U.N. High Commissioner on Human Rights Visits GULC

By Courtney Cox

On February 6, 2015, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein, concluded his first official visit to the United States with a press conference at Georgetown University Law Center. Just days following the brutal beheading of his Jordanian compatriot (Muath al-Kaseasbeh) at the hands of ISIL, the Commissioner expressed his outrage at the “monstrous crimes” that violent extremist groups like ISIL and Boko Haram have committed. The focus of the press conference concerned the current “grave period” of violent extremism. The Commissioner asserted that an ideological battle must be waged against extremists. He stressed that the international community must “fight their ideals with our ideals.”