About the PhD project
With the adoption of the Human Rights Defenders Declaration (HRD Declaration) by the UN General Assembly in 1998, States have formally recognized human rights defenders' right to defend rights further as important stakeholders in the implementation of human rights. The UN terminology describes human rights defenders as “people who, individually or with others, act to promote or protect human rights”. This work must be undertaken by peaceful means. States and non-State actors have taken initiatives to implement the HRD Declaration and respond to the needs of human rights defenders in varied contexts, and as such a human rights defenders protection regime has emerged over the last two decades. As a component in this protection regime many countries have made human rights defenders a key priority in their human rights foreign policies, including Norway.
Norway’s support to human rights defenders has been embedded in parliamentary approved white papers on human rights since 2000, including in the current “Opportunities for All: Human Rights in Norway’s Foreign Policy and Development Cooperation” from 2014. Furthermore, Norway has had operational guidelines for how its foreign service shall support human rights defenders in third countries since 2005, with the most recent update in 2023. These guidelines target diplomats and embassies as key stakeholders to protect human rights defenders outside these States’ own borders. However, questions related to how they are applied and its effect are relevant and important, given the recognition of the important role HRDs have in society. Furthermore, as the human rights defenders protection regime expands, corresponding measures are being implemented by both States and non-State actors that limit the space and capacity for human rights defenders to promote and protect human rights and carry out their work.
This doctoral thesis is motivated to shed light on the role of third States in their application of policies and operational guidelines, and to further understand how diplomacy can influence the protection of human rights defenders in specific contexts. By applying social legal and international practice theory to design multi-method research techniques, this dissertation focuses on diplomats as a distinct social actor in the human rights defenders’ protection regime. By using an interdisciplinary and multi-method approach, this thesis will, through an actor-centric orientation, focus on the role of human rights diplomacy in relation to human rights defenders through the study of the practices of Norwegian embassies and diplomats in third countries.
The main research question posed for this research is:
How does diplomacy support and protect human rights defenders in specific contexts?
This is an overarching research question, and a set of sub-questions outlined below will also be addressed in different chapters.
Underlying research questions:
- What are the major factors that influence embassies and diplomats’ protection practices for human rights defenders in third countries?
- How are diplomatic protection practices perceived to respond to the protection needs of human rights defenders in specific contexts?
The project timeline is October 2021- December 2025.
About Sandra Petersen:
Sandra Petersen is a Doctoral research fellow at the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights (NCHR), University of Oslo. With over two decades of experience, she has closely collaborated with local human rights defenders, networks, and organizations in conflict zones and high-risk areas. Her expertise encompasses political advocacy, collaboration with international protection actors, and management of funding mechanisms for local human rights defenders and organizations, including initiatives led by women and people directly affected by human rights abuse. Petersen also possesses over 14 years of organizational leadership experience from various Norwegian organizations and as a board member in Norwegian and international networks and organizations. Currently employed as a special advisor by the Norwegian Human Rights Fund. Her PhD research project is externally funded by the Norwegian Research Council under the Public Sector PhD scheme.
Program
- Sandra Petersen – Presentation (30 min.)
- Dr. Karen Bennett- Comments (30 min.)
- Open discussion (30 min.)
- Closed meeting (30 min.)
Supervisors:
- Peris Sean Jones is Professor at the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, University of Oslo
- Laurel E. Fletcher is Clinical Professor of Law at UC Berkeley, School of Law
Mentor:
Dr. Brian Dooley, Honorary Professor Practice at the Mitchell Institute for Global Peace Security and Justice at the Queen’s University, Belfast