Events
Philip Alston to speak on panel, "The Morality and Legality of Targeted Killings: From Bin Laden to al-Awlaki"
(December 7, 2011)
Vanderbilt Hall, Greenberg Lounge (NYU School of Law)
12:25pm-1:50pm
The Obama Administration has increasingly turned to drones (or in the case of Bin Laden, Navy Seals) to wage what the Bush Administration had called the “war on terror.” At the same time that President Obama has claimed that “justice” demands extraterritorial killings of named individuals, he has rejected other counter-terrorism tools used by the former Administration, such as water-boarding. What is the moral case for such distinctions? Does either the U.S. Constitution or international law permit targeted killings, whether or not the target is a U.S. national? Does it matter whether the USG engages in such acts only on a recognized battlefield (e.g., Afghanistan vs. Yemen or Pakistan), uses particular methods (unmanned drones vs. members of the U.S. military), or does so only with the consent of the territorial sovereign?
Please RSVP here
CHRGJ and International Humanitarian Fact-finding Commission to host panel, "Fact-finding as a Tool of Ensuring Respect for IHL: Political Impasse or Hope for Victims?”
(December 12, 2011)
NYU School of Law
Moderator: Prof. Michael Bothe, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt Michael Bothe is IHFFC President. He has written on international humanitarian law, the use of force, and comparative environmental and constitutional law; pled before the ICJ; and served as President of the European Law Environmental Association and for the German Society for Int’l Law.
Panelists:
- Prof. Philip G. Alston, John Norton Pomery Prof. of Law at NYU School of Law: Philip Alston co-chairs the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice. He has undertaken fact-finding missions in 14 countries as a UN Special Rapporteur, and served in a wide range of international offices, including Chair of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
- Prof. Charles Garraway, United Kingdom Army Legal Services (retired): Charles Garraway recently retired after 30 years’ service in the UK Army, where he served as senior Army lawyer during the 1990-91 Gulf Conflict, and advised on operations in the Balkans, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and Iraq. He is on the faculty at the Int’l Institute of Int’l Law at San Remo, Italy.
- Prof. Jeannette Irigoine-Barenne, ANEPE, Chilean Ministry of National Defense: Jeannette Barenne is Director of Political and Legal Affairs at the Chilean Ministry of National Defense’s National Academy for Political and Strategic Studies (ANEPE), and Professor of Law at the University of Chile. She has written extensively on international humanitarian and human rights law.
Attendance by invitation only.
Please contact Mateya Kelley with any questions.
CHRGJ's Transitional Justice Brown Bag series--in collaboration with the International Center for Transitional Justice--presents: "Transitional Justice in the Western Balkans: Is a Regional Truth Commission Possible?"
(November 15, 2011)
Furman Hall, room 210 (245 Sullivan Street), NYU School of Law
12:00pm-1:30pm
In the wake of war crimes trials conducted in the ICTY and national jurisdictions, the countries of the Western Balkans are taking significant steps toward judicial accountability, and their political integration in Europe. At the same time, extremist sectors still see trials as selective scapegoating and deny the worst atrocities committed during the wars of the former Yugoslavia. From a different perspective, victims and survivors, while embracing justice, demand the public opportunity to be acknowledged in forms that a court of law can hardly do.
Responding to victims' demands, an innovative movement across the region has emerged to propose that the countries succeeding the former Yugoslavia join efforts and establish one multi-country truth commission (Regional Commission - RECOM), capable to obtain effective cooperation in all the region, fighting chauvinistic denial and recognizing the dignity of all victims.
A delegation of leaders of the RECOM project will be at NYU School of Law on November 15th to share their experiences with campaigning for truth in the Western Balkans. They will present the draft mandate submitted to the seven presidents of the region, and discuss a successful public campaign that has gathered some 700,000 signatures in the region to push for the commission.
As more transitional justice scenarios deal with situations that involved more than one country, the unprecedented RECOM initiative offers a unique standpoint to discuss the potentials of future regional truth commissions. Join us, as a distinguished group of West Balkans activists share their experiences with us.
