The Congressional Human Rights
Lecture Series
Fall 2005
Orentlicher Press Release | Goldman Press Release
The Congressional Human Rights Lecture Series seeks to introduce Hill staffers to the basics of international law and human rights issues through a monthly, interactive series of discussions with top experts from American University Washington College of Law. The series will not only explore basic principles in human rights and humanitarian law, but it will also discuss how and why they are relevant to US lawmakers and legislators. The Series is co-sponsored by the Congressional Human Rights Caucus and the American University Washington College of Law Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. Staffers are encouraged to bring their lunch and to attend as many sessions as they wish/are able.
POSTPONED November 15: Hadar Harris
International Human Rights Treaty Obligations
and the US Experience
The United States has ratified three of the seven key international human rights treaties (the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention Against Torture (CAT), and the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD)). Ratification sets up specific legal obligations and reporting requirements which impact and affect all three branches of government. Currently, the independent committees which oversee the ICCPR and CAT are reviewing US compliance with those treaties. Come discuss how the treaty system works and what US lawmakers need to know about US obligations under the UN human rights system.
Hadar Harris is the Executive Director of the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at American University Washington College of Law. She has worked extensively in assessing and reviewing national compliance with international human rights treaties working both with NGOs and governmental bodies. In Spring 2002, she piloted an assessment tool developed by ABA/CEELI to review national compliance with the provisions of the Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The pilot project was run in Armenia and the final report was submitted for review to the United Nations and to the Armenian government. She assisted in developing shadow reports to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) with the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and in 2004-5, worked with the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Treaty Implementation of the Government of Botswana to assist it in developing its State Party report to the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).
October 18: Jamin Raskin
The Spread of Freedom: the Right to Vote
and Political Democracy
Today we see efforts being made for democratic reform in the Middle East, in the nations of the former Soviet Union and around the world. Here at home, American elections have been subject to more scrutiny from all sides. A variety of basic human rights treaties secure the right to “elect and be elected.” Come discuss how standards have evolved to govern “free and fair” elections and how these apply in the United States and as US lawmakers encourage democracy abroad.
Jamin Raskin is a noted professor of constitutional law. He is Co-Director of WCL’s Program on Law and Government and Co-Director of the Marshall Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project. In 2000 he was named the University's Scholar-Teacher of the Year and the President of American University described him as "the consummate public intellectual." He is an expert on voting rights and political democracy and has been involved in local and national election disputes. In 2003, together with the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, he co-directed the conference, International Perspectives on the Right to Vote and Political Democracy in the United States at the Library of Congress.
September 13: Diane Orentlicher
Structures of the UN Human Rights System
and the Move to Reform
Press Release
Since its founding in 1945, the United Nations has been a flashpoint for criticism and cries for reform. Despite that, the UN has developed a sophisticated system to protect and promote human rights with Committees, Commissions, experts, special rapporteurs and a High Commissioner devoted solely to human rights. A major topic of the UN General Assembly in September will be the Secretary General’s proposals to reform the human rights system. Come learn about the human rights structures at the UN, the United States’ role and obligations in that system and the latest proposals for reform.
Diane Orentlicher was appointed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in September 2004 as Independent Expert to update the UN Set of Principles for the Protection of Human Rights through Action to Combat Impunity. Her scholarly work has focused on issues of accountability for human rights crimes, transitions to democracy, corporate responsibility in a transnational context, and the relationship between ethnic identity and political participation. She has published extensively on obligations of states under international law to provide an effective response to gross violations of human rights and on international criminal tribunals.
July 19: Robert K. Goldman
What are the Rules that Govern the War on Terror?
Press Release
Extraordinary times may call for extraordinary tactics, but are there rules that govern the war on terror? How do those rules apply to governments? How can they be applied to non-State actors and insurgent groups? Discuss the legal framework which governs the War on Terror.
Professor Robert Goldman's scholarship focuses primarily on international human rights and humanitarian law. He recently served as the United Nations Independent Expert on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms While Countering Terrorism. His study for the United Nations and one conducted for the Organization of American States (OAS) are among the seminal works discussing the balance of human rights, humanitarian law and the post-September 11 war on terror. Professor Goldman is also a two-term member and past President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) of the OAS.
May 17: Richard J. Wilson
What is the International Bill of Human Rights?
Beginning with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, the international community has tried, through the United Nations, to codify core universal principles which evoke basic human rights for which all nations and people will be responsible. Echoing many key American constitutional protections, the International Bill of Human Rights provides a framework for thinking about human rights today. Come learn about the history and core concepts of the International Bill of Human Rights and their application in the US.
Richard J. Wilson is the founding director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic at American University Washington College of Law, where he has taught since 1989. He has lived or consulted in several Latin American countries and has lectured or consulted in the United States, Eastern and Western Europe, and Asia on clinical legal education, access to justice and legal aid. He began his legal career as a public defender and continues to take active roles in high profile litigation. He recently authored friend-of-court briefs for the European Union cited by the US Supreme Court in Atkins v. Virginia, in which the court barred capital punishment for persons with mental retardation, and in Roper v. Simmons, the recent decision striking down the death penalty for juveniles. He is co-counsel for a Canadian citizen detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
