THE WILLIAM J. BUTLER ANNUAL COLLOQUIUM on

“THE ROLE OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN FOREIGN POLICY”

From 1977 until 2013, the AAICJ organized an annual colloquium targeted at enhancing the role of human rights in foreign policy. “The Colloquium” provided a space for human rights experts working in government to exchange ideas on how to best promote human rights norms as a priority within their own government’s foreign affairs. The attendees all hailed from the human rights division of their respective government ministry, and commonly served as the chief officer of their departments.

For two days each year, these officials would gather to exchange views and best practices as well as to explore innovative ways to tackle vital and frontier human rights challenges. The venue of the meeting changed annually, and responded to invitations from a rotating pool of ministries of foreign affairs. By design, each of the invited nations sent only one representative to ensure participation remained balanced, and unlike meetings held in other forums, follow-up reports from the meeting were made non-attributional to foster participants’ comfort and candor. A list of Colloquium venues, participants, and agendas is available below.

The Colloquium emphasized the experiences of its attendees charged with the implementation of human rights agendas in bilateral agreements between nations, as well as in regional and multilateral spaces like the United Nations. At the time of the Colloquium’s conception, many governments around the world were in the early stages of building human rights divisions within their foreign ministries. However, as the decades commenced the meeting’s utility persisted. Participants often stated that though human rights’ ideals found a strengthened rhetorical foothold in governmental policy, there too often remained a distinct rift between ideals and action.

Participants were vocal in expressing gratitude for the designated space to exchange ideas with their peers on how to best promote human rights values and actionable standards. For many, this meeting helped invited officials feel a sense of solidarity and reinforcement in what they expressed was all too often a siloed station in government, fighting for their voices to be heard among the cacophony of competing state interests.

Throughout the 35 year span of Colloquia, William J. Butler, Esq. (AAICJ President from 1977-2020) moderated every meeting with his characteristic verve, retiring only after he was well into his 90’s. Bill Butler was grateful to work in collaboration with Bert Lockwood, Director of the Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights at the University of Cincinnati Law School, among other Urban Morgan Institute staff and students. These meetings were further made possible by the generous support of the Swiss Government.