Stephen Thompson

Stephen Thompson is a graduate of Drew University with a focus in International Relations. With a great deal of experience related to the United Nations both from coursework and an internship in the UN Secretariat, Stephen’s research focused on the international legal system (the International Criminal Court, the UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies), women’s and gender equality (Female Genital Mutilation, women’s political participation, LGBT rights), peacekeeping and peacebuilding operations (effectiveness, lessons learned), and the One UN program aimed at enhancing system-wide coherence for UN programs implemented domestically. A future law student, Stephen hopes to have the opportunity to enact systematic changes in the international legal system that will better protect and represent all of the peoples of the world and make justice a universally accessible ideal.

Most commented posts

  1. Remembering Rwanda — 2 comments
  2. Opposing Equality: A Cross Comparison — 2 comments

Author's posts

Apr 26

Female Genital Mutilation

Female genital mutilation (FGM), also know as female circumcision or genital cutting, is a procedure performed for non-medical reasons that is classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) in four different types: Type I – Partial or complete removal of the clitoris and the clitoral hood. Type II – Partial or complete removal of the …

Continue reading

Share

Apr 21

Ratifying CEDAW, Part II

On Tuesday I posted about the history of CEDAW ratification in the United States and some of the arguments made against it, and wrote about how there is a new campaign pushing for it in the US as soon as possible. There are, of course, arguments in both directions for its ratification or not, but …

Continue reading

Share

Apr 19

Ratifying CEDAW, Part I

The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is the United Nation’s international human rights treaty on gender equality. It has been ratified by all but seven of the United Nation’s members: Iran, Nauru, Palau, Somalia, Sudan, Tonga, and the United States. I would be very willing to argue that …

Continue reading

Share

Apr 12

Goldstone in Perspective

Almost two weeks ago, Richard Goldstone, a prominent and well respected former South African judge, wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post in which he retracted some of the key findings of the Goldstone Report from 2009. The Goldstone Report,officially known as the Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, …

Continue reading

Share

Apr 07

Remembering Rwanda

Yesterday, April 6, marked the17th anniversary of the assassination of Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana which catalyzed a genocide in which 800,000 Tutsis (a Rwandan minority) and moderate Hutus (part of the majority) were systematically murdered in a three month span. A former supervisor of mine was in the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) …

Continue reading

Share

Apr 05

The Problem with Gitmo

Yesterday, US Attorney General Eric Holder made a statement declaring that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, will be tried by a military tribunal in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Although somewhat inevitable, it comes as a disappointment for those who supported President Obama’s original plan to transport the Guantanamo detainees to …

Continue reading

Share

Apr 01

Responsibility to Protect

Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is a relatively new concept in political theory. Basically, it is the idea that governments everywhere have a responsibility to uphold and protect the human rights of their citizens. And, if a state is unwilling or unable to do so, it is the duty of the international community to step in …

Continue reading

Share

Mar 24

Censoring Revolution

The Tunisian Revolution ignited protests across Northern Africa and the Middle East, but they have not been the only areas affected. Much to the Chinese government’s dismay, human rights and pro-democracy groups in China have used the Middle Eastern and African protests as an inspiration for their own campaigns. This has led to incredible censorship …

Continue reading

Share

Mar 22

Human Rights vs. Oil

On March 17th, the United Nations Security Council voted to establish a no-fly zone over Libya, which allows for all measures short of foreign occupation. This is an addition to Libya being referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which I wrote about in my blog on March 3rd, and which itself was unprecedented in …

Continue reading

Share

Mar 17

Understanding Lenses

On Tuesday I wrote about the “Sexy Disaster Effect,” but during the editing process, it came to my attention that portions of my piece could imply several things, which were unintentional, about the residents and countries I was describing. With more thought on the subject, I would like to add additional points to continue the …

Continue reading

Share