Human Rights Brief

Volume 19 | Issue 2 Article 13

2012 Center News/Faculty and Staff pU dates Human Rights Brief

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Recommended Citation Human Rights Brief. "Center News/Faculty and Staff pdU ates." Human Rights Brief 19, no. 2 (2012): 68-71.

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Center and Faculty Updates

Center News Groundbreaking Research with semester program for law students to learn Successful Post-trafficking Re/ about various human rights education Maryland Legal Aid Bureau and Integration in Nepal Underway pedagogies and to teach RFK’s Speak Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid by Center’s Program on Human Truth to Power (STTP) human rights Selected as Local Human Rights Trafficking and Forced Labor curriculum in local high schools. The pro- Lawyering Project Partners The Center’s Program on Human gram will create an innovative, replicable model for experiential learning and teach- The Center’s Local Human Rights Trafficking and Forced Labor is midway ing of human rights. It is unique in its focus Lawyering Projects works with legal aid into a first-of-its-kind study to investi- on training students on the use of differ- organizations to provide training, coaching, gate the re/integration strategies of women ent strategies and methodologies to create mentoring and technical assistance for who are living in Kathmandu Valley after points of entry for discussion of rights- integrating international human rights having been trafficked into forced prostitu- based issues; refining understandings of norms into domestic legal aid work in the tion in India. The study involves qualitative ways to talk about rights to different audi- U.S. Funded by the Ford Foundation, the interviews and focus group discussions ences; and providing practical experience of project is the first of its kind — working with 30 women who escaped or were examining hard legal issues with non-legal at the state level to incorporate human rescued and repatriated to Nepal from 2 audiences. The pilot program will be taught rights norms, language and strategies to 8 years ago, and then entered the care as part of the Fall 2012 WCL curriculum. into domestic work to help advocate for of one of two Nepal NGOs. The study increased protections. will investigate women who, for various Speak Truth to Power, a project of reasons, have not returned to their natal/ the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice After receiving more than 10 applica- family and community, and have sought to and Human Rights, uses the experiences tions from legal aid organizations across live independently in urban Nepal society of human rights defenders from around the United States, the Center selected (Kathmandu). This is a positive deviance the world to educate students and others Maryland Legal Aid Bureau, Inc. (www. study and the sample women have been about human rights and empower them to mdlab.org) and Texas Rio Grande Legal purposively selected for their re/integra- understand and operationalize the rights Aid, Inc. (www.trla.org) as its Project tion success. The Program is collaborating framework in their own lives. The project’s Partners for the Local Human Rights with a Nepalese research institute and an renowned human rights curriculum, which Lawyering Project. Maryland Legal Aid expert consultant in Nepal. has been taught to thousands of students in Bureau and Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid Africa, Asia, Europe and the United States, are both highly respected and creative This pioneering research will collect encourages youth to become personally legal aid organizations with a demon- valuable information on NGO service involved in the protection of human rights. strated commitment to human rights. delivery and on successful self-initiated re/integration strategies, leading to recom- The STTP Law Project builds on the success The Project has also established an mendations to strengthen NGO practices of the STTP curriculum, and expands on Advisory Board with over twenty members, to support the re/integration of return- more than two decades of work by the Center consisting of leading legal aid attorneys ees and to address the legal and social to help prepare law students to effectively and human rights experts from across the obstacles of discrimination and stigma discuss and advocate for human rights. United States. Work on this project expands that prevents many former victims from on nearly ten years of work by the Center rebuilding their lives. Human Rights Watch Researcher in promoting human rights law in the U.S. Joins On-the-Ground Journalist Through trainings, workshops, mentoring, The culminating report will be final- to Highlight Ethics in Research and research, the Center seeks to enhance ized by early Summer 2012. For more Issues in Post-Earthquake Haiti understanding of