Wolfgang_Benedek

Wolfgang Benedek

Wolfgang Benedek

Austrian jurist and author

Wolfgang Benedek (born 14 February 1951 in Knittelfeld, Styria) is an Austrian jurist and author.

Benedek is an emeritus university professor of public international law. He was head of the Institute for International Law and International Relations at the University of Graz from 2003 to 2016 and is co-founder of the ETC Graz (European Training and Research Center for Human Rights and Democracy) and the European Training and Research Center for Human Rights and Democracy at the University of Graz (UNI-ETC) and long-time chairman of WUS Austria.[1] He is married and father of two children.

Life

After studying law and social and economic sciences with a focus on economics, Benedek took up a position as a contract or university assistant at the Institute for International Law and International Relations at the Faculty of Law of the University of Graz in 1974. In 1988 he habilitated at the University of Graz under Konrad Ginther on "The Legal Order of the GATT from the Perspective of International Law" and received the venia for International Law and the Law of International Organizations.

Since 2002, he has been a university professor at the Institute of International Law, of which he was the head from 2003 to 2016.[2][3] He also teaches at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, the European Master's Program in Human Rights and Democracy in Venice, and the Regional European Master's Program in Human Rights and Democracy in Sarajevo.

In addition to his research on international development and international economic law, Benedek has published on international and regional human rights protection, refugee and asylum law, and the concept of human security. The study of the relationship between digital spaces and human rights has been another of Benedek's research focuses since the early 2010s.[4] In this context, Benedek was involved in the drafting of the Charter of Human Rights and Principles for the Internet[5] (version 1.1, August 2014), among other projects. From 2019 to 2021, he led an interdisciplinary research project on online hate speech.[6]

Furthermore, Benedek acts as initiator and leader of important non-university institutions, with a focus on Southeastern Europe: As chairman of World University Service (WUS) Austria, Benedek developed extensive aid and cooperation activities for the benefit of universities, especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo and Serbia since 1992. With his support, a number of university human rights centers were founded in this region, which were subsequently linked to form a network of a total of nine centers with the help of an EU project. The European Training and Research Center for Human Rights and Democracy (ETC) in Graz, which was established on his initiative in 1999 and which he headed until 2010, was responsible for the coordination of this network, which includes a large number of training and research activities in the field of human rights. For his activities in the field of university cooperation with Southeastern Europe, he received, among others, honorary citizenship of the city of Sarajevo as well as honorary doctorates from the universities of Pristina and Sarajevo.[7]

Benedek also contributed to the development of institutional cooperation in the African region and led international educational and cooperation projects. From 1993 to 1999 he directed the postgraduate course on "Human Rights of Women" in Stadtschlaining and in Kampala, Uganda. Within the framework of APPEAR (Austrian Partnership for Higher Education and Research in Development Project) and AAPHRE (Advanced Academic Partnership on Legal and Human Rights Education) cooperations were established between the Institute for International Law and International Relations of the Faculty of Law of the University of Graz, the School of Law and Federalism of the Ethiopian Civil Service University and the Human Rights Center of Addis Ababa University.[8]

As a consultant or expert, he has worked for the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights in Banjul, Gambia, for UNITAR in New York, for the UN Human Rights Center in Geneva, for the European Community in Brussels, for UNESCO in Paris, and for the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. As an expert, he supported the city of Graz with regard to its declaration as Human Rights City in 2001. He is a member of the Human Rights Advisory Council of the city of Graz and served as its chairperson from 2007 to 2011.[9]

In 2018, the OSCE appointed Benedek as rapporteur for Chechnya under the Moscow Mechanism. In his report, Benedek found serious human rights violations against sexual minorities and human rights activists.[10] In September 2020, the OSCE reappointed Benedek as rapporteur to investigate widespread allegations of a deteriorating human rights situation and possible election fraud in Belarus. He subsequently submitted his investigative report to the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on 5 November 2020, in which he identified extensive human rights violations and declared the elections to be neither transparent nor fair. Finally, in accordance with his mandate, he formulated more than 80 recommendations directed primarily at Belarus, but also at the OSCE and the international community.[11][12] By the resolution of Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen of 9 November 2020, he was reappointed as a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.[13]

Benedek has repeatedly been critical of the restrictive refugee and asylum policies of European states in letters to the editor and interviews.[14][15]

