Hillel Neuer, the Human Rights Activist
In recent years the Canadian lawyer who heads UN Watch has expanded the audience of the Geneva-based NGO and consolidated its reputation
23 June 2014
Tribune de Genève
By Alain Jourdan
At the head of UN Watch for the past 10 years, the Canadian Hillel Neuer is a human rights activist who inspires fear and dread. His non-governmental organization excels in the art of applying pressure where it hurts the most. When realpolitik causes governments not to dwell on human rights violations in China, for example, UN Watch goes on the offensive.
Hillel Neuer could have continued his brilliant career as an attorney, which he began in New York at a large firm, to make a name for himself and a fortune. Yet even then, he chose instead to defend the widow and the orphan, working pro bono for the most unfortunate. And he even managed to embarrass the chief medical officer of the New York state prison system, who had placed a prisoner in solitary confinement under false medical pretenses.
The young lawyer has a role model. In Canada, he was the student and protégé of a renowned and respected human rights activist, Professor Irwin Cotler, former Minister of Justice and, above all, Nelson Mandela’s former counsel. Numerous dissidents from around the world request his legal assistance. Continue reading ‘Tribune de Genève profile: “Hillel Neuer, the Human Rights Activist”’