Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
Human Rights News & Events

WCL Events

 

1. WAR CRIMES SPEAKER SERIES PRESENTS: JABIER AGIRRE, WCL VISITING SCHOLAR AND SENIOR ANALYST, ICC OFFICE OF THE PROSECUTOR
Tuesday, February 24, 12:00pm - 1:30pm, 4301 50th Street Conference Room
Come join us for a discussion of the ICC’s investigation of the atrocities committed in Darfur and to learn more about the status of the arrest warrant against President Omar al-Bashir, the first sitting head of state being investigated by the Prosecutor of the ICC. Please RVSP by e-mailing warcrimes@wcl.american.edu. Lunch will be served.

2. HOW TO PAY YOUR BILLS ON A PUBLIC INTEREST SALARY
Tuesday, February 24, 12:00pm - 1:00pm, Rm. 602
This panel will discuss the budgeting challenges faced by practicing public interest attorneys and strategies for making ends meet while working in the public interest sector. Information about using PILRAP and CCRAA will also be provided. Panelists include Jarrod Shirk, WCL Public Interest Coordinator, and WCL alumni currently pursuing public interest careers. For additional info, please contact Sarah Melikian at sarahmelikian@gmail.com.

3. EQUAL JUSTICE FOUNDATION CHOCOLATE BASH
Tuesday, February 24, 3:30pm - 6:00pm, 6th Floor Lounge
Who studies during Mardi Gras?  Come celebrate Fat Tuesday at the Chocolate Bash--February 24 from 3:30-6:00 pm in the 6th floor lounge.  Enjoy performances by Professor Dinerstein on the keyboard, Professor Varona singing a cappella, and Dean Grossman playing the accordion.  Homemade chocolate creations will be entered into a contest with judging by local chocolatiers Sandra Escobar from The Cacao Tree, Rob Kingsbury from Artfully Chocolate Kingsbury Confections, and Nisha Sidhu from Co Co. Sala.  And of course enjoy an all-you-can-eat chocolate extravaganza, including chocolate fountain! 

Tickets are $7 in advance, $10 at the door.  Tickets will be on sale Tuesday before the Bash.  All proceeds support the Equal Justice Foundation, which provides grants to students doing public interest legal work over the summer.  Sponsored by the Public Interest/Public Service Scholars and the Equal Justice Foundation. For additional info, please contact Jarrod Shirk at jshirk@wcl.american.edu.

4. PUBLIC INTEREST DEBT ASSISTANCE INFORMATION TABLE
Tuesday, February 24 - Thursday, February 26, WCL Lobby
Get information on PILRAP and the College Cost Reduction & Access Act (CCRAA), drop your questions and concerns in our comments box, and pick up your PILRAP Awareness button! For additional info, please contact Sarah Melikian at sarahmelikian@gmail.com.

5. ILSP NEGOTIATION EXERCISE
Friday, February 27, 2:00pm - 6:00pm, Rm. TBA
Interested in practicing your negotiation skills? Want to improve your oral skills in English? Interested in working with JDs? The ILSP and the Legal Rhetoric Program are organizing a joint negotiation exercise on Friday, February 27th from 2pm-6pm. We will pair up LLM students with JDs and ask you to negotiate portions of an agreement against other teams of LLMs and JDs. The exercise will be followed by a short reception, and certificates of attendance will be awarded to all participants. If you are interested in this fun-filled activity, please contact Cathy Schenker at schenker@wcl.american.edu.

6. REVOLUTION '67
Monday, March 2, 6:30pm - 9:30pm, Rm. 603
A screening and discussion that chronicles the black urban rebellion of the 1967 in Newark, NJ. Focusing on the six-day, mid-July outbreak in Newark, New Jersey, the film reveals how the disturbance began as spontaneous revolts against poverty and police brutality and ended as fateful milestones in America's struggles over racial justice. For Mor information, contact Stacey Jackson-Roberts at sjrobert@wcl.american.edu.

7. DOES SEXX REALLY MATTER? WHAT A DIFFERENCE A "Y" MAKES! SPRING 2009 HEALTH LAW SYMPOSIUM
Tuesday, March 3, 9:30am - 4:00pm, Rm. 603
This program will feature topical issues involving women’s health care research, genetics, and sexuality.  The program will feature leading speakers from academia, research institutions, government and private pharmaceutical and medical device industry companies. To register, please go to www.wcl.american.edu/secle/registration.

8. IRAQI REFUGEE CRISIS: PRESENT-DAY CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR LASTING SOLUTIONS
Tuesday, March 17, 9:00am - 5:00pm, Rm. 603
Two million refugees are living in Jordan, Syria and other neighboring countries and an additional 2.5 million are internally displaced within Iraq.  The program will explain the scope of the crisis and ask the difficult questions: Who is taking responsibility for improving the conditions of the millions of displaced?  What is the role of the United States and the international community?  Can the law help to protect the most vulnerable?  Are there lasting solutions? To register, please go to www.wcl.american.edu/secle/registration.

Community Events

 

1. THE EXONERATED AND THE U.S. SUPREME COURT
Thursday, February 26, Philip H. Hart Auditorium, Georgetown University Law Center
An unprecedented gathering of people from around the country who have been exonerated through DNA testing, leading legal authorities on federal post-conviction remedies, a crime victim from a recent high-profile Texas wrongful conviction case, and others will discuss District Attorney’s Office v. William G. Osborne, which is set for oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court on March 2. The state has arbitrarily refused Osborne’s requests for DNA testing for years – even though the testing would be performed at no cost to the State, and the State now concedes that DNA testing could prove his innocence for a 1993 rape and attempted murder in Alaska. The Innocence Project will argue before the U.S. Supreme Court that Osborne has a constitutional right to DNA testing that can prove his innocence. A Web cast will be available at http://www.law.georgetown.edu/webcast/. For additional info, please contact the Office of Public Interest and Community Service by emailing opics@law.georgetown.edu or by calling 202-662-9655.

2. SECURITY WITHOUT EMPIRE: NATIONAL ORGANIZING CONFERENCE ON FOREIGN MILITARY BASES
Friday, February 27 - Monday, March 2, Multiple Locations, American University
The United States has an astonishing 1,000 military bases located outside the 50 states and Washington, DC. In addition to increasing the likelihood of war, foreign bases undermine national autonomy, democracy, and human rights, cause enduring and sometimes deadly environmental pollution, result in increased crime including rape and other sexual violence, increase the risk of life-threatening military accidents, and are often built on property that has been seized from people living in "host" communities. Military bases are also expensive: At a time of economic crisis, U.S. bases overseas divert an estimated $138 billion a year from addressing human needs and revitalizing our economies in the United States and abroad.

To expand a growing national and international movement against foreign bases, The Project on Military Bases, a coalition of fifteen national and community based organizations, will be joined by leading anti-bases activists from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and Europe.  The conference will provide a unique opportunity to learn about the dangers and damage that come with foreign military deployments and to join in the process of organizing to win the closure and withdrawal of these bases.

Together the conference attendees will

*       Share information about U.S. military bases and resistance;
*       Develop strategies for and expand the U.S. anti-bases movement;
*       Raise the visibility of the U.S. and international anti-bases movements;
*       Apply pressure on Congress to close and reduce the number of foreign bases.

Speakers will include leading U.S. activists, scholars, and allies from the Czech Republic, Ecuador, Germany, Guam, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Okinawa, and South Africa. Additionally, we have arranged twenty workshops to allow participants to explore issues and campaigns more deeply and to develop new strategies.  Monday, March 2, will be a lobbying day on Capitol Hill when conference participants will meet with members of Congress to ask for the closure and withdrawal of foreign bases. For more infor mation, contact Genevie Gold at ggold@afsc.org or (617) 661-6130, ext. 137.

3. LAND RIGHTS AND INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT: THE NEVER-ENDING STRUGGLE OF ETHNIC MINORITIES IN COLOMBIA
Tuesday, March 3, 12:00pm - 1:30pm, American University Kay Spiritual Life Center
Join in a candid discussion on the current situation of Internally Displaced Persons in Colombia, and the implementation of the Justice and Peace Law . Sponsored by the Office of the University Chaplain and the Colombian Human Rights Committee. Should you have any questions, contact Andrea Mesa at andrea.mesa@american.edu

Announcements & Professional Development Opportunities

1. INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY AT SURVIVOR CORPS
Survivor Corps is an international non-profit organization created by and for conflict survivors to promote individual recovery, rebuild communities and change policies and practices affecting survivors of conflict. Survivor Corps works across a spectrum of issues that affect the lives of survivors, establishing international standards for survivor and disability rights around the world. It also participates in campaigns to eliminate weapons causing indiscriminate harm to civilians.

Survivor Corps is seeking a law student who would like the opportunity for internship in a diverse and dynamic organization. The intern would support Survivor Corps’ advocacy activities on global and national campaigns and assist in research, writing and development of materials, and in other tasks as needed. The internship is 20-40 hours per week and starts as soon as possible. Applicants should have the following qualifications: current law student, a commitment to human rights, an interest in rights of survivors of conflict, excellent research and analysis skills, excellent communications skills, and the ability to carry out parallel tasks and to work both independently and in a team. Applicants able to make a six month commitment are preferred.

Interested students should send a cover letter and resume to the following street or email address:

Survivor Corps
Human Resources – Advocacy Intern
2100 M Street, NW #302
Washington, DC 20037
Employment@survivorcorps.org
Please state that the application is for Advocacy Intern

2. JOIN THE FIGHT FOR GULF COAST RECOVERY! CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE!
In 2005, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Gulf Coast. Thousands are still struggling to rebuild their lives. Student Activists for Katrina/Rita Survivors (SAKS), which was formed to raise awareness of this issue and brought Gulf Coast activists to the AU community last semester, would like to encourage individuals to ask Congress to support the reintroduction of the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act. This Act will: A) Rebuild and repair vital infrastructure, including schools, police and fire stations, hospitals, parks, roads, water and sewer systems, workforce housing, and cultural centers; B) Rebuild natural flood protection such as barrier island, marshes, and wetlands; C) Create good green jobs and provides job training; D) Appoint a Gulf Coast Recovery Coordinator to the Office of the President with a charge to speed recovery programs so that people can move home to new opportunity; and E) Fill the funding gaps for home repair and rebuilding so people can afford to move home to recovered neighborhoods. For more information, including how to e-mail your representative, visit the Gulf Coast Civic Works Campaign's website at solvingpoverty.com.

 

 

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