2004-2005 Archive
Organizing Principle 2004-05: Human Rights and the United States
The United States has at best a mixed track record on human rights issues, in foreign policy and domestic affairs. While official rhetoric places a premium on human rights and democracy, US policies consistently prioritize other interests, such as economic interests, national security, political stability, or advancing the “war on drugs.” Lack of US support for international treaties and international human rights law prohibit advances in global governance and transnational cooperation. Domestically, policies on capital punishment, immigration, and recent rollbacks in civil liberties undermine the country's inability to serve as any sort of model protector of human rights.
This organizing principle seeks to explore the relationship between human rights and US policy and influence. LSHR will seek to explore how the US can pursue policies designed to safeguard human rights while advancing the interests of its own citizens. Another line of inquiry will examine the potential role of US courts in protecting international human rights.
Education events will focus on issues such as US foreign policy in Afghanistan, Colombia, and Sudan, domestic security policies such as the PATRIOT Act, the role that human rights plays in US politics and the foreign policy agendas of the Presidential candidates in the 2004 election, and the relationship between the US and the United Nations and various international human rights treaties.
Advocacy efforts will engage the student body in legal research, direct action, and coalition building on numerous issues, including the U.S. occupation of Iraq, the integration of human rights treaties into domestic law, the treatment of non-citizens in America, and international perspectives on the death penalty and the U.S. criminal justice system. The Advocacy Committee will also seek to address many of the topics raised at LSHR educational events
Symposium 2005: The Economic & Social Rights of Non-Citizens
The Second Annual
Law Students for Human Rights Symposium
The Economic & Social Rights of Non-Citizens:
Human Rights Principles and the Development of U.S. Policy
March 7, 2005
8:45 A.M. – 2:00 P.M.
Greenberg Lounge, Vanderbilt Hall
New York University School of Law
40 Washington Square Park South
New York, NY 10012
| Schedule of Panels | |
| 8:45 a.m. | Opening Remarks |
| 9:15 a.m. | Human Rights of Non-Citizens: A Theoretical Overview |
| 11:00 a.m. | Economic & Social Rights of Non-Citizens: Emerging Issues in U.S. Policy and Practice |
| Confirmed Speakers | |
| Philip Alston NYU School of Law |
Stephanie Farrior Penn State Dickinson School of Law |
| Elisabeth Benjamin Formerly of Legal Aid Society Health Law Unit |
Cathy Ruckelshaus National Employment Law Project |
| Nathaniel Berman Brooklyn Law School |
Margaret Satterthwaite Center for Human Rights & Global Justice |
| Chandra Bhatnagar ACLU International Human Rights Group |
Denise Gilman Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs |
Admission was free and open to all.
Events 2004-2005
Criminal Defense and the Rule of Law in the “New” Afghanistan
Wednesday, September 8, 2004 , 6PM
Labor Rights in China
Tuesday, September 14, 2004 , 7pm
Our speaker is Mr. Li Qiang, Executive Director of China Labor Watch. He will be discussing the human rights situation workers face in the People's Republic of China today, and efforts of the Chinese labor movement to improve the conditions they work under.
Chinese law prohibits workers from organizing independent unions, and does not explicitly protect the right to strike. Only one organization, the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), can legally represent workers, and its local offices are controlled by the Chinese government. Many workers also lack minimal health and safety protections and adequate wages. Many are compelled to work long hours. Some contract workers may not even be paid by factories for the work they have done.
Many workers who have organized protests and demonstrations to improve conditions or demand compensation for injuries in the workplace, as well as those who have demanded unpaid wages and unpaid pensions and severance pay, have faced severe state repression.
Cosponsored by NYU Law Students for Human Rights, HRW Young Advocates, and China Labor Watch.
