IHRN Participants

National academies and scholarly societies that have human rights committees or are interested in human rights issues are invited to participate in the IHRN. Academies that want to consider the creation of a human rights committee and full involvement in the IHRN are welcome to send a prominent member as an observer to a IHRN meeting before making a final decision. More than 90 academies have sent participants to IHRN meetings or participated in other IHRN activities. Both participants and observers are encouraged to refer potentially relevant cases and human rights issues to the IHRN's secretariat for investigation and possible action.

Institutions participating in the IHRN have full autonomy and act at their own discretion. They intervene, in the name of their institutions, on cases and issues brought to their attention by the IHRN secretariat through regular Action Alerts. These alerts often involve colleagues who are held without trial, are at risk of torture, or have been given harsh sentences. Many are confined under deplorable conditions, often in solitary confinement. Some have been tortured, most have been mistreated, and many are in poor health.

All participants in the IHRN are expected to actively support its goals and to keep the secretariat informed of their efforts and any subsequent results. The IHRN secretariat also prepares petitions for imprisoned colleagues that are submitted to UNESCO's Committee on Conventions and Recommendations by selected academies and individuals. The IHRN occasionally sends observers to the trial of a colleague or colleagues.

Participants in the IHRN believe that academies and scholarly societies worldwide are in a unique position to help promote and protect human rights, to raise the consciousness of academies and scholarly societies about human rights abuses and what they can do to help resolve them, to gain the freedom of their imprisoned colleagues, to assist others whose rights are unjustly and severely restricted, and to support the independence of sister academies throughout the world. Because academies and scholarly societies are held in high esteem and their dignity, integrity, and objectivity are widely recognized, their efforts, through a worldwide IHRN, can be a powerful and effective tool in advancing respect for human rights.

Academies and scholarly societies interested in learning more about participating in the IHRN should contact the IHRN's Executive Director, Rebecca Everly.