IBA Annual Conference Copenhagen 2026
4 Oct - 9 Oct 2026
B1 2, Level 0
Session information
Business and human rights: are businesses friends or foe to human rights defenders?
Tuesday 6 October (1615 - 1730)
B1 2, Level 0
Committee(s)
Bar Issues Commission
(Lead)
IBA Legal Policy & Research Unit
Description
This session will introduce Ales Bialiatski, recipient of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, in conversation with Berit Reiss-Andersen, who was Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee at the time the award was presented.
Ales Bialiatski is a longstanding human rights defender and the founder of the Belarusian human rights organisation Viasna. Throughout his career, he has been imprisoned on several occasions because of his human rights work. Following his release in a prisoner exchange in 2024, he is now living in exile in Norway.
Session / Workshop Chair(s)
| Berit Reiss-Andersen | The Norwegian Bar Association, Oslo, Norway; Vice Chair, Bar Issues Commission |
| Steven Richman | American Bar Association, Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Chair, Bar Issues Commission |
Speakers
| Tiffani Brownley-Meijer | ARC & International Legal Consultant, Washington, District of Columbia, USA; International Organisations Liaison Officer, Human Rights Law Committee |