- Panelists:
- Moderator: Paul Van Zyl, Transitional Justice Program Director, CHRGJ; Adjunct Professor, Transitional Justice, NYU School of Law
- Vesna Teršelic: Documenta, Croatia
- Daliborka Uljarevic: Center for Civic Education, Montenegro Igor Mekina - Civic Line, Ljubljana, Slovenia
- Maja Micic:Youth Initiative for Human Rights in Serbia
- Nataša Kandic: Humanitarian Law Center - Serbia
- Dino Mustafic: Director, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Avni Melenica: Association of Families of Victims, Kosovo
- Mario Mažic: Youth Initiative for Human Rights in Croatia
Please RSVP to Audrey Watne at watnea@exchange.law.nyu.edu.
Philip Alston to speak at Human Rights and the Global Economy Conference
(November 9-10, 2011)
Location: John Tishman Auditorium, 66 West 12th Street, NYC
The Center for Public Scholarship presents the 25th conference from the Social Research journal at The New School. Join us as experts and scholars discuss human rights as a mediating language for discussions about social justice and the global economy. How does a wealthy nation determine what they can do to alleviate global poverty? What are the ethical obligations and how can such assistance be mutually beneficial? What are the human rights responsibilities and obligations of international financial institutions and corporations? Where are the opportunities in economic policies and institutions to strengthen human rights policies around the world and improve social justice?
Keynote on Wednesday, November 9, 2011 6:00pm: Olivier De Schutter, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, will discuss the role of human rights in shaping international regimes
Full program and registration.
Featuring: Philip Alston, Christian Barry, Nehal Bhuta, Jackie Dugard, Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, Siri Gloppen, Kathryn Hochstetler, Robert Howse, Chris Jochnick, Andrew Lang, Asunción Lera St. Clair, Chris London, Sanjay Reddy, Margot Salomon, Galit A. Sarfaty, Meaghen Simms, and Miriam Ticktin
Tickets: Full conference: $30; single session $10 Nonprofit Members and Staff: $15; single sessions $5 Free for all students and all New School faculty, staff, and alumni (with valid ID)
Contact: cps@newschool.edu or 917-534-9330
International Symposium on Restorative Justice, Reconciliation and Peacebuilding
(November 11-12, 2011)
Location: Lipton Hall, D'Agostino Hall, 108 West Third Street, New York, NY
Friday, November 11, 8:30am-4:30pm
Saturday, November 12, 9:00am-3:30pm
All over the world controversies continue to beset the practice of peacebuilding. Peace versus justice. Religious versus secular. Individual versus structural justice. Forgiveness versus retribution. Overcoming these dilemmas requires more than reforming institutions but rather new thinking about the questions: what is justice? how is it related to the building of peace?
Answers to these questions lie in the twin concepts of reconciliation and restorative justice. The symposium explores their potential for overcoming the familiar controversies and offering guidance for peacebuilding. It will explore as well what these concepts have to say about punishment, accountability, apology, forgiveness, confession, truth telling, human rights, international law, and other issues and practices. Participation is open to students, scholars, and practitioners interested in transitional justice and peacebuilding.Learn more and RSVP here
"Justice and Development: Nexus at the Heart of Arab Spring”: The Annual Emilio Mignone Lecture on Transitional Justice, featuring Helen Clark and Hossam Bahgat
(November 14, 2011)
View a gallery of pictures and access video of this event here.
Tishman Auditorium, Vanderbilt Hall, NYU School of Law
6:00pm-7:30pm
The International Center for Transitional Justice and the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at NYU School of Law are pleased to invite you to attend The Sixth Annual Emilio Mignone Lecture on Transitional Justice.
About the event: Hossam Bahgat, chairman of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights and one of prominent leaders of the popular revolution in Egypt, and Helen Clark, head of United Nations Development Program, and will debate in a lecture that traditionally brings leading international figures to explore cutting edge issues in transitional justice. The conversation will be introduced and moderated by Philip Alston.
Recognizing the need to further explore the links between justice and development in the context of historic changes sweeping the Arab world, ICTJ and the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at the New York University School of Law have focused this year’s annual Emilio Mignone Lecture on Transitional Justice on these dilemmas.