Human Rights and the Civil War in Nepal
Wednesday, October 6, 2004, 6pm
Nepal has been wracked by a grave human rights crisis in the context of a brutal civil war since 1996. After a lull, the war flared up again in late 2003. Credible reports suggest that hundreds-and perhaps thousands-of civilians have been killed amid fighting between the Nepalese army and the armed forces of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), or CPN (Maoist). The Royal Nepal Army has carried out extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and "disappearances" of villagers, as well as members of the CPN (Maoist). The army has also harassed and intimidated the press and human rights workers, and interfered in the work of the judiciary.
The CPN (Maoist) has also killed large numbers of civilians, threatened and executed non-Maoist political activists and party members suspected of disloyalty, and engaged in widespread extortion and abductions.
Our speaker will be Dr. Tara Niraula, President of America-Nepal Friendship Society and a researcher/consultant with Fordham University . Dr. Niraula will focus on political developments and human rights issues in Nepal after the end of the absolute monarchy and the creation of a multi-party constitutional monarchy in 1990. He will also discuss the subsequent rise of the Maoist insurgency, the resulting armed conflict, the recent resumption by the monarchy of executive power and the events that followed and their human rights consequences.
Cosponsored by NYU Law Students for Human Rights, HRW Young Advocates, and the Nepal-America Friendship Society.
US Foreign Policy and Human Rights: Perspectives from Colombia, Lebanon and the Philippines
Tuesday, October 12, 2004, 6pm
The Global Public Service Law Project and the Law Students for Human Rights are pleased to present a special panel on “U.S. Foreign Policy and Human Rights” moderated by Professor Frank Upham. As activist and government lawyers from the developing world, Global Public Service Scholars, Catalina Diaz from Colombia, Habib Nassar from Lebanon and Ruben Carranza from the Philippines will speak about the impact of U.S. foreign policy and U.S. aid on the human rights movements in their respective countries.
Human Rights Crisis in Palestine
Monday, October 18, 2004 , 6pm
We will be hosting two distinguished speakers: Diana Buttu and Professor De Schutter. Both will discuss the ongoing human rights violations occurring in Palestine/the Occupied Territories .
Diana Buttu is a legal advisor to the PLO's negotiations team. Since September 2000 she has advised the Palestinian negotiating team on its negotiations with Israel . In January 2001, Ms Buttu attended the last round of Palestinian-Israeli talks in Taba , Egypt , before the collapse of the peace talks. She is editor of the Palestine Yearbook of International Law and a member of the Ontario Bar. She previously served as legal council to the Canadian Department of Justice in Ottowa. She received a B.A. and an LL.M from Stanford University ; a J.D. from Queen's University in Ontario ; and a J.S.M from Stanford University . She is often asked to serve as a commentator for major news outlets including CNN, BBC, MSNBC and NYTimes.
Olivier De Schutter, Global Law Professor at NYU, is general secretary of the International Federation of Human Rights, a federation of 142 human rights organisations throughout the world. In that capacity, he led an inquiry mission in the southern part of the Gaza strip (Rafah) in June, investigating the violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law in that area by the Israeli Defense Forces during the "Rainbow" operation of 13-25 May 2004. The investigation team spoke with families, NGOs, social workers, representatives of international organisations active in the area.
Olivier De Schutter will present the report in the event. The English version of the report of the mission (release on Tuesday 12 October) is available on http://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/opt402a.pdf .
Cosponsored by Law Students for Human Rights and MELSA.
Screening of “Juvies”
Monday, October 25, 2004 , 4PM
Reacting to Genocide in the 21st Century
Wednesday, October 27, 2004 , 6PM
The panel will examine 4 genocides: Armenia , the Holocaust, Rwanda , and the current situation in Sudan . It will discuss the world's reaction to each incident, critically examining what was done, and what we can do when faced with genocide in the future.
