Editing Seán MacBride (section)

==International roles and commissions==
[[File:Seán MacBride 1986.jpg|thumb|280px|Seán MacBride in 1986]]
After retiring from politics in Ireland, MacBride assumed various international commissions and roles. He was among a group of lawyers who founded [[JUSTICE]]—the UK-based human rights and law reform organisation—initially to monitor the [[show trials]] after the [[Hungarian Revolution of 1956|1956 Budapest uprising]]. Later it became the UK section of the [[International Commission of Jurists]] for which MacBride, from 1963 to 1971, was Secretary-General. In 1966, his standing on the Commission was unsuccessfully challenged by [[United States|US]] claims that he had been involved with a [[Central Intelligence Agency]] funding operation.<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 February 2005 |title=Peter Benenson |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/peter-benenson-13233.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030134615/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/peter-benenson-13233.html |archive-date=30 October 2020 |access-date=24 October 2020 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref>

In 1961, MacBride was a co-founder of [[Amnesty International]], and he served as its International Chairman until 1975.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Peace Prize Laureates: Seán MacBride 1974 |url=https://peaceprizelaureates.nobelpeacecenter.org/en/laureate/undefined |access-date=24 August 2023 |website=peaceprizelaureates.nobelpeacecenter.org |language=en}}</ref>

In 1963, he had helped draft the constitution of the [[Organisation of African Unity]] (OAU); following consultations on the constitutions of newly-independent [[Ghana]], [[Zambia]] and [[Tanzania]].<ref name="hi">{{Cite web |date=21 February 2013 |title=Seán MacBride and Namibia |url=https://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/sean-macbride-and-namibia/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819060809/https://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/sean-macbride-and-namibia/ |archive-date=19 August 2019 |access-date=28 August 2019 |website=History Ireland}}</ref>

In 1968, MacBride was elected Chair and, in 1975, President of the [[International Peace Bureau]] in Geneva, a position he retained until 1985.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=The Nobel Peace Prize 1974 |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1974/macbride/biographical/ |access-date=24 August 2023 |website=NobelPrize.org |language=en-US}}</ref> He was also involved in the International Prisoners of Conscience Fund.<ref name="mac10">Jordan (1993), pp. 157–165</ref><ref name="EB">{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sean-MacBride|title=Seán MacBride {{!}} Irish statesman|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=28 August 2019|archive-date=29 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190629235541/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sean-MacBride|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the course of the 1970s, he held various positions with the [[United Nations]].<ref name=":0" /> In 1973, he was elected by the [[United Nations General Assembly|UN General Assembly]] to the post of High Commissioner for [[Namibia]], with the rank of Assistant Secretary-General. It was thought that, represented by man whose father had volunteered to fight alongside their forefathers, the [[Afrikaners|Afrikaner]] leadership of [[Apartheid]] [[South Africa]] would find the UN's assurances in return for a withdrawal from Namibia more credible.<ref name="hi" />

In 1977, MacBride was appointed president of the International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems, set up by [[UNESCO]]. In 1980, this produced the controversial [[MacBride report|MacBride Report]] which called for policies to reduce the international dominance of the Western media.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The MacBride Report |url=https://archive.ccrvoices.org/articles/the-macbride-report.html |access-date=24 August 2023 |website=archive.ccrvoices.org |language=en-us}}</ref>

During the 1980s, he initiated the Appeal by Lawyers against Nuclear War<ref>[http://i-p-o.org/na.htm Appeal by Lawyers against Nuclear War] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061021063906/http://www.i-p-o.org/Na.htm|date=21 October 2006}}. I-p-o.org. Retrieved 30 July 2012.</ref> which was jointly sponsored by the [[International Peace Bureau]] and the [[International Progress Organization]]. In close cooperation with [[Francis Boyle]] and [[Hans Köchler]] of the [[International Progress Organization]] he lobbied the General Assembly for a resolution demanding an Advisory Opinion from the [[International Court of Justice]] on the legality of nuclear arms. The Advisory Opinion on the [[Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice of 8 July 1996|''Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons'']] was eventually handed down by the ICJ in 1996.

In 1982, MacBride was chairman of the International Commission to enquire into reported violations of International Law by Israel during its [[1982 Lebanon War|invasion of the Lebanon]]. The other members were [[Richard Falk]], [[Kader Asmal]], Brian Bercusson, Géraud de la Pradelle, and Stefan Wild. The commission's report, which concluded that "the [[government of Israel]] has committed acts of aggression contrary to international law", was published in 1983 under the title ''Israel in Lebanon''.<ref>{{cite book |last=MacBride |first=Seán |title=Israel in Lebanon: The Report of International Commission to enquire into reported violations of International Law by Israel during its invasion of the Lebanon |author2=A. K. Asmal |author3=B. Bercusson |author4=R. A. Falk |author5=G. de la Pradelle |author6=S. Wild |publisher=Ithaca Press |year=1983 |isbn=0-903729-96-2 |location=London |page=191}}</ref>