique-based NGO.[2]

Career

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Edwards began working at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 1998 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, followed by field assignments in Rwanda (twice) and Morocco, rising to become Chief of Section – Protection Policy and Legal Advice, the key institutional legal position, from 2010 until 2015. Then from 2016 until 2021, she led the secretariat of the inter-governmental diplomatic Convention against Torture Initiative (CTI).[3] She also sits on the editorial board of the journals Torture and Migration Studies.[3]

She has held academic appointments in law at the universities of Oxford[4] and Nottingham, teaches at universities around the world, and is widely published with over 50 publications.

She was appointed the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in July 2022, taking up the position in August 2022.[2] In a report presented to the United Nations in March 2023, Edwards stated "the national duty to investigate torture is alarmingly, universally, under-implemented".[5] She encouraged countries to do more to investigate allegations of torture.[6]

She investigated torture in the context of the Russo-Ukrainian War.[7]

Prior to Julian Assange's final appeal against extradition to the United States, Edwards urged the UK to stop his extradition because of concerns he would be subject to torture if extradited.[8] She has since welcomed his release.[9]

She has warned the Hong Kong courts not to rely on evidence purportedly obtained via torture in mainland China, in the trial of Jimmy Lai.[10]

She tried to intervene with Russia on behalf of Alexei Navalny prior to his death in February 2024, alleging that he was being mistreated, was not receiving appropriate medical care for his serious health conditions, and that his constant solitary confinement was against international law[11] And she has since called for a full investigation into his death.[12]

She also raised the cases of his colleagues Liliya Chanysheva, Vadim Ostanin and Daniel Kholodny who remain detained.

She wrote to airlines and aviation regulators together with Gehad Madi and Siobhán Mullally in April 2024 to caution them against moving people seeking asylum to Rwanda on behalf of the British Government as they could be "compliant" in creating human rights violations. Madi, Edwards and Mullally wrote to the airlines as the UN's special rapporteurs on migrants’ human rights, torture and trafficking to identify the need for companies to comply with international human rights laws.[13]

She has been criticised for failing to raise issues about Israeli torture of Palestinians.[14]

She denounced the attacks committed by Hamas and other armed groups on October 7th 2023 and called for the release of hostages.[15] She was among the first to acknowledge the scale of the atrocities including mass killings and acts amounting to torture including sexual torture.[15]

She has called for a probe into allegations of mistreatment and torture by Israeli authorities against Palestinians.[16][17][18]

She was vocal in respect of the Hamas-Israel armed conflict, calling for accountability for all international crimes.[19]

In 2024 she was nominated for Australian of the Year.[20]

Selected works

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  • (2017) In Flight from Conflict and Violence: UNHCR Consultations on Refugee Status and Other Forms of International Protection
  • (2014) Nationality and Statelessness under International Law
  • (2011) Violence against Women under International Human Rights Law

References

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  1. ^ Edwards, Alice Jill (2008). Violence against women, feminist theory, and the United Nations human rights treaty bodies (Thesis). doi:10.25911/5d7783fc8b4b4 – via via Trove.
  2. ^ a b "Dr. Alice Jill Edwards". OHCHR. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Dr. Alice Edwards". Refugee Law Initiative. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  4. ^ https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/about/mst-international-human-rights-law-faculty
  5. ^ "National prosecutions key to breaking cycle of impunity for torture: UN expert". Relief Web. 14 March 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  6. ^ "Too many nations failing to investigate torture cases, UN expert says". UN GENEVA. 14 March 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  7. ^ Gall, Carlotta (10 September 2023). "Ukrainian Accounts of Torture Point to Systematic Russian Policy, Expert Says". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  8. ^ Newman, Ed (6 February 2024). "UN special rapporteur urges UK to halt Julian Assange's extradition, citing torture risk". www.radiohc.cu. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  9. ^ "World News in Brief: UN expert welcomes Assange release, more ICC warrants issued over Ukraine, Human Rights Council updates | UN News". news.un.org. 25 June 2024. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  10. ^ "Hong Kong SAR: UN expert warns against admission of evidence, allegedly secured through torture, in Jimmy Lai case". Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  11. ^ "UN torture expert warns of opposition figure Alexei Navalny's worsening health in Russian detention". Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  12. ^ "Russia: UN experts call for accountability for Navalny's death and immediate release of all political prisoners". Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  13. ^ "UN experts warn airlines over 'complicity' in Rishi Sunak's Rwanda scheme". The Independent. 22 April 2024. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  14. ^ "UN Special Rapporteur on Torture should be dismissed for bias and deliberate failure to perform duties". Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  15. ^ a b "UN experts demand accountability for victims of sexual torture and unlawful killings during 7 October attacks". Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  16. ^ "Israel: UN expert calls for probe of allegations of torture and mistreatment against Palestinian detainees". Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  17. ^ Arvanitidis, Barbara (5 June 2024). "Israel phasing out use of desert detention camp after CNN investigation detailing abuses". CNN. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  18. ^ "UN torture expert calls for probe of Israel torture allegations". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  19. ^ "UN experts call for full and independent investigations into all crimes committed in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory". Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  20. ^ "Dr Alice Edwards | Australian of the Year". australianoftheyear.org.au. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
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