# Jean-Claude Vignoli

Jean-Claude Vignoli is an activist, journalist and writer, born in Geneva, Switzerland. He is the co-founder of UPR Info, a Geneva-based human rights NGO. UPR Info is the first NGO working on the Universal Periodic Review process. He is a journalist and writer, with his first book titled "Pour une poignée d'ivoire" that recounts his experience as traffickers hunter in Ivory Coast.

## Human rights activist

He is an international lecturer and trainer on the Universal Periodic Review, teaching to a various range of actors the Human Rights Council mechanism, such as academics in Venice, government and NGO in Armenia, human rights defenders in Togo, in Geneva, in Niger and in Malawi. He is the author of various studies assessing the success of on the UPR mechanism, which are scarce as regularly noted: "[...]empirical work assessing the extent to which UPR recommendations are implemented is scarce. Most of existing analyses have been carried out by the Geneva-based nongovernmental organization (NGO) UPR Info [...]". He developed a methodology to assess thousands of UPR recommendations by consulting dozen of thousands actors on the ground. He wrote, co-wrote and published three studies "On the Road to implementation", "Beyond promises: the impact of the UPR on the ground", and "The Butterfly effect: spreading good practices of UPR Implementation", totalling 12.000 recommendations.
He is an expert on the Universal Periodic Review and was interviewed several time on this topic.

## Writer

He is a writer and published in 2022 Pour une poignée d'ivoire, a book about his work as hunter of animal traffickers in Africa, which focuses on an investigation dubbed the San Pedro Connection, where the criminals he helped put away were also involved in human trafficking.

## Animal rights activist

After discovering the Virunga documentary, he decided to commit himself to the animal cause, first fighting poachers, then ivory and protected species traffickers.
He first became involved in the fight against poaching in Africa. He had a seminal experience while living in Tsavo East National Park. Confronted with a gazelle that had been dying for days in a trap set by poachers, he explains: "I realized how immense the disaster was, with the gazelle gnawing its leg to extricate itself from the trap, while the poachers didn't even come to collect their product. (..) When you live in an African park, you know you have to do something for these animals".
Later, on behalf of the NGO network EAGLE, he infiltrated criminal networks to put major traffickers in prison. He was the NGO's national representative in Togo.

## Journalist

He is freelance journalist for Swiss newspapers such as Le Temps, Le Courrier, and Heidi.news. He regularly lives with indigenous people and writes about his reflexions in this regard.

## Other

He was Board member of the Green party in Geneva (from 2011 to 2012).
He is the initiator of We Pay Our Interns, the first initiative of its kind that aims to ensure interns are remunerated in Geneva
He sang in Latin for the band Rorcal in « Prelude To Heliogabalus ».

## fixed references/footnotes

* 1 2 3 "Jean-Claude Vignoli, qui chasse les chasseurs d'éléphants". Le Temps (in French). 2023-02-22. ISSN 1423-3967. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
* ↑ Agazzi, Isolda (7 March 2023). "Le Genevois Jean-Claude Vignoli narre sa traque des trafiquants d'animaux sauvages en Afrique" (PDF). La Liberté.
* ↑ "The Global Classroom 2014 on the UPR". GlobalCampus of Human Rights - GCHR. 2014-05-22. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
* ↑ "UPR Info in Venice to share its experience with students". UPR info. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
* ↑ "Government-Civil Society dialogue on implementation of recommendations accepted by Armenia's Second Universal Periodic Review". www.mfa.am (in Armenian). Retrieved 2023-03-29.
* ↑ "L'Etat et les OSC ensemble pour la mise en œuvre des recommandations de l'EPU". A Lomé.com (in French).
* ↑ "CCIG Training Session on UPR Lobbying – International Catholic Center of Geneva". Retrieved 2023-03-30.
* ↑ "How to Use the System to Get Your Voice Heard – IIMA – Human Rights Office". Retrieved 2023-03-30.
* ↑ "Atelier de réflexion sur les stratégies de suivi de la mise en œuvre des recommandations du 2ème cycle de l'Examen Périodique Universel Niger 2016 : La lutte contre la discrimination et respect du droit humain". aNiamey.com. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
* ↑ "'NGOs crucial to universal periodic review' | The Nation Online". 2015-04-08. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
* ↑ Carraro, Valentina (2019). "Promoting Compliance with Human Rights: The Performance of the United Nations' Universal Periodic Review and Treaty Bodies". International Studies Quarterly. 63 (4): 1079–1093. doi:10.1093/isq/sqz078.
* ↑ "On the Road to implementation" (PDF). upr-info.org. 2012.
* ↑ "Beyond promises - The impact of the UPR on the ground" (PDF). upr-info.org. 2014.
* ↑ "The Butterfly effect - spreading good practices of UPR implementation" (PDF). upr-info.org. 2016.
* ↑ "L'Iran justifie les pendaisons à son grand oral devant le Conseil des droits de l'homme". Le Temps (in French). 2014-10-31. ISSN 1423-3967. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
* ↑ Cowan, Jane K.; Billaud, Julie (2015-06-03). "Between learning and schooling: the politics of human rights monitoring at the Universal Periodic Review". Third World Quarterly. 36 (6): 1175–1190. doi:10.1080/01436597.2015.1047202. ISSN 0143-6597. S2CID 142754099.
* ↑ "Pour une poignée d'ivoire". Éditions Favre (in French). Retrieved 2023-08-17.
* ↑ Télévision, www lemanbleu ch, Léman Bleu. ""On est en train de perdre un des joyaux de la planète"". www.lemanbleu.ch (in Swiss French). Retrieved 2023-08-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
* ↑ ""Comment j'ai infiltré des réseaux de trafiquants d'animaux sauvages"". Geo.fr (in French). 2023-03-03. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
* ↑ Les beaux parleurs - L'invité – Jean-Claude Vignoli, défenseur de la vie sauvage - Play RTS (in French), retrieved 2023-08-17
* ↑ "Un livre témoignage – Chasseur de trafiquants d'animaux". Tribune de Genève (in French). 9 February 2023. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
* 1 2 "Le combat de Jean-Claude Vignoli contre les trafiquants d'animaux sauvages". Illustre (in Swiss French). Retrieved 2023-08-17.
* ↑ "Jean-Claude Vignoli – Au cœur du trafic d'animaux sauvages (1/2)". rts.ch (in French). 2023-08-09. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
* ↑ EAGLE Briefing novembre 2018
* ↑ Vignoli, Jean-Claude (2023). Pour une poignée d'ivoire. Switzerland: Éditions Favre. pp. 40–41. ISBN 978-2-8289-2062-3.
* ↑ "Les Cholitas, catcheuses de l'égalité". Le Temps (in French). 2021-11-26. ISSN 1423-3967. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
* ↑ "Jean-Claude Vignoli". Le Courrier (in French). Retrieved 2023-03-29.
* ↑ "Jean-Claude Vignoli - Heidi.news". www.heidi.news (in French). Retrieved 2023-09-21.
* ↑ "Les Kogis de Colombie". www.icrainternational.org (in French). Retrieved 2023-06-01.
* ↑ "L'enseignement du peuple autochtone des Kogis face aux défis climatiques - Heidi.news". www.heidi.news (in French). 12 December 2019. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
* ↑ "PSI holds first ever UN side-event on fight against unpaid internships". PSI. 2016-10-06. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
* ↑ "J-C Vignoli". Discogs (in French). Retrieved 2023-03-29.