Center Faculty/Staff News
Dr. Kelly Dawn Askin, Acting Executive Director of the War Crimes Research Office at the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (Center), spent March-October 2000 at the Hague, where she worked at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). She returned to the War Crimes Research Office in November 2000. From December 1-13, 2000, she traveled to Tokyo, Japan, as a legal adviser to the judges of the Women' s International War Crimes Tribunal 2000. From December 14-21, 2000, she went to East Timor to meet with members of United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor, the Serious Crimes Unit, and local judges. Dr. Askin' s article entitled " The ICTY: An Introduction to its Origins, Rules and Jurisprudence" was published in December 2000 in the book Essays on ICTY Procedure and Evidence-- In Honour of Gabrielle Kirk McDonald. In January 2001, her article, " Women' s Issues in International Criminal Law," was published in International Crimes, Peace and Human Rights: The Role of the International Criminal Court. Also in January 2001, Transnational Publishers published the third volume of Dr. Askin' s edited book, Women and International Human Rights Law.
Robert Guitteau, Executive Director of the Center, co-authored an article with Michel Thieren entitled " Identifying Cadavers Following Disasters: Why?" in the April 2000 issue of " Disasters: Preparedness and Mitigation in the Americas," Pan American Health Organization, on the continuing debate over the role of human rights in the context of disasters. On August 28, 2000, Mr. Guitteau spoke in Puebla, Mexico, during a panel discussion on " Human Rights and Higher Education in the 21st Century" as part of the 2nd Meeting of the National Network of Human Rights Professors and Investigators of Mexico, organized by the Cátedra UNESCO de Derechos Humanos and the Comisión de Derechos Humanos de México. He also represented the Center at an NGO meeting with President-elect Vicente Fox of Mexico in August 2000 in Washington, D.C. On December 9, 2000, Mr. Guitteau participated in a conference entitled " Defending the Defenders, Working Together to Find Global Solutions," which was held at Fordham University Law School in New York.
Claudio Grossman, Dean, Co-Director of the Center, and Chairman of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), participated in a panel presentation on the " Enhancement of United Nations and Other International Mechanisms to Deal with Racism and Xenophobia" at the Interagency Task Force Meeting for the " U.N. World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance" in November 2000 in Washington, D.C. Also in November, he presented a speech on " Globalization' s Impact on Human Rights Standards" to the Conference on Globalization, Human Rights, and the Inter-American System, which was held at the Diplomatic Academy in Chile. During the same trip, Dean Grossman also lectured before the Palazio Aritzia for the Institute of Science of the University of Chile on the challenges that globalization will present to the legal profession, and spoke before the Israeli-Chile Institute of Culture regarding the impact the 2000 American presidential election problems could have on Chile. In December 2000, Dean Grossman presented a speech on the " Modificación de la Convención Americana de Derechos Humanos: debilitamiento o fortalecimiento del Sistema?" at a conference on the Strengthening of the Human Rights System, which was held at the Organization of American States in Washington, D.C. He moderated a panel on the legal and constitutional changes needed to expand freedom of the press at the Conference on Advancing Democracy through Press Freedom in the Americas, held by the Inter-American Dialogue in January 2001. He attended session meetings of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in February 2001, and participated in a panel discussion concerning the equality decisions of the D.C. Circuit Courts at the 200th Anniversary of the Federal Courts, held by the Historical Society of the D.C. Circuit Courts from March 8-9, 2001, in Washington, D.C. Dean Grossman organized and was a panelist at the Individual Accountability for International Crimes Conference in Chile. The conference, held in March 2001, focused particularly on the accountability of government leaders, such as General Augusto Pinochet, for the commission of human rights violations. His publications during the year 2000 include: " The Chilean Bicentennial and the Challenges of Global Law," published in The Chilean Bicentennial: Future Challenges; " The Inter-American System and Human Rights in the Region," published in The War Against the Poor in Latin America; " Program for Women' s Rights and International Law," published in Gender and Law; " Reflections on Being a Law School Dean in an Interconnected World," published in the University of Toledo Law Review; and " Moving Toward Improved Human Rights Enforcement in the Americas," published by the American Bar Association.
Claudia Martin, Visiting Associate Professor and Co-Director of the Center' s Inter-American Human Rights Digest Project (Digest Project), was appointed Co-Director of the Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, an intensive specialized program on human rights and humanitarian law that will take place from May 29-June 15, 2001. She also serves as Director of the Human Rights Education Partnership Program with Mexico, funded by a grant from the National Endowment for Democracy. She is co-recipient, with Diego Rodríguez-Pinzón, of a grant recently awarded from the Bochard Foundation to research and write on the international legal rights of elderly persons. On October 28, 2000, Professor Martin participated as a panelist in " The Inter-American Human Rights System" at the International Law Weekend 2000 in New York City, organized by the American Branch of the International Law Association. From December 4-8, 2000, she lectured on " Training and Consultation with Colombian Human Rights Law Professors on International Human Rights Standards," organized by and held at the Center.
