Dr. Brian David Phillips
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Current Employment
Amnesty International, International Secretariat, London, 2007 – present
Consultant with the Policy Team - developing a new “Human Rights Policy Knowledge Base” for Amnesty’s research, campaigning and media staff.
Human Rights Tutor, Oxford Brookes University, Centre for Development and Emergency Practice (CENDEP), 2002 – present
Course Chair and Senior Lecturer in Human Rights Practice, MA in Humanitarian and Development Practice (2003 – 2006)
Responsibilities include course development and coordination, student recruitment, dissertation supervision, and pastoral care for students on Oxford Brookes University’s award-winning MA course (2001 Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education).
Module Originator and Tutor - “Human Rights Law and Activism.”
Module Co-originator and Tutor - “Humanitarian and Human Rights Practice in Violent Conflict.”
Module Originator and Tutor - “Local Human Rights and Peacebuilding Practice in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia.” Module includes a two and a half week field course in the region.
Originator and Coordinator of the Oxford Brookes University Human Rights Film Festival (including speakers’ programme featuring filmmakers and human rights activists from various NGOs and campaigning initiatives). Festival funders have included OXFAM and Working Title Films. Fourth annual festival to be held in March 2006. Partnership with Human Rights Office Tuzla in organising two Human Rights Film Festivals (the first in Bosnia-Herzegovina) in April 2004 and October 2005.
The Journal of Human Rights Practice,” published by Oxford University Press – launching March 2009
Co-editor of new inter-disciplinary journal devoted to human rights practice.
Recent Consultancies
Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture, London, 2007 - present
Delivery of seminar series on human rights practice and the future of the human rights movement for Foundation staff in London, July 2007 – April 2008. Series presented for staff at regional centres in Glasgow, Manchester and Newcastle in November 2007 and February 2008.
Delivery of a short course on the fundamentals of the international human rights protection system for the Foundation’s fundraising staff, October – November 2007.
Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, London, 2007 - present
Research, writing and editing for the Coalition’s 2008 Global Report (to be published May 2008).
Responding to Conflict, Birmingham, 2007
Delivery of seminars on human rights practice and post-conflict reconciliation for “Working with Conflict” course.
Council of Europe, Directorate General of Human Rights, 2005
Consultant on compatibility of Moldova’s 1991 Law on Alternative Service with the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Oxford Quaker Meeting, 2002 – 2006
Tutor for courses on “Six Contemporary Religious Thinkers for Quaker Global Witness” at Oxford Quaker Meeting (January - February 2003) and “Quakerism and Islam on Human Rights, Justice and Peace” (November - December 2003); and “Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Resource for Quaker Witness (September 2006).
United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, 2002 – 2003
Consultant, Human Rights Training Modules for Civil Society in Europe, Central Asia and Caucasus
Author of training modules on “The Right to Conscientious Objection to Military Service” and “The Abolition of the Death Penalty.” Co-author of training modules on “Introduction to International Human Rights Instruments and Mechanisms” and “Human Rights Monitoring, Advocacy and Campaigning.”
Previous Employment
Joseph Rowntree Quaker Fellowship, Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, York, 2001-2002
Developed and conducted a programme of talks and workshops for members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) throughout the U.K. on the theme of “Quaker Global Witness for the New Century.” Member of the tutorial team for several short courses on related topics at Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre, Birmingham – including preparatory work with newly appointed Quaker Peace and Social Witness overseas workers.
Amnesty International (AI), International Secretariat, London, 1989 – 2001
Campaign Coordinator, Europe Regional Program, 1994 – 2001
Responsible for preparation and coordination of AI’s campaigning on human rights concerns in European countries. Extensive work on disappeared and missing persons in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia, and on the right to conscientious objection to military service in Europe. Coordination of AI’s campaigning in response to the Kosovo crisis.
AI representative at human rights conferences and committee meetings of the Council of Europe and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
Originator and Coordinator of the Amnesty International Open University, a human rights awareness-raising program for Central and Eastern Europe. Conducted seminars and presentations on international human rights protection and promotion for university faculties, secondary schools and community organisations in the Russian Federation, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Slovenia, Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary.
Coordinator, AI Campaign Against “Disappearances” and Political Killings, 1992-94
Developed and coordinated major international theme campaign - with particular emphasis on Central and Eastern Europe.
Executive Assistant, Europe Research Department, 1989-92
Research and writing on human rights concerns in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and the Nordic countries – including ill-treatment in police custody; fair trial concerns; detentions under national security legislation; sexual orientation; and refugee issues.
Specialist on European conscientious objection issues.
Education
King’s College, University of Cambridge
Ph. D. Degree in History, October 1989. Doctoral thesis entitled, Friendly Patriotism: Quakerism and the Imperial Nation, 1895-1910.
Areas of specialisation: Nineteenth and Twentieth-Century British Intellectual and Cultural History; History of European Peace Movements; History of Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).
Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, U.S.A.
Bachelor of Arts Degree, June 1983. Graduated Summa Cum Laude, with membership in Phi Beta Kappa.
Double Major in Government/History (High Distinction) and English (Highest Distinction).
Areas of specialisation: Nineteenth and Twentieth-Century European, U.S. and Latin American Intellectual and Cultural History.
Voluntary Work
Member of Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust Peace Committee, 2006 – 2008.
Member of Quaker Peace and Social Witness Overseas Project Group, 2003 - 2006.
Clerk (chair) of Quaker Peace and Social Witness Former Yugoslavia Projects Management Group, 1996 -2002.
Member of Quaker Peace and Service World Regional Programme Committee, 1996 - 2000.
Member of Quaker Peace and Service United Nations Committee, 1988-94.
Selected Recent Publications
Endeavours to Mend: Perspectives on British Quaker Work in the World Today, edited by Brian Phillips with John Lampen, with an introductory essay by Brian Phillips (Quaker Books, 2006).
“Apocalypse without Tears: Hubris and Folly among Late Victorian and Edwardian British Quakers,” essay in Towards Tragedy: Reclaiming Hope, edited by Ben Pink Dandelion (Ashgate, 2004).
“At a Time of Our Own Choosing: A Quaker Reflection on the War in Iraq”, in The Iraq War and Its Consequences: Thoughts of Nobel Peace Laureates and Eminent Scholars, (on behalf of Quaker Peace and Social Witness), edited by Irwin Abrams and Wang Gungwu (World Scientific, 2003).