international law and its information on the Center’s Program on applications to domestic social justice work. Human Trafficking and Forced Labor, The Center and the American University The Center aims to bridge the gap between visit: www.RightsWork.org. Washington College of Law International the U.S. role in actively promoting human Human Rights Law Clinic hosted an expert panel discussion on November 7, to discuss rights abroad and recognition of interna- Center Partners with Robert and debate the challenges of human rights tional law and standards within the U.S. ennedy Center for Justice F. K research and investigative journalism in legal system. For more information, visit and Human Rights to Develop a post-disaster setting. Amanda Klasing the Local Human Rights Lawyering Project ioneering Human Rights Education P is a Researcher in the Women’s Rights at http://www.wcl.american.edu/humright/ rogram for Law Students and P Division of Human Rights Watch (HRW) center/locallawyering.cfm. igh School Students H and author of “Nobody Remembers Us”: The Center has partnered with the Failure to Protect Women and Girls’ Right Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice to Health and Security in Post Earthquake and Human Rights (RFK) to create a one Haiti. Kathie Klarreich is a well-known Published by Digital Commons @ American University Washington College68 of Law, 2012 1 Human Rights Brief, Vol. 19, Iss. 2 [2012], Art. 13 journalist and author on Haiti and a Knight The Responsibility to Protect Indonesian Migrant Rights International Journalism Fellow at HRW. Today: Did Libya Kill R2P? Defender Anis Hidaya Speaks on The panel addressed logistical challenges, Examines Emerging Issue in Abuse and Protection of Migrant potential obstacles to acquiring true and International Human Rights Law Workers informed consent from interviewees, and The invocation of the emerging doc- On November 3, the Center and the limitations of the legal framework. The trine of the Responsibility to Protect was WCL Women and the Law Program hosted event received international press coverage seen as a watershed moment for the devel- a panel discussion featuring Anis Hidayah, and was featured on Voice of America’s opment of the principle. With the over- recipient of Human Rights Watch’s 2011 Creole Service: http://www.voanews.com/ throw of the Khaddafi regime, the status Alison Des Forges Award. Striving to pro- creole/news/Yon-Fowom-sou-Dwa-Fanm- of R2P and how it was applied is now in tect and promote the rights of Indonesian ak-Timoun-ann-Ayiti-133827168.html question. On November 15, the Center’s migrant workers abroad, Ms. Hidayah cur- Student Advisory Board convened a panel rently serves as the Executive Director of Human Rights Film Series discussion with three experts on the sta- Migrant Care, a non-governmental orga- Highlights Four Films Raising tus of the doctrine of the Responsibility nization based in Jakarta, . Ms. the Profile of Key Issues; Awards to Protect (R2P) in light of the crisis in Hidayah spoke about her work monitoring Grant to Aspiring Human Rights Libya. UN Security Council Resolution abuse of Indonesian domestic workers in Filmmaker 1973 provided the international commu- countries such as , and nity with authority to intervene to protect , and advocating for their The 12th Annual Human Rights Film civilians in Libya. Speakers included (in protection by calling for better labor laws, Series, first organized in 2000 and co- alphabetical order): Jonas Claes, Senior oversight of recruitment practices, and sponsored by the American University Program Specialist, U.S. Institute of more effective immigration policies. Center for Social Media (CSM), show- Peace, Center for Conflict Management; cases the power of film to educate and Don Kraus, Chief Executive Officer, advocate about human rights. Four excep- Anti-Slavery Expert and Survivor Citizens for Global Solutions; and Prof. tional documentary films that exhibit Shares Ghana’s Experience Clovis Maksoud, Professor at WCL excellence in filmmaking and explore a and the American University School of On Thursday, February 9th, the Center’s broad spectrum of human rights issues International Service (SIS) and Director of Program on Human Trafficking and Forced are screened each fall. The 2011 selec- the Center for the Global South at SIS. The Labor welcomed James Kofi Annan, a tions were: If A Tree Falls: A Story of the panel was moderated by Student Advisory prominent figure in the global anti-slavery Earth Liberation Front; How To Die In Board member Kaitlin Brush. The event movement, to speak to the WCL com- Oregon; The Redemption of General Butt was webcast live with 40 remote loca- munity about issues concerning Ghana’s Naked; and Not in Our Town: Light in tions participating in the discussion via live law and policy enforcement in the context the Darkness. Following each screening, webcast. of forced