Columbia Law School Professor Sarah Knuckey Advises on African Charters Right to Life
New York, September 9, 2015—Columbia Law School Professor Sarah Knuckey, director of the Human Rights Clinic, traveled to the United Nations in Geneva recently to participate in an expert consultation with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights on its interpretation of the “right to life” in the African Charter.
The Sept. 3-4 consultation was convened by Christof Heyns, U.N. Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions and the African Commission’s Working Group on Death Penalty and Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Killings in Africa. Participating experts provided feedback and guidance on the working group’s draft comment, which is designed to provide authoritative legal guidance on the meaning and scope of the right to life spelled out in Article 4 of the African Charter.
Knuckey is a special adviser to the UN Special Rapporteur. In addition to her work at the Law School, she has carried out fact-finding investigations around the world, addressing issues such as unlawful killings, armed conflict, sexual violence, corporate accountability, extractive industries, and protest rights.