Research

New human rights guide to reporting unlawful killings

A new handbook has been launched to assist human rights activists around the world to report unlawful killings by state agencies to international bodies.

Produced by the Human Rights Centre at the University, the handbook was launched by human rights minister Bill Rammell at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in December.

The launch was timed to coincide with Human Rights Day, and represented the second Human Rights Centre publication produced in conjunction with the FCO. The first was the highly successful Torture Reporting Handbook, of which more than 20,000 copies have been distributed in seven languages.

Mr Rammell, who is MP for Harlow, said: 'The key to stamping out these violations is clear reporting. These handbooks were written to help NGO and human rights activists bring clear and convincing accounts of extrajudicial killings to the attention of the international community so we can put pressure on states to end such violations.'

The book, called Reporting Killings as Human Rights Violations, was written by Kate Thompson and Camille Giffard of the Human Rights Centre.

It is a non-technical reference guide for field workers or other professionals who want to know how to take action in response to allegations of suspicious deaths, and how to submit complaints to international bodies.

It includes violations such as political killings, use of illegal or disproportionate lethal force by state agencies, unnecessary or reckless use of force in armed conflict, death in custody for which the state is responsible, and failure of the state to act in situations where there is a clear threat to life.

The handbook is available free of charge to non-governmental (NGO) and inter-governmental organisations.

To other individuals and professionals it costs £10 plus postage and packing. It is currently only available in English. For further details, and to order copies, see www.essex.ac.uk/reportingkillingshandbook

Symbol of the 60s: The University campus

The Sixties. Twentieth Century Architecture 6, The Twentieth Century Society.

The architecture of the University campus has been the subject of much critical discussion.

As Professor of Art History, Jules Lubbock, readily admits in his essay, one of 12 covering different aspects of 60s lifestyle and architecture: 'People do not by and large find it attractive aesthetically. They condemn the grey concrete, the dark grey brickwork of the towers, the absence of ornament.'

But to condemn the campus, he says, is to misunderstand the type of architecture it represents, and the issues influencing its design.

This essay takes the reader on a tour, both architectural and historical, of the campus, inviting us to look at it through different eyes.

Professor Lubbock provides insights into the thinking behind the design, in the context not only of what it represents but also of how it came about.

The design, says Professor Lubbock, is the product of a single architect, working to an academic rather than architectural plan, based on the verbal brief of one man - the University's founding Vice-Chancellor, Sir Albert Sloman.

Key influences were the desire to create a close-knit academic community with interdisciplinearity, and to retain the landscaped Wivenhoe Park.

The high-density buildings combining academic areas, administration, bars, restaurants and shops around the 'high street' of enclosed squares create a 'small city', with a medieval maze of internal corridors and, importantly, only a five-minute walk from the outer edges to the centre.

The rationale behind the towers is less easily explained, but Sir Albert was convinced the architect wanted 'to make a statement' about the strength and confidence of the University. Though not beautiful, says Professor Lubbock, the towers are 'majestic, awe-inspiring and even somewhat fearsome'.

He concludes the campus is not typical of post-war 'modernist' architecture, but represents an early 'Counter-Modernist' approach, based on a return to the creation of community typical of the traditional city.

Professor Lubbock believes the Essex campus, designed as the 24-hour University city, will be recognised as one of the masterpieces of 20th Century architecture and urbanism.

Copies of The Sixties will be available in the Department of Art History, costing £17.50. Contact Libby Armstrong, or email lubbj@essex.ac.uk.

Also in the printed January edition of Wyvern:

• Two million computers help fight cancer
• Focus on rural community