labor and child trafficking in there was an opportunity for the filmmaker West African fishing and cocoa industries. and an expert human rights practitioner Mr. Annan is the Founder and Executive to discuss the issues highlighted in the Bedouin Citizens of Israel: Director of Challenging Heights, one of screening with the audience. A Student Struggling for Rights the largest anti-trafficking organizations Human Rights Grant Competition is car- The Center welcomed advocates who in West Africa. A former victim of child ried out in conjunction with the Series to work on behalf of the Bedouin community trafficking in Ghana, James has devoted promote and support student’s multimedia of the Negev on a panel discussing issues his career to fighting child slavery and has initiatives around human rights. This year’s facing unrecognized villages in Israel and received international recognition for his winner, student filmmaker Yi Chen, will the latest plan issued by the Israeli govern- work. Before a capacity-filled room, Mr. utilize her award to tell the untold stories ment to address those issues. Speakers Annan shared his personal experiences and of Washington, DC’s Chinatown neighbor- included WCL 2008 LLM graduate and assessed local, national and international hood and raise awareness of the need for US-Israel Civil Liberties Law Fellows efforts to advocate for the rights of the advocacy for the basic human rights of the Scholar Rawia Abu-Rabia, now a member child and allow communities the ability to community’s residents. The Human Rights of the Israeli Bar Association and a prac- reject child slavery and exploitation. Film Series and the Student Human Rights ticing lawyer at the Association for Civil Grant Competition are campus-wide ini- Rights in Israel in charge of the Bedouin RightsWork.org Project of tiatives supported by all six schools at rights project; Thabet Abu Ras, Director Program on Human Trafficking American University. For more informa- of the Negev Project at Adalah, the legal and Forced Labor Publishes New tion on the 2011 Human Rights Film center for Arab minority rights in Israel; Research Series, visit: http://www.wcl.american. Hanan Alsaneh, Director of Education edu/humright/center/12thannualhumanrig and Community Development at Sidreh In January and February 2012, the htsfilmseries.cfm. Association; and Michal Rotem, Program Center’s Program on Human Trafficking Coordinator of the Negev Coexistence and Forced Labor published two new arti- Forum for Civil Equality in Israel. The cles looking at demand and transparency event was held in collaboration with as it relates to human trafficking. The arti- Project Engage. cles, Lack of Transparency in Recruitment Spurs Trafficking by Cathleen Caron and http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/hrbrief/vol19/iss2/13 69 2 : Center News/Faculty and Staff Updates Addressing the Demand Side of Trafficking a presentation to the Chilean Congress the D.C. Interpreter Bank, which links by Phil Marshall, can be found on www. on the “Real and Universal System interpreters and translators to D.C. legal RightsWork.org. The site also published Protection of Human Rights.” The follow- services providers. In January 2012, reviews of two new books looking at the ing month Dean Grossman received the Professor Bennett was appointed as an differentiation between trafficking victims 2012 Deborah L. Rhode Award from the Advisory Board Member of the Center for and labor migrants: Rhacel Parrenas’ AALS Section on Pro Bono and Public Human Rights and Humanitarian Law’s Illicit Flirtations: Labor, Migration, Service Opportunities, for work on behalf Local Human Rights Lawyering Project, and Sex Trafficking in Tokyo and Pardis of pro bono and public interest programs and as an Executive Committee Member Mahdavi’s Gridlock: Labor, Migration, throughout the country. That same month of the AALS Section on Law and Poverty. and Human Trafficking in Dubai. Dean Grossman participated as a panel- She also gave a presentation, “Under ist at the AALS Annual Meeting for an Milkweed: A Chronicle for a Pedagogy event concerning globalization and legal of Community Economic Development Center Selects 2012 Student education entitled “Are U.S. Law Schools Law and Community Lawyering,” at the Advisory Board, Recognizing and Giving Their Students the Tools They Need AALS Workshop on the Future of Legal Training Future Human Rights to Succeed in a Globalized Environment?” Education. Leaders In February, Dean Grossman participated David Baluarte is the Practitioner-in- The Center is proud to announce the as a co-organizer and panelist at a con- Residence for the International Human newly selected 2012 Center for Human ference on the Use of Forensic Evidence Rights Law Clinic at Washington College Rights and Humanitarian Law Student in the Fight against Torture. The confer- of Law. Professor Baluarte continues Advisory Board (SAB) members: ence was cosponsored by WCL and the his work to combat statelessness in the Christina Fetterhoff, Upasana Khatri, International Rehabilitation Council for Caribbean and the United States. He Diana Navas, Rachel Schulman, Corrie Torture Victims. Dean Grossman served was recently selected by the UN High Walters, Jacqueline Zamarripa, and as a panelist for “Using Forensic Medical Commissioner for Refugees to implement Alyssa Zamorra. The SAB is a group Evidence in Court” and his topic was a project with a Law Clinic in Nassau, The of highly qualified and committed “Standards Regarding Evidence.” Later Bahamas that will develop the capacity of Washington College of Law students inter- that month he traveled to Australia to give that clinic to defend the citizenship rights ested in human rights and humanitarian several presentations. In Melbourne at the of Bahamians of Haitian descent. Baluarte law who work closely with the Center Monash University Law Conference on has continued his work in the Dominican over the course of a year. As part of its Implementing Human Rights in Closed Republic, and spoke in support of national- long-standing commitment to cultivating Environments, Dean Grossman partici- ity rights of Dominicans of Haitian descent future human rights leaders, the Center pated in the Plenary Session 1, speaking on on a panel at Georgetown Law Center at selects SAB members based on their com- International Perspectives on Recognizing the end of the 2011; the panel included mitment to pursuing human rights careers Human Rights in Closed Environments. experts from UNHCR and the US State and advancing human rights issues. The At that conference he also served as Department as well as the Dominican SAB assists the Center in developing pro- a discussion facilitator for Parallel Ambassador to the US. Professor Baluarte gramming that reflects student interests Session 3B on the Exploration of the will accompany a group of students from and priorities and each member serves as a International & Comparative Perspectives WCL on an Alternative Spring Break trip Fellow to a core Center project. Members — Disability Settings. Also in Melbourne, to the Dominican Republic to do legal also receive specialized skills training Dean Grossman gave a lecture on The documentation with the Jesuit Refugee in topics such as grant-writing, public Relevance of the Convention against Service in bateyes surrounding Santo speaking, advocacy, and field research to Torture in Preventing and Redressing Domingo. Baluarte further awaits the enhance their capacity to carry out mean- Violence against Women at The Human launch of a report he authored for the UN ingful human rights work. To learn more Rights Law Centre and Castan Centre for High Commissioner on Refugees and the about the current SAB members visit: Human Rights Law. At the University of Open Society Justice Initiative on state- http://www.wcl.american.edu/humright/ Sydney, Dean Grossman gave a guest lec- less persons in the United States, which is center/2012/sab.cfm. ture on The Inter-American System for the expected in 2012. Webcasts and podcasts of recent Center Protection of Human Rights: Challenges. events are available for download on the Over these few months Dean Grossman A founding member of the National Center’s website, www.WCLCenterforHR. was interviewed by a variety of organi- Lawyers Committee for Human Rights org. zations including CNN en Español, El (NLCHR) of Peace Brigades International, Mercurio, Right Now and Latin Pulse Professor Baluarte has also been support- Podcast. ing the work of human rights defenders Faculty Updates in Colombia, Guatemala, and Mexico. In Susan Bennett is Professor of Law and Claudio Grossman is the Dean of June 2012, Professor Baluarte will lead a Director of the Community and Economic American University College of Law NLCHR delegation to Mexico to inves- Development Law Clinic at WCL. She is (WCL) and a Co-Director of the Center tigate the situation of migrants’ rights 2011-2012 chair of the advisory board for for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. defenders and review the implementation of the Community Economic Development He is also the Raymond Geraldson Scholar Mexico’s new immigration law. Professor Pro Bono Project of the D.C. Bar. She for International and Humanitarian Law. Baluarte also continues his work on the also serves on the board of directors of In December 2011, Dean Grossman gave implementation of the decisions of human Published by Digital Commons @ American University Washington College70 of Law, 2012 3 Human Rights Brief, Vol. 19, Iss. 2 [2012], Art. 13 rights bodies. The American University serve as a Contributing Editor to Oxford Inter-American Human Rights System)” International Law Review will publish Reports on International Human Rights Law, held at the Instituto de la Judicatura his article “Strategizing for Compliance: