500th Anniversary Conference on Universality in Human Rights

On December 2-4, 2011 the Universal Human Rights Conference, 500 Year Anniversary of Antonio de Montesinos, was held in Washington, D. C. The conference website  contains the  plan of the conference and will contain publications of the conference.

The conference included Sunday, December 4, 2011, the conventionally identified date in 1511 when Antonio de Montesinos delivered a sermon in Santo Domingo calling for reform of Spanish policy toward the indigenous. That sermon launched a Spanish debate about the human rights of the Indians, which in turn contributed to later advocacy of the principle that human rights apply to all people, regardless of nationality. The new Spanish film Tambien La Lluvia (Even the Rain) has as its core purpose considering the legacy of Montesinos.

UN World Human Rights Day and the Genocide Convention

December 10th was World Human Rights Day. The UN has a web page on the celebration.https://www.un.org/en/events/humanrightsday/2011/index.shtml It marks the 63rd anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: https://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/


December 9th was the 60th anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide: https://www.un.org/millennium/law/iv-1.htm. See also the discussion at the bottom of this page: https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=40682&Cr=human+rights+day&Cr1=