Benedek came under criticism in 2019 due to his alleged lack of dissociation from the anti-Israel BDS movement.[16][17] Another point of criticism of Benedek was also his alleged proximity to the pro-Palestinian Styrian Peace Platform, which is described as extremist. This organization is accused of using anti-Semitic stereotypes, among other things.[18] In 2018, a guest commentary appeared on the homepage of the Peace Platform, taking sides with Abu H., who was convicted of terrorism and other crimes in 2017.[19] While Benedek described the Styrian Peace Platform as "reputable" he also stated that he "did not support it," but that one nevertheless "had to engage with it". After the aforementioned article about Abu H. became known, Benedek stated, when asked by the Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung, that he was not familiar with the case. Benedek furthermore remarked that there is no unfair administration of justice in Austria, as the article in question insinuates.[20] Following Benedek's statement, the "Neos" political party and the Freedom Party demanded his removal from the Graz Human Rights Advisory Council.[21] The president of the Jewish Community of Graz, Elie Rosen, joined the calls for Benedek's removal.[22] Benedek continues to serve as a member of the Human Rights Advisory Council of the City of Graz.[23]

Honors and awards

  • Honorary doctorate from the University of Sarajevo[24]
  • Honorary doctorate of the University of Pristina
  • Honorary citizenship of the city of Sarajevo
  • Recognition Award of the Bruno Kreisky Foundation (with WUS Austria)[25]
  • Grand Decoration of Honor of the Province of Styria (temporarily returned in February 2011 as a protest against the decision of a general ban on begging in Styria: "for the time until the Styrian Parliament or the Constitutional Court lifts the general ban on begging")[26]
  • 2016 Red Cross Humanity Award from the Heinrich Treichl Foundation[27]

Publications (selection)

References

  1. [1]
    "WUS Austria |". Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  2. [2]
    "Symposium und Festakt für Univ.-Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Benedek". Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  3. [3]
    "ETC Graz: Wolfgang Benedek". 10 July 2019. Archived from the original on 10 July 2019. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  4. [4]
    "Tatort Internet".
  5. [5]
    "IRPC Charter". September 2011. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  6. [6]
    "No Hate Styria". Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  7. [7]
    "Mitteilungsblatt der Universität Graz" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 June 2012. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  8. [8]
    "project131 – AAPLHRE". Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  9. [9]
    "Neuer Vorsitz im Grazer Menschenrechtsbeirat". Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  10. [10]
    "Grazer Völkerrechtler: OSZE-Bericht bestätigt Menschenrechtsverletzungen in Tschetschenien". 21 December 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  11. [11]
    "OSCE Rapporteur's Report under the Moscow Mechanism on Alleged Human Rights Violations related to the Presidential Elections of 9 August 2020 in Belarus". Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  12. [12]
    "Grazer Jurist beurteilt Menschenrechtslage in Weißrussland". 13 October 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  13. [13]
    "Univ.-Prof.i.R Wolfgang Benedek erneut zum Mitglied des Ständigen Schiedshofes in Den Haag ernannt". Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  14. [14]
    "Rechtspopulisten haben einen engen Menschenrechtsbegriff". Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  15. [15]
    "Asylorganisationen fordern klares Bekenntnis zum Flüchtlingsschutz". Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  16. [16]
    "Menschenrechtsbeirat der Stadt Graz: Präsident der Jüdischen Gemeinde fordert Rücktritt Wolfgang Benedeks". Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  17. [17]
    "DIE MENSCHENRECHTE ALS DECKMANTEL Erklärung der Gesellschaft der Freunde der Jüdischen Gemeinde Graz". Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  18. [18]
    "Eklat um Grazer Menschenrechtsbeirat". Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  19. [19]
    "Ist das verhältnismäßig? Verdacht auf Gesinnungsjustiz". Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  20. [20]
    "Grazer Menschenrechtsbeirat: Jüdische Gemeinde lehnt Mitglied ab". 18 February 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  21. [21]
    "Freiheitsforderung für Terrorist sorgt für Wirbel". Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  22. [22]
    "Steirische Plattform will Freiheit für Terroristen". Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  23. [23]
    "Menschenrechtsbeirat in Graz". Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  24. [24]
    "Short biography of Wolfgang Benedek". Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  25. [25]
    "Bruno-Kreisky-Preis für Verdienste um die Menschenrechte". Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  26. [26]
    "Bettelverbot: Völkerrechtler gibt Ehrenzeichen zurück". 16 February 2011. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  27. [27]
    "Wolfgang Benedek erhält Humanitätspreis". Retrieved 12 February 2021.
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