Arrived in Zagreb - much on my mind
Door: Jolijn
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Jolijn
11 Maart 2014 | Kroatië, Zagreb
I am in Zagreb now, in Hotel Dubrovnik. Tomorrow a conference will start on “Future Concepts of Legal capacity in Legislation in the Republic of Croatia”.
I woke up this morning in Geneva, in the apartment where our “host-parents” made nice coffee for us. Then in the morning we went to Palais Wilson to watch the informal NGO briefing of the United States to the Human Rights Committee, where Tina Minkowitz was making an intervention on the Rules Upon Declaration (RUD’s) on the Convention on the Rights with Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). She was again very powerful. After that session, we discussed the planning of the next side-event on Friday, while sitting in cafeteria Wilson. (the report of the side-event of yesterday/Monday isn’t finished yet and will come later).
Around 12.00 I had to leave my colleagues behind in at the OHCHR in Geneva, and I went to the airport. I left the French speaking part of Switzerland, and flew to Zurich, where they speak German. There I had 3 hours for transferring to the flight to Zagreb. I had planned to use that time for work, but I couldn’t find a power socket to charge my laptop, and also the WIFI-codes were not working, so it took me 2 hours to get my equipment working (quite frustrating). Then I only had about 30 minutes left to do some work, before boarding the plane. Both flights were relatively short, so that also didn’t really provide time to work on my reports, presentations, emails and so on. That was a kind of miscalculation.
Also, my mind is still full with the Observations of the Special Rapporteur. I am on the one hand happy and grateful with the recognition from the Special Rapporteur, and on the other hand I also have a lot of doubts on the clarity of the message, and I worry about the governmental actions that should follow. It could be beautiful, but I’m not sure about that. The next step is that the Dutch government should implement the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur. I hope it will work out. I am glad the Special Rapporteur mentioned ALL victims in my case: “provide full redress, including fair and adequate compensation, and as full rehabilitation as possible to all victims of torture or other ill-treatment”. That could be something great :) But now it depends on the Dutch government.
But anyway, it is amazing that I have been heard by the UN, that is very special for me. A victory after such a long struggle.
I hardly had time to digest all the information and experiences that I had yesterday with the Observations by the Special Rapporteur. In the evening I had to park the feelings and thoughts, because I had to focus on my presentation at the side event. Today I have been travelling many short tracks, I arrived around 22.00 in the hotel, and now it’s already late again. I still have to finish the report of the side-event, and tomorrow the conference on Legal Capacity starts, which means even more input… The info is piling up in my head. I really want to sort it out, but I haven’t found the time yet. And before I am also lacking time to sleep, I will go to bed now. After some rest I will get more productive and at speed. So sleeping will be a wise thing to do now. It will make things clearer and easier. And I have a really nice 4-star bed here :) Made for 4-star dreams I guess :)
I woke up this morning in Geneva, in the apartment where our “host-parents” made nice coffee for us. Then in the morning we went to Palais Wilson to watch the informal NGO briefing of the United States to the Human Rights Committee, where Tina Minkowitz was making an intervention on the Rules Upon Declaration (RUD’s) on the Convention on the Rights with Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). She was again very powerful. After that session, we discussed the planning of the next side-event on Friday, while sitting in cafeteria Wilson. (the report of the side-event of yesterday/Monday isn’t finished yet and will come later).
Around 12.00 I had to leave my colleagues behind in at the OHCHR in Geneva, and I went to the airport. I left the French speaking part of Switzerland, and flew to Zurich, where they speak German. There I had 3 hours for transferring to the flight to Zagreb. I had planned to use that time for work, but I couldn’t find a power socket to charge my laptop, and also the WIFI-codes were not working, so it took me 2 hours to get my equipment working (quite frustrating). Then I only had about 30 minutes left to do some work, before boarding the plane. Both flights were relatively short, so that also didn’t really provide time to work on my reports, presentations, emails and so on. That was a kind of miscalculation.
Also, my mind is still full with the Observations of the Special Rapporteur. I am on the one hand happy and grateful with the recognition from the Special Rapporteur, and on the other hand I also have a lot of doubts on the clarity of the message, and I worry about the governmental actions that should follow. It could be beautiful, but I’m not sure about that. The next step is that the Dutch government should implement the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur. I hope it will work out. I am glad the Special Rapporteur mentioned ALL victims in my case: “provide full redress, including fair and adequate compensation, and as full rehabilitation as possible to all victims of torture or other ill-treatment”. That could be something great :) But now it depends on the Dutch government.
But anyway, it is amazing that I have been heard by the UN, that is very special for me. A victory after such a long struggle.
I hardly had time to digest all the information and experiences that I had yesterday with the Observations by the Special Rapporteur. In the evening I had to park the feelings and thoughts, because I had to focus on my presentation at the side event. Today I have been travelling many short tracks, I arrived around 22.00 in the hotel, and now it’s already late again. I still have to finish the report of the side-event, and tomorrow the conference on Legal Capacity starts, which means even more input… The info is piling up in my head. I really want to sort it out, but I haven’t found the time yet. And before I am also lacking time to sleep, I will go to bed now. After some rest I will get more productive and at speed. So sleeping will be a wise thing to do now. It will make things clearer and easier. And I have a really nice 4-star bed here :) Made for 4-star dreams I guess :)
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