For more information, please click here
Valid ID required for admission. Please RSVP to Audrey Watne at watnea@exchange.law.nyu.edu.
Jayne Huckerby to Speak for International Law Event, "Gender, National Security, and Counter-Terrorism."
(November 3, 2011)
Location: Woolworth Building, Room 217, 15 Barclay St, New York, NY 10279
3:30 pm-5:00 pm
Jayne Huckerby will highlight findings of a groundbreaking report published by NYU's Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, "A Decade Lost: Locating Gender in U.S. Counter-Terrorism. Throughout the United States' decade-long “War on Terror,” women and sexual minorities' experience with counter-terrorism measures has been largely invisible to policymakers and the human rights community alike. Drawing on her experience and participation in the creation of this report, Jayne Huckerby is uniquely qualified to illuminate how the U.S. government’s counter-terrorism efforts impact women and sexual minorities. The lecture will highlight the unique gender dimensions and impacts of U.S. counter-terrorism, including the impact of anti-terror cuts in humanitarian aid to Somalia on women and girls, the experience of Iraqi gay men in the aftermath of the U.S. invasion, and the effects of targeted killings on female family members in Pakistan. We anticipate a robust discussion during the Q&A, moderated by Lysistrata's International Law Concentration Leader, Sara Birjandian.
Jayne Huckerby is Adjunct Assistant Professor of Law of the Global Justice Clinic and Research Director at the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, where she directs the Center’s project on Gender, National Security and Counter-Terrorism. She co-taught the International Human Rights Clinic from Spring 2009 to Spring 2010. She has worked with various inter-governmental and non-governmental entities, including with the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism, the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW), the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), the U.N. Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), and the U.N. Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, in the areas of gender and counter-terrorism, gender and anti-trafficking initiatives, gender and transitional justice programming, gender budget initiatives, and gender and the political economy.
Philip Alston to speak at film screening “Eichmann & Drones”
(Oct 29, 2011)
Location: The Tishman Auditorium of Vanderbilt Hall , 40 Washington Square South (between MacDougal and Sullivan Streets)
6:00pm
The New York Institute for the Humanities at NYU presents a screening of two short films followed by a conversation with the film makers, NYIH director Lawrence Weschler, and an expert panel about the legality of drone attacks, the possible culpability of distant pilots acting under military orders, and the ethics and aesthetics of the representation of death, killing, and the otherwise unthinkable.
The two films are NACHT UND NEBEL (Night and Fog), by Dani Gal, about the disposition of Adolf Eichmann’s cremated remains by a group of Israeli soldiers following his 1962 execution; and 5,000 FEET IS THE BEST, by Omer Fast, about U.S. military pilots based in Las Vegas directing lethal robotic drones half way round the world, and the nervous breakdowns to which they have been succumbing
- Discussants:
- Philip Alston, Co-chair, Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, NYU School of Law; former UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions (2004-2010)
- Errol Morris, the documentary filmmaker, whose pertinent credits, in this instance, include Mr. Death, Fog of War, and Standard Operating Procedure
- Aryeh Neier, a founder and former executive director of Human Rights Watch; President of Open Society Foundations; and a frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books
- Maggie Nelson, poet, critic, memoirist, CalArts professor; author of The Art of Cruelty: A Reckoning, Bluets; and Jane: A Murder
This event is free and open to public on a first-come, first-in basis (no tickets or reservations).
For further details and schedule updates, visit http://nyihumanities.org/event/eichmann-drones, or contact The New York Institute for the Humanities: 212.998.2101; nyih.info@nyu.edu.
Jayne Huckerby to Speak on UN Panel "The Right to an Effective Remedy for Trafficked Persons"
(Oct 25, 2011)
Location: United Nations, Conference Room 7, NLB
1:15-2:45 pm
CHRGJ's Jayne Huckerby will be one of several discussants at a panel discussion on the topic of ‘The right to an effective remedy for trafficked persons’, This discussion is jointly organized by the OHCHR and the UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in persons, especially women and children, Ms. Joy Ngozi Ezeilo. The panel discussion will take place at the United Nations in Conference Room 7 (NLB) from 1:15 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.