MODERATOR
Smita Narula: Executive Director, Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, NYU Law
PANELISTS
Joyce Apsel: Founding Director, RightsWorks; Master Teacher in the General Studies Program, New York University
Harry Reicher: Member , US Holocaust Memorial Council; Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania
William Ferroggiaro: Consulting Fellow, National Security Archive
Sheri Rosenberg: Director, Human Rights and Genocide Clinic, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Brazil 's Landless Workers Movement
Thursday, November 11, 2004 , 7PM
Leaders of Brazil 's Landless Workers Movement (MST) have traveled from Brazil to discuss their revolutionary and aggressive agrarian reform work at NYU Law School this week. Showing slides of their land grabs and confrontational style, the MST leaders will discuss the history of their movement and where they see it headed.
Consisting of millions of landless peasants, the MST is the largest social justice movement in the world. For the first time at NYU, its leaders will appear to discuss their work, efforts, and future. They will discuss their relationship with President Lula and evaluate his presidency in the area of land reform.
The MST leaders will be introduced by Anna Lappe, Director of the Small Planet Fund and co-author of "Hope's Edge."
Screening of “Taliban Country” with filmmaker Carmela Baranowska
Thursday, February 3, 2005 , 5PM
Away from the glare of the media, in the most remote and dangerous parts of Afghanistan , US marines are on a mission to hunt down the Taliban. But in many places their security sweeps are proving counterproductive. More and more villagers are alleging they have been abused by marines. This documentary is a disturbing exposé of American actions in Afghanistan . Journalist Carmela Baranowska spent three weeks embedded with the marines. She then returned in secret to document what was really happening. It's a story of prisoners abused and villagers humiliated. This report prompted a US inquiry.
Bhutan The Dark Side of Shangri La: The Human Rights and Refugee Crisis
Tuesday, February 22, 2005 , 5PM
Please join us for a discussion with Tek Nath Rizal, popularly known as the father of human rights and the democratic movement in Bhutan . He served ten years under torturous conditions, as a prisoner of conscience, after challenging the unfair population census surveys which deliberately discriminated against the Southern Nepali-speaking Bhutanese citizens. Literally, over night, he went from being the Bhutanese King's right hand man to his most hated foe. He is revered by over 100,000 refugees living in various camps in Nepal . The Bhutan issue is one of the most underreported human rights crises, and he wants to make sure that before he returns to Nepal , law students and faculty know about the journey he is taking.
Trafficking in People: State, Federal and International Legal Solutions
Wednesday, February 23, 2005 , 7PM
Moderated by: Meg Satterthwaite, Research Directer for the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice
Speakers:
Widney Brown, Deputy Program Director at Human Rights Watch
Sharon McCarthy, Assistant United States Attorney, SDNY
Ali Miller, Assistant Professor of Clinical Public Health of Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
Christa Stewart, Director of Legal Services, The Door
Forgotten People: The United States ' Eternal Human Rights Tragedy
Thursday, February 24, 2005 , 4:30PM
A discussion on the human rights crisis facing Native Americans in the 21st century.
Speakers:
Kent Lebsock, Lakota Tribe Member and Executive Director of the American Indian Law Alliance
Alexander Tallchief Skibine, Oneida Indian Nation Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School
Screening of “Life and Debt”
Tuesday, March 1, 2005
Climate Change and Inuit Human Rights: David vs. Goliath
Wednesday, March 2, 2005 , 4:30PM
As recently published in the New York Times Alsakan Inuit are bringing a human rights violation claim for the destruction of their habitat from global warming. Come hear more about this cutting edge human rights case.
Speakers:
Donald Goldberg, Senior Attorney, Center for International Environmental Law
Paul Crowley, Legal Counsel to the Executive Council of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference
Cosponsored by Law Students for Human Rights and the Environmental Law Society
Women's Access to Justice in Nigeria
Wednesday, March 2, 2005 , 6:30PM
Speakers:
Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, Women Advocates Research and Documentation Center
Nkechi Oluchi, WACOL
Fifteen Years After Communism: Working for Human Rights in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe
Thursday, March 3, 2005 , 6PM
Young lawyers and law students from Romania , Uzbekistan , Russia , and Belarus will discuss their experiences working for civil and human rights NGOs and the challenges and opportunities for civic organizations in their countries.
