7th June 2012 Geneva, Switzerland
The much awaited second round of the Universal Periodic Review finished its first session on Monday. There’s general agreement in these parts that the UPR has been a big success since it began 4 years ago, so the second round began with more excitement than you get at a diplomat’s house on Eurovision night. Without […]
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9th May 2012 Washington DC, USA
What is the first thing you think of when you think “United Kingdom?” Maybe it’s Buckingham Palace and the generations of kings and queens who have ruled the British Isles since Roman times. Maybe it’s the plays and poems of William Shakespeare, or the fortunes of your favourite Premier League side. Maybe it’s the complex, […]
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23rd April 2012
Today, 23rd April, the Flag of St George is flying over the British Embassy in Addis Ababa. And it’s a timely reminder of yet another historical link between Britain (in this case, specifically England) and Ethiopia – the fact that we share a patron saint. We don’t know much about St George. He was soldier […]
6th December 2011 Geneva, Switzerland
You wouldn’t expect an international meeting on torture prevention to be a happy occasion but November’s global forum on the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture had the feel of a large and joyous family gathering. Given that the Optional Protocol is still in its youth, the atmosphere was more one of Barmitzvah than […]