This event requires a UN pass. All attendees must RSVP as soon as possible by Monday,October 24th to be guaranteed entry. Please RSVP to Audrey Watne and watnea-at-exchange.law.nyu.edu for directions on where to pick up your UN pass for the event
"The Role of UN Sanctions in African Conflict Zones"
(Oct 20, 2011)
Location: The Puck Building, The Rudin Family Forum for Civic Dialogue, 2nd Fl., 295 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10012-9604
12:30pm-1:30pm
Howard Wachtel, U.S. Mission to the UN
Part of the Conflict, Security, and Development Series co-presented by the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at NYU Law School, the Center for Global Affairs at NYU’s School for Continuing and Professional Studies, NYU Master's Program in Global Public Health, and the Office of International Programs at NYU Wagner. For more information click here
Jayne Huckerby to speak in panel at Catherine Filloux's Play-reading "Action Hero"
(Oct 20, 2011)
Location: Jerry H. Labowitz Theatre for the Performing Arts 1 Washington Place
6:30 pm
Howard Wachtel, U.S. Mission to the UN
“Action Hero” is the culmination of playwright Catherine Filloux’s work of the past 20 years. It demands that we bear witness to a justice system that is often indifferent to crimes of violence against women, where the gravity of these offenses is minimized, even unnoticed and too often perpetrators go unprosecuted. The setting- from Guatemala and Haiti to the oil corporations and corporate law offices of the United States- touches on the injustices women worldwide must endure. This play is not about one country or one person, it is about our world.
In the words of the playwright: “Theatre can allow audiences to become witnesses and through the communal act of witnessing, there can be re-imagination and even revolution.”
- Post-performance talk-back with panelists:
- Catherine Filloux (Playwright),
- Jayne Huckerby, (Research Director, Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, New York University Law School),
- Marie Soto Cruz (Gallatin faculty),and
- Sharon Friedman (Gallatin faculty).
**This reading is a prelude to “THE ACTION HERO CULTUREHUB PROJECT AT LA MAMA” that will transmit a reading to simultaneous locations around the world.
“Egypt’s Path to Democracy: Challenges and Opportunities”
(Oct 13, 2011)
Location: The Puck Building, The Rudin Family Forum for Civic Dialogue, 2nd Fl., 295 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10012-9604
12:30pm-1:30pm
Khaled Z. Amin, associate professor of public finance and administration, Cairo University; affiliated scholar, the American University in Cairo (AUC); visiting scholar, NYU Wagner;senior decentralization policy advisor, the USAID’s Egyptian Decentralization Initiative (EDI) For more information click here
From Rights to Reality: Beth Simmons's Mobilizing for Human Rights and its Intersection with International Law": The Seventeenth Annual Herbert Rubin and Justice Rose Luttan Rubin International Law Symposium
(Oct 14, 2011)
Location: Vanderbilt Hall, Greenberg Lounge
8:30am-5:30pm
The event will include a debate about international law and human rights between Professor Beth Simmons and Professor Eric Posner, as well as thematic panels featuring: Philip Alston, Robert Howse, Catharine MacKinnon, Andrew Moravcsik, Peter Rosendorff, Kathryn Sikkink, Edward Swaine, Ruti Teitel, and Joel Trachtman.
This symposium, organized in collaboration with Professor Ryan Goodman, will examine Beth Simmons’s award-winning book, "Mobilizing for Human Rights: International Law in Domestic Politics," and present reactions from leading scholars on the empirical effects and theoretical implications of promoting human rights through the instruments of international law. This event aims to unpack and discuss the arguments made by Professor Simmons, and to explore larger themes emerging in the field of human rights.For more information and to register click here
Information meeting on 2012 International Law and Human Rights Fellowship Program
(Oct 14, 2011)
Location: Furman Hall, Room 212
2:00pm-3:45pm
There will be an orientation and information session on Friday, October 14, from 2:00 to 3:45, in Furman Hall, Room 212, regarding dedicated summer internships, including those within the International Law and Human Rights Fellowship Program, the International Law and Development Fellowship Program and the Hague Conference on Private International Law. Current full-time first year JD, second year JD, LLM and JSD students at NYU School of Law in New York and Singapore are eligible to apply for the ILHR Fellowship; LLMs in New York and Singapore for the IFD Fellowship; and 1Ls and 2Ls with PILC summer funding are eligible to apply for The Hague Conference internship.