Diane F. Orentlicher, Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Center, spoke at a Conference on " Universal Jurisdiction: Myths, Realities and Prospects" at the New England School of Law in Boston, Massachusetts on November 3, 2000. She also presented a paper on " Frontiers of Universal Jurisdiction" at the " Princeton Project on Universal Jurisdiction" at Princeton University on November 11, 2000. Professor Orentlicher was a commentator at a Conference on " Multilateralism and US Foreign Policy" at New York University on November 17, 2000, sponsored by NYU' s Center on International Cooperation. On January 2, 2001, she presented a paper entitled " International Responses to Separatist Claims" at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy (ASPLP) in San Francisco, and was also nominated for membership in the ASPLP. Professor Orentlicher also participated in a meeting on the Media and Humanitarian Law as a member of the Working Group on International Humanitarian Law, convened by the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., on January 10, 2001.
Diego Rodríguez-Pinzón, Visiting Professor and Co-Director of the Center' s Digest Project, is also the Co-Director of the Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law and the Director of the Human Rights Legal Education Partnership project, funded by the Association Liaison Office for University Cooperation in Development. He is the co-recipient, together with Claudia Martin, of a grant from the Brochard Foundation to research and write on the international legal rights of elderly persons. On October 28, 2000, Professor Rodríguez-Pinzón lectured on " Admissibility in the Inter-American System on Human Rights" at the International Law Weekend, sponsored by the American Branch of the International Law Association in New York City. He organized a conference at the Washington College of Law on December 6, 2000, entitled " Plan Colombia and Human Rights." He also has coordinated and lectured in the " Training and Consultation with Colombian Human Rights Law Professors on International Human Rights Standards," also held at WCL, from December 4-8, 2000. Professor Rodríguez-Pinzón' s recent publications include " El Derecho a la Honra y la Reputación" (The Right to the Protection of Personal Honor and Reputation), published in Revista Ruptura, Facultad de Jurisprudencia, Pontifica Universidad Católica del Ecuador, and " The ' Victim' Requirement, the Fourth Instance Formula and the Notion of ' Person' in the Individual Complaint Procedure of the Inter-American System on Human Rights."
Herman Schwartz, Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Center, analyzed proposed amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Georgia relating to the jurisdiction and procedures of the Georgian Constitutional Court in November 2000.
Richard J. Wilson, Professor of Law, Co-Director of the Center, Director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic (IHRLC), and Acting Director of the WCL Clinical Program, spoke in September 2000 at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C., to the U.S. Representatives of the European Union' s Working Group on the Death Penalty. Professor Wilson addressed the appropriateness of an amicus curiae brief from the EU in the U.S. Supreme Court case, Williams v. Georgia, where the defendant is a mentally ill juvenile under sentence of death. He also spoke about " The International Human Rights Law Clinic at American University," at the Association of American Law Schools Workshop entitled " Human Rights Teaching and Scholarship: New Issues, New Approaches," in October 2000, in Arlington, VA. He was the keynote speaker at the Regional Conference on Clinical Legal Education in Senec, Slovakia, in October 2000, and delivered a speech entitled " Clinical Legal Education: Mission, Objectives and Modalities." From December 3-5, 2000, Professor Wilson acted as the group facilitator and gave the closing plenary address, " Legal Aid 2000: Challenges Facing Legal Aid Providers, Refugee Law Clinics as a Protection Solution," at a conference sponsored by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and Constitutional and Legal Policy Institute, in Budapest, Hungary. On December 15, 2000, he joined a panel at the D.C. Bar International Law Section and ASIL discussing the topic " Litigating U.S. Compliance with Human Rights Treaties." From December 2000 to January 2001, he served as counsel of record and co-authored an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Penry v. Johnson. This case addressed the issue of whether international human rights law should inform U.S. understanding of the Eighth Amendment prohibition on " cruel and unusual punishment" to bar the execution of those individuals with mental retardation. The brief was filed on behalf of 18 international disability groups. Professor Wilson' s recent publications include: " The Spanish Proceedings," in The Pinochet Papers 23; " An Index to the Individual Case Resolutions of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, 1994-1999," American University International Law Review (Spring 2001); and " The Inter-American Human Rights System: Activities from 1999 Through October 2000," American University International Law Review, co-authored, with Jan Perlin, practitioner-in-residence of the IHRLC (Spring 2001).
The proper citation for this article in the Human Rights Brief Volume 8, Issue 2, beginning at page 39 is: 8 No. 2 Hum. Rts. Brief 39 (2001).