Panelists include:
Dezideriu Gergely ( Romania )
Sukhrob Ismoilov ( Uzbekistan )
Elisabeth (Lisa) Genn ( Russia )
Alesya Vidruk ( Belarus )
What Creates Change? Perspectives from Five Nepali Women Leaders
Sunday, March 6, 2005 , 6PM
Please join us for a rare discussion featuring five women who have invested their lives to pioneer change for the fifteen million women and girls of Nepal . These activists will discuss their deeply personal experiences and trials in the struggle to outlaw marital rape, create inheritance rights for women and girls, build NGOs and legal aid centers for women from the ground up, call attention to the special issues faced by indigenous and low caste women, and build a movement to bring gender justice in Nepal . Each of the panelists will focus on one of the following: Law and Human Rights, Women in Armed Conflict, VAW, role of the Human Rights Commision (HRC), and the special situation of indigenous women. These women are hands down the leaders of the day, the hope for millions of oppressed women and girls living without rights.
The Panelists:
Sapana Pradhan Malla, Advocate, Supreme Court of Nepal, and Founder and President, Forum for Women, Law, and Development
Shobha Gautam, President, Institute of Human Rights Communication Nepal (IHRICON)
Shanta Thapaliya, President and Founder, Legal Aid Consultancy Center (LACC)
Indira Rana, first female secretary of Nepal's Judical Council
Lucky Sherpa, researcher on indigenous women's issues
Cosponsored by NYU Law Students for Human Rights (LSHR), NYU South Asian Law Students Association (SALSA) and the Nepal Digest (TND)
Corporate Accountability and Community Struggle: The Fight of the Ogoni Against Human Rights Abuses and Environmental Destruction by Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria
Monday, March 7, 2005 , 6:30PM
Speakers:
Philip Alston
Ken Wiwa
Frameworks for Transitional Justice in the DRC and Uganda : The ICC and Beyond
Tuesday, April 5, 2005 , 6:30PM
Join the Transitional Justice Society for their inaugural panel as speakers from the International Crisis Group, Princeton 's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and the International Centre for Transitional Justice debate the ICC's role in Transitional Justice in the DRC and Uganda.
Cosponsored by the Transitional Justice Society and Law Students for Human Rights
Current Issues in Immigrant Profiling: A Conversation with Advocates and Community
Featuring a screening of "Whose Children Are These?" with filmmaker Theresa Thanjan.
Wednesday, April 6, 2005 , 6:45PM
We will begin by screening the short film that recently won "best documentary" at the Fourth Annual Indian Diaspora Film Festival in NYC. “Whose Children Are These?" gives an in depth and gripping view into the post 9-11 world of three youth impacted by the federal policy of Special Registration. These individuals represent the untold story of thousands of immigrant families struggling to redefine a life, livelihood, and a country they no longer recognize. Albert Maysles, Academy Award winning documentary filmmaker, states "This film is told with a lot of heart. The filmmaker does an impressive job. I now know more about Special Registration, than I ever did before."
The filmmaker, Theresa Thanjan, will join us for a Q&A session. We will also hear from Kamal Essaheb, a Stein Scholar of Public Interest Law at Fordham, who has lived here most of his life and is currently in deportation proceedings as a result of Special Registration; and the student attorneys for Charles Brown, an HIV+ detainee who has worked tirelessly to behalf of unrepresented immigrants to inform them of their
legal rights.
Finally, we will address other pressing issues facing the immigrant rights community (e.g. the Real ID Act, agency backlogs, voting) and advocates will share strategies around these. The purpose of the discussion is for participants to come away with practical knowledge, ideas, and partners for action.
Cosponsored by NYU Immigrant Rights Clinic, South Asian Law Students Association, Middle Eastern Law Students Association, Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, and Law Students for Human Rights Advocacy Committee.
http://www.law.nyu.edu//studentorganizations/lawstudentsforhumanrights/20042005archiveorganizingprinciplesymposiumandlistofevents/index.htm