For more information about this session and available internships, click here
2011 Events
“Gender-Based Violence and Access to Food and Water in Humanitarian Crises: Is there a Connection?”
(Oct 6, 2011)
Location: The Puck Building, The Rudin Family Forum for Civic Dialogue, 2nd Fl., 295 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10012-9604
12:30pm-1:30pm
Meg Satterthwaite, faculty director, CHRGJ; professor, the Global Justice Clinic
Part of the Conflict, Security, and Development Series co-presented by the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at NYU Law School, the Center for Global Affairs at NYU’s School for Continuing and Professional Studies, NYU Master's Program in Global Public Health, and the Office of International Programs at NYU Wagner. For more information click here
From the ICTY/ICTR to the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals: The Next Stage of Ensuring Justice, A Lecture by the Honorable Judge Theodor Meron
(October 6, 2011)
6:00-7:30 PM/ Furman Hall, Room 212 (245 Sullivan street, NYU school of Law New York, New York)
Please join the CHRGJ in welcoming special guest, the Honorable Judge Theodor Meron, as he reflects on his experiences with the ICTY and shares his thoughts on the future of international criminal law. The lecture will be introduced and moderated by CHRGJ Faculty Director, Professor Margaret Satterthwaite.
Valid ID required for admission. Light refreshments and snacks will be served. Please RSVP to Audrey Watne at watnea@exchange.law.nyu.edu.
About Judge Theodor Meron:
Since his election to the Tribunal by the U.N. General Assembly in March 2001, Judge Meron, a citizen of the United States, has served on the Appeals Chamber, which hears appeals from both the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). Between March 2003 and November 2005 he served as President of the Tribunal. A leading scholar of international humanitarian law, human rights, and international criminal law, Judge Meron wrote some of the books and articles that helped build the legal foundations for international criminal tribunals. A Shakespeare enthusiast, he has also written articles and books on the laws of war and chivalry in Shakespeare’s historical plays.
Judge Meron received his legal education at the Universities of Jerusalem, Harvard (where he received his doctorate), and Cambridge. Since 1977, he has been a Professor of International Law and, since 1994, the holder of the Charles L. Denison Chair at New York University School of Law. Between 1991 and 1995 he was also Professor of International Law at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, and he has been a Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard University and at the University of California (Berkeley). He was counsel for the United States before the International Court of Justice in the LaGrand case. In 2000-2001, he served as Counselor on International Law in the U.S. Department of State. In 2006, he was named Charles L. Denison Professor Emeritus and Judicial Fellow at New York University School of Law.
Judge Meron was Co-Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of International Law (1993-98) and is now an honorary editor. He is a member of the Institute of International Law, the Board of Editors of the Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law, the Council on Foreign Relations, the French Society of International Law, the American Branch of the International Law Association, and the Bar of the State of New York, and he is a patron of the American Society of International Law. He is Honorary President of the American Society of International Law. He has served on the advisory committees or boards of several human rights organizations, including Americas Watch and the International League for Human Rights.
In 1990, Judge Meron served as a Public Member of the United States Delegation to the CSCE Conference on Human Dimensions in Copenhagen. In 1998, he served as a member of the United States Delegation to the Rome Conference on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court (ICC) and was involved in the drafting of the provisions on crimes, including war crimes and crimes against humanity. He has also served on the preparatory commission for the establishment of the ICC, with particular responsibilities for the definition of the crime of aggression.
Judge Meron has served on several committees of experts of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), including those on Internal Strife, on the Environment and Armed Conflicts, and on Direct Participation in Hostilities Under International Humanitarian Law. He was also a member of the steering committee of ICRC experts on Customary Rules of International Humanitarian Law. He was a member of the “Panel of Eminent Persons within the Swiss Initiative to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” which concerned a future agenda for human rights, and is now a member of the successor panel on human dignity.