a Member of the Editorial Board, Oxford Federal and Suprema Corte de Justicia de The evolution of a compliance phase of Reports on International Law in Domestic la Nación in Mexico City. Inter-American Court litigation and the Courts, Oxford University Press and On March 27, 2012, Professor strategic imperative for victims’ represen- Amsterdam Center for International Law. Rodríguez-Pinzón was interviewed by tatives.” Additionally, he recently travelled Diego Rodríguez-Pinzón is Univision about the Supreme Court’s hear- to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan for a meeting of Professorial Lecturer in Residence and ings on the constitutionality of the health the UN High Commissioner for Human Co-Director of the Academy on Human care reform. On March 29, 2012, he was Rights and gave a presentation on the Rights and Humanitarian Law. His is interviewed by CNN Spanish about the experiences of implementing the decisions the Correspondent for the Americas for Supreme Court’s hearings on the constitu- of human rights bodies in the Americas to Butterworths Human Rights Cases, tionality of the health care reform. an audience of Kyrgyz government and multi-volume series, London, U.K., 1996 civil society actors. Susana SáCouto is the Director to date. He also reports on the news of the of the War Crimes Research Office Claudia Martin, Co-Director of Inter-American Human Rights System for (WCRO) and Professorial Lecturer-in- American University WCL Academy on Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights, Residence at WCL. In December 2011, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Utrecht, The Netherlands, 2001 to date. He Professor SáCouto presented at a panel on and Professorial Lecturer in Residence. published “The Inter-American Human Transitional Justice at the National Defense Professor Martin published The Role of Rights and Transitional Processes,” in University’s 7th Annual International Military Courts in a Counter-Terrorism Transitional Jurisprudence — The ECHR Lessons Learned Conference. Her presen- Framework: Trends in International and Other Regional Human Rights tation was entitled “Political Impact and Human Rights Jurisprudence and Practice Approaches to Transition, Cambridge Lessons Learned from the Practice and in Counter-Terrorism and International University Press, 2011. He also published Jurisprudence of the ICC.” In February Law and Practice, Ana M. Salinas de “Selected Examples of the Contemporary 2012, she delivered opening remarks and Frias, Katja Samuels and Nigel White, Practice of the Inter-American System in presented on a panel entitled “Prosecuting eds., Oxford University Press (2012). In Confronting Grave Violations of Human Gender Crimes at the International Level” February 2012, she served as a judge Rights: United States and Colombia,” at WCL’s Founders’ Day Event, Addressing for the 2012 International Humanitarian in Making Peoples Heard: Essays on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Law Student Writing Competition orga- Human Rights in Honour of Gudmundur in Conflict and Post-Conflict Settings: nized by the Center for Human Rights Alfredsson, Leiden, Boston: Martinus National and International Strategies. and Humanitarian Law at WCL American Nijhoff Publishers, 2011. Additionally, in Professor SáCouto recently published University. Also, she served as a member 2011, Professor Rodríguez-Pinzón submit- Victim Participation at the International of the Honor Jury of the Essay Competition ted an amicus brief to the Constitutional Criminal Court and the Extraordinary “Gender and Justice,” sponsored by the Court of Colombia regarding freedom of Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia: A Supreme Court of Mexico. From March expression (joined other institutions and Feminist Project, in 18 Mich. J. of Gender 12-16, 2012, Professor Martin lectured on individuals), Washington, DC and Bogota, & L. 297-359 (2012). human rights and indigenous peoples at Colombia, 2011. the Erasmus School of Law in Rotterdam, Macarena Saez is an International In 2012, Professor Rodríguez-Pinzón the Netherlands, as part of a WCL faculty Legal Studies Program Fellow at WCL. taught, “The Inter-American System of exchange program. In March 2012, she She recently published a paper, Same- Human Rights” at the University of Essex, served as a member of the Honor Jury Sex Marriage, in General Reports of the School of Law, Colchester, U.K. He was the that selected the winners of the Academy XVIIIth Congress of the International keynote speaker at “Temas Contemporáneos on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Academy of Comparative Law (Karen B. del Sistema Interamericano de Derechos Human Rights Essay Competition. In addi- Brown & David V. Snyder, 2012). Humanos (Contemporary Topics of the tion, Professor Martin has continued to

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