History

In 2000 the Consultative Council of Jewish Organisations (CCJO) took a group of young professionals to the former United Nations Commission on Human Rights (which has since been reformed into the Human Rights Council) in Geneva where they were dismayed by the absence of a Jewish voice on universal human rights. They were inspired to set up René Cassin to provide a Jewish voice on international human rights.

Since then, the popularity and influence of René Cassin has spread across Europe, with active groups established in the UK, France and the Netherlands. René Cassin activists can even be found in Argentina! In 2007, the group held its first international seminar in Paris, bringing together Jewish human rights activists from across Europe.

René Cassin continues to take delegations to the United Nations Human Rights Council with the support of the CCJO. The group has campaigned on issues including immigration, terrorism and torture. As part of a campaign for restitution for victims of genocide, René Cassin representatives negotiated the first-ever reference to group rights in a United Nations Instrument (the Basic Principles on Rights to Victims) in 2005.

René Cassin works within the Jewish community to promote awareness of human rights and encourage activism. The group has been staging high-level public events exploring contemporary human rights issues since 2003. These events have attracted a diverse range of speakers, including Dame Ruth Deech, Dr Indarjit Singh and Peter Tatchell.

In 2005, René Cassin launched its education programme for secondary schools, which enables children to learn about issues such as genocide, immigration and rights of the child. In 2005 alone, René Cassin's education programme reached over 3000 Jewish secondary school children. René Cassin continues to prioritise human rights education. The organisation has developed Education Packs for teachers, and worked on an ambitious project with 5 major Jewish secondary schools to educate pupils on Darfur.

In 2007, René Cassin launched the Jewish Human Rights Network to bring Jewish people together to speak out for human rights, with the support of the Chief Rabbi, the Attorney General and representatives from across the Jewish community and human rights community.