He has been a Carnegie Lecturer at The Hague Academy of International Law, Fellow of the Rockefeller Foundation, Max Planck Institute Fellow (Heidelberg), Sir Hersch Lauterpacht Memorial Lecturer at the University of Cambridge, and Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford. He was also the Marek Nowicki Lecturer for 2008 lectures in Budapest and Warsaw under the auspices of the Open Society Institute. He has lectured at many universities and at the International Institute of Human Rights (Strasbourg). Judge Meron helped establish the ICRC/Graduate Institute of International Studies seminars for University Professors on International Humanitarian Law. He leads the annual ICRC seminars for U.N. diplomats on International Humanitarian Law at New York University, and in the past led such seminars in Geneva.
Judge Meron was awarded the 2005 Rule of Law Award by the International Bar Association and the 2006 Manley O. Hudson Medal of the American Society of International Law. He was made Officer of the Legion of Honor by the government of France in 2007. He received the Charles Homer Haskins Prize of the American Council of Learned Societies for 2008. In 2009 he was elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2011 he received a doctorate honoris causa from the University of Warsaw.
A frequent contributor to the American Journal of International Law and other legal journals, Judge Meron delivered the 2003 General Course of Public International Law at The Hague Academy of International Law. He is the author of more than 100 articles in legal publications. His books are: Investment Insurance in International Law (Oceana-Sijthoff 1976); The United Nations Secretariat (Lexington Books 1977); Human Rights in International Law (Oxford University Press 1984); Human Rights Law-Making in the United Nations (Oxford University Press 1986) (awarded the certificate of merit of the American Society of International Law); Human Rights in Internal Strife: Their International Protection (Sir Hersch Lauterpacht Memorial Lectures, Grotius Publications 1987); Human Rights and Humanitarian Norms as Customary Law (Oxford University Press 1989); Henry’s Wars and Shakespeare’s Laws (Oxford University Press 1993); Bloody Constraint: War and Chivalry in Shakespeare (Oxford University Press 1998); War Crimes Law Comes of Age: Essays (Oxford University Press 1998); International Law In the Age of Human Rights (Martinus Nijhoff 2004); and The Humanization of International Law (Martinus Nijhoff 2006). His latest book was published by Oxford University Press in 2011 under the title: “The Making of International Criminal Justice: The View from the Bench: Selected Speeches.”
“Priority Reproductive Health Services in Humanitarian Emergencies – the Minimum Initial Service Package”
(September 29, 2011)
Location: The Puck Building, The Rudin Family Forum for Civic Dialogue, 2nd Fl., 295 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10012-9604
12:30pm-1:30pm
Sandra Krause, Reproductive Health Program Director, Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children
Part of the Conflict, Security, and Development Series co-presented by the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at NYU Law School, the Center for Global Affairs at NYU’s School for Continuing and Professional Studies, NYU Master's Program in Global Public Health, and the Office of International Programs at NYU Wagner. For more information click here
“Community-based Schools in Afghanistan: Preventing Violence Against Education and Protecting the Right to Learn”
(September 22, 2011)
Location: The Puck Building, The Rudin Family Forum for Civic Dialogue, 2nd Fl., 295 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10012-9604
12:30pm-1:30pm
Dana Burde, assistant professor of international education at NYU Steinhardt; affiliated faculty, NYU Wagner; affiliated research scholar, Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies at Columbia University
Part of the Conflict, Security, and Development Series co-presented by the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at NYU Law School, the Center for Global Affairs at NYU’s School for Continuing and Professional Studies, NYU Master's Program in Global Public Health, and the Office of International Programs at NYU Wagner. For more information click here
Gender, National Security, and Counter-Terrorism: Human Rights Perspectives: NYU Abu Dhabi
(September 19-29, 2011)
Location: NYU Abu Dhabi
This Workship brings together scholars and policy analysts to discuss complex legal and social issues that are addressed in the forthcoming publication Gender, National Security, and Counter-Terrorism: Human Rights Perspectives. With expertise in varying country contexts, participants examine the intersections of gender and counter-terrorism, drawing both country-specific and general conclusions.
Convened by CHRGJ Faculty