René Cassin

Who we are

René Cassin – the Jewish voice for human rights – is named after the French-Jewish co-author of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

René Cassin's vision is of a world where everyone fully enjoys all their human rights as enshrined in the Declaration, and in which members of the Jewish community are actively engaged in promoting and protecting these rights.

Our mission is to promote and protect the universal rights of all people, drawing on Jewish experience and values.

René Cassin works:

• within the Jewish community – by building support for human rights values amongst British Jews
• in the wider community – by bringing the authority of a Jewish perspective on issues that resonate with Jewish experience

We aim to:

• Remake a compelling case for human rights values – we believe that those values, which inspired the UDHR, are a direct response to the horrors of the Holocaust. For that reason, we focus on advocating for safeguarding the UK’s current human rights framework – particularly the European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act, which have their origins in the UDHR
• Campaign for change on human rights issues that resonate with Jewish experience, and which affect other marginalised minorities, such as:
  • Genocide – we are mobilising support for UK-based exiles demanding action in response to the Chinese repression of Uyghur Muslims
  • Immigration and asylum – we are drawing on the parallels with recent Jewish history to challenge the current ‘hostile environment’ towards refugees. We campaign for a time limit on the detention of asylum-seekers and promote alternatives to detention
  • Discrimination and hate crime – we use our work on discrimination against Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities as a case study to illustrate the negative implications for vulnerable communities and groups of a weak human rights framework
  • Social justice and women’s rights – we address long-standing inequalities and the obstacles vulnerable groups in accessing fundamental rights e.g., right to safety, right to healthcare etc.
• Lead and grow a group of committed and knowledgeable Jewish human rights advocates

Our values – underpinning all the work we do:

• Solidarity – human rights belong to us all, so we stand for the rights of everyone, everywhere
• Judaism – we are inspired by Jewish values and experience
• Collaboration – our work is not isolated, but intertwined with the efforts of others, so we nurture and mobilise relationships
• Empowerment – we turn today’s Jewish activists into tomorrow’s leaders
• Monsieur René Cassin – we are determined to create a legacy worthy of our namesake