The Center provides unique training opportunities for legal practitioners, academics, activists and students to explore cutting-edge issues in the development of human rights and humanitarian law.
Program on Human Trafficking and Forced Labor
In 2008, the Center launched its Program on Human Trafficking and Forced Labor, directed by Ann Jordan, the former Director of Global Rights’ Initiative Against Trafficking in Persons. The Program was created to engage in research, policy and debate around the widespread human rights abuses of human trafficking and forced labor. By focusing on evidence-based human rights responses, the Program seeks to widen the debate beyond the current focus on law enforcement approaches (which, to date, have had minimal success) and instead asks for state accountability for the human rights violations and policy failures giving rise to the root causes of human trafficking and forced labor. The Program promotes responses that are based on human rights principles and evidence-based research and knowledge. Its website is www.rightswork.org.
Human Rights in the United States
For nearly a decade, the Center has been working to promote the incorporation of international human rights norms, language and strategies into the work of advocates on behalf of marginalized and vulnerable communities in the U.S. In November 2011, the Center launched the Local Human Rights Lawyering Project, which aims to incorporate the use of international human rights law into the everyday work of legal services attorneys through training workshops, collaborative litigation strategy sessions, ongoing coaching, and continuous litigation. Learn more about the Local Human Rights Lawyering Project.
Disability Rights
The Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law has been a leading force for discussion around disability rights and the UNCRPD. The Center has developed a role in bridging between the disability rights community and the human rights community for enhanced implementation and expanded adoption of the UNCRPD. Since 2007, the Center has convened important discussions every year around the UNCRPD, its adoption, ratification, and implementation. To learn more about Disability Rights, click here.
International Humanitarian Law Student Writing Competition
The Center for Human Rights & Humanitarian Law at American University Washington College of Law (WCL) and the American Society of International Law’s Lieber Society (ASIL) are pleased to once again announce the second International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Student Writing Competition. Learn more about the competition.
Teaching International Humanitarian Law Initiative
The Teaching IHL Initiative is an outcome of the 2007 ICRC/WCL study, Teaching International Humanitarian Law in US Law Schools, which concluded that student demand for IHL courses is high but faculty needs better resources, materials and support to expand the teaching of IHL in law schools in the US. To learn more about the Teaching IHL Initiative, click here.
WCL/University of Peshawar Collaborative Exchange and Capacity Building Program
In 2006, the American University Washington College of Law Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (WCL) began a multi-year collaboration with the University of Peshawar (UP) to build capacity with the UP faculty regarding its human rights and gender studies programs. The ongoing project, which includes visits from UP faculty to WCL, seeks to enhance the UP Human Rights Studies Centre and provide support to its Gender Studies Department, the only such departments for gender studies and human rights in Pakistan.
The Israel-US Civil Liberties Law Program
2009 marked the 25th year of the New Israel Fund's Israel-US Civil Liberties Law Program. Co-sponsored by the American University Washington College of Law (WCL), the program and its graduates have transformed the Israeli legal scene by offering two years of academic and professional experience to Israeli lawyers specializing in civil rights advocacy. Each year, two participants - an Arab Israeli citizen and a Jewish Israeli citizen - travel to Washington, DC and enroll as LLM candidates in the Civil Rights Law program at WCL. In addition to their academic studies, participants also gain hands-on experience as interns at human rights and civil rights organizations in the United States. Following the year of study and work in the United States, the particpants return to Israel to work with local human rights NGOs such as Adalah (The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights), ACRI (The Association of Civil Rights in Israel) and Itach-Maaki (Woman Lawyers for Social Justice).
Human Rights Film Series
Each year the Center collaborates with the AU Center for Social Media (CSM) on the Human Rights Film Series, which provides another take on the human rights world. The Center and CSM screen four exceptional documentary films that exhibit excellence in filmmaking and explore a variety of human rights issues. The documentaries showcase the power of film to educate the public about human rights. Students can get involved by drafting background sheets about the films and the issues they explore.
Previous Projects
Gender in Legal Education in India (2004-2005)
Indigenous Rights Training Institute (2003)
Inter-American Human Rights Moot Court Competitions (1995-2005)
(This competition moved to WCL's Academy on Human Rights & Humanitarian Law in '04-05.)
