Center Faculty/Staff News
Dr. Kelly Dawn Askin, Acting Executive Director of the War Crimes Research Office of the Washington College of Law's (WCL) Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (Center), was a Distinguished Speaker at Georgetown University Law Center in March. She spoke on "Contemporary Developments in Prosecuting Gender Based Crimes in International Law." Also in March, she was interviewed on National Public Radio's "Diane Rehm Show" on "War Crimes Against Women," and gave interviews concerning recent judgments rendered by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to the New York Times, the BBC, and the Associated Press. She also wrote an editorial for Newsday, entitled "Rape's Black Day in Court." In April, Dr. Askin's article on the Kunarac case was published by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting. Two other articles, entitled "Precedent in the International Criminal Tribunals" and "Recent Developments in Prosecuting Sexual Violence in International Law," were published by the Crimes of War project. Also in April, Dr. Askin chaired a panel entitled "International Trials for Internal Armed Conflicts and International Crimes Committed Domestically" at the American Society of International Law (ASIL) Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.
Claudio Grossman, Dean, Co-Director of the Center, and President of the Inter- American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), spoke on the freedom of the press at the Inter-American Press Association Meeting in Fortaleza, Brazil, and lectured at the opening of a course for ombudsmen in Costa Rica in March 2001, where he shared the podium with Costa Rican President Miguel Angel Rodríguez. He participated in the IACHR's in loco visit to Chile in April. Also in April, he presented at a seminar entitled "Truth Commissions and New Challenges in Promoting Human Rights" at Diego Portales University in Chile; spoke on fundamental human rights and the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas at a conference in Quebec, Canada, entitled "Inter-American Cooperation: Beyond Free Trade;" and represented the IACHR at the 2001 Summit of the Americas, also in Quebec. In May, Dean Grossman will moderate a panel on the death penalty in the United States, marking the 25th anniversary of the Gregg v. Georgia decision.
Robert Goldman, Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Center, attended the most recent regular session of the IACHR in Washington, D.C. He was re-elected to the Executive Council of the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights, headquartered in San Jose, Costa Rica. On March 30, 2001, he spoke at a conference in Chicago organized by Northwestern University on the relevance of the Inter-American human rights system for Canada, Mexico, and the United States. On April 2, 2001, he traveled to Chile to participate in a special session of the IACHR.
Diane F. Orentlicher, Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Center, spoke on March 1, 2001, as a Distinguished Visitor at Indiana University's School of Law on "Nuremberg Reconfigured: The Pinochet Paradigm of Victim's Justice." On March 26, 2001, she spoke at a WCL conference entitled "The Pinochet Precedent: Individual Accountability for International Crimes," addressing the relationship between international tribunals and national courts. Additionally, on April 3, 2001, in Washington, D.C., Professor Orentlicher participated in a session of the United States Institute of Peace Working Group on International Humanitarian Law. This session explored the role of humanitarian assistance and relief organizations in the implementation and enforcement of international humanitarian law. On April 5, 2001, Professor Orentlicher participated as a panelist at the ASIL Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., on "International Trials for Internal Armed Conflicts and International Crimes Committed Domestically."
Diego Rodríguez-Pinzón, Visiting Professor and Co-Director of the Center's Inter-American Digest Project, lectured at a seminar entitled "Military Operations in the Framework of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law," held in Santa Fé de Bogotá, Colombia, on March 26, 2001, for all high officers of the Colombian military. The lecture focused on the domestic implementation of human rights obligations, and the international, state, and individual responsibility arising from violations of these international standards. From March 26-28, 2001, he also participated, along with Claudia Colombia. The event was part of WCL's joint project entitled "Human Rights Legal Education Partnership," designed to enhance the academic capacity of human rights training in Colombia.
Herman Schwartz, Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Center, proposed changes to the Armenian Constitution. During the spring of 2001, he became Chair of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty.
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, participated in a conference entitled "The Pinochet Precedent: Individual Accountability for International Crimes," held at WCL on March 26, 2001. He spoke on "The Pinochet Case: Origins and Impact." He also was a moderator and panelist for a program on March 30, 2001, called "Lawyering for the 21st Century: Comparative Perspectives on Public Interest Lawyering," sponsored by the Public Interest Committee at WCL. Additionally, Professor Wilson spoke at a conference entitled "The Inter-American Human Rights System and Civil Society in North America," held at Northwestern University on March 30, 2001, and co-sponsored by Northwestern University's Center for International and Comparative Studies and Center for International Human Rights. His StudyThe United States as Defendant." He also spoke on April 6, 2001, at the ASIL Annual Meeting at a session on "Teaching International Law Interest Group Program, Clinical Education in International Human Rights Law," and at an event on April 12, 2001, co-sponsored by the Law Library of Congress and WCL and entitled "The Legal Protection of the Vulnerable: Internally Displaced Persons." His talk addressed "The Role of Lawyers in Assisting Vulnerable Groups." Professor Wilson's recent and upcoming publications include an article in the South Western Journal of Law and Trade in the Americas called "Reflections on Judicial Review in Latin America;" and an article published by the International Human Rights Law Group entitled "Promoting Justice Through Human Rights Lawyering: A Practical Guide for Developing Countries," coauthored with Jennifer Rasmussen. He also authored the chapter "Will History Repeat Itself? Case Studies of Systemic Constraints on Defense Counsel in International War Crimes Trials and the Need for Resource Parity" in the forthcoming book Effective Strategies for Protecting Human Rights: Economic Sanctions, Use of National Courts and International Fora and Coercive Power. Professor Wilson, with an outside consultant, Anne James, also recently received a U.S.$30,000 grant from the Swiss government for the Project for the Advancement of Human Rights Law: Focus on Capital Punishment.
The proper citation for this article in the Human Rights Brief Volume 8, Issue 3, beginning at page 33 is: 8 No. 3 Hum. Rts. Brief 33 (2001).
