Raphaël Viana David

I wrote an op-ed for @GenevaSolutions to channel our growing sense of powerlessness and despair into action: we need to build a coalition at the UN in defence of human rights multilateralism.

Excellent piece @vdraphael on smaller states rallying around human rights as great powers abandon them "What will this take? Political courage – to confront violations wherever they occur, from Gaza to El-Fasher to Xinjiang to Minnesota, and at home" genevasolutions.news/human-rights/g…

This will require political courage, vision, ambition, bigger diplomatic and financial capacity, and working with civil society. Where no country small or medium can speak up alone, strength in numbers reduces the political cost of taking an ambitious stand for human rights.

Only this can rebuild the global levers that allow for human rights progress: upholding human rights as our moral compass, preserving international law as our social contract, and restoring political will to tackle all crises without distinction.

I wrote an op-ed for @GenevaSolutions to channel our growing sense of powerlessness and despair into action: we need to build a coalition at the UN in defence of human rights multilateralism.

In a world dominated by great powers, the UN human rights system still has one last lifeline: strength in numbers, writes @vdraphael, human rights advocate at the @ISHRglobal. l.genevasolutions.news/i9

Human rights progress has never depended solely on great-power benevolence, writes @vdraphael in @GenevaSolutions. At the UN, small and medium States hold real power. The question is: are they willing to use it? genevasolutions.news/human-rights/g…

Los líderes que le rinden pleitesía y se muestran serviles al Presidente de EEUU Trump tratando de ganarse su favor sólo se humillan. Trump (y su administración) no solo vulnera permanentemente el Derecho Internacional, sino la misma dignidad humana.

Why is it so difficult for European leaders to say both that Maduro was totally illegitimate and that the US’s regime change in 🇻🇪 is a colossal violation of international law? Is it so hard to see that our profound inconsistencies only harm our interests (including on 🇺🇦)

From New York Times editorial “By proceeding without any semblance of international legitimacy, valid legal authority or domestic endorsement, Mr. Trump risks providing justification for authoritarians in China, Russia and elsewhere who want to dominate their own neighbors. More immediately, he threatens to replicate the American hubris that led to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. As a presidential candidate, Mr. Trump seemed to recognize the problems with military overreach. In 2016, he was the rare Republican politician to call out the folly of President George W. Bush’s Iraq war. In 2024, he said: ‘I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars.’ He is now abandoning this principle, and he is doing so illegally. The Constitution requires Congress to approve any act of war. Yes, presidents often push the boundaries of this law. But even Mr. Bush sought and received congressional endorsement for his Iraq invasion, and presidents since Mr. Bush have justified their use of drone attacks against terrorist groups and their supporters with a 2001 law that authorized action after the Sept. 11 attacks. Mr. Trump has not even a fig leaf of legal authority for his attacks on Venezuela.”

The struggle for democracy and human rights in deeply repressive regimes is excruciatingly slow, and it’s easy to lose patience. Still, we must not lose sight of the ultimate goal. Focus on the end we seek. Do it the hard way—but do it the right way. 3/3

But if history teaches us anything, it is that hasty actions that contravene international law rarely lead to the outcome we actually want: a democratic society in which rights are respected. 2/3

Saw some people in the human rights space applauding Trump’s actions in Venezuela. As someone from China—a country where dictatorship feels omnipotent and where people inside often feel utterly powerless—I understand the desire for an external force to remove a hated tyrant. 1/3

The history of US interventionism in Latin America is a history of human rights violations, human experimentation, slavery, poverty and genocide, not emancipation. Maduro is a monster who does not care about his people, but let’s not be naive: neither does the US

BREAKING: new @ISHRglobal report uncovers how China and Russia hijack budget negotiations in New York to defund UN human rights work and investigations, while the US has gutted the UN's budget at a time of financial crisis and #UN80 reform. Read more: ishr.ch/latest-updates…

Eleven years ago now... #UmbrellaMovement #WeRemember x.com/hkdc_us/status…

Home.

علاء عالأسفلت @alaa Alaa is home 💙💙💙

An exceptionally kind day 💛 Alaa is free

@ISHRglobal analysed the Secretary-General's revised UN budget proposal for 2026 released this week, the data is clear: human rights, chronically underfunded, are disproportionately targeted. States must reverse cuts, adequately fund human rights. ishr.ch/latest-updates…

I'll speak at the #HRC60 side event on human rights in China, alongside @MaryLawlorhrds, @Rizwangvl, and @SophieDRich, moderated by @vdraphael. We'll discuss the chilling effects of arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances in China on human rights and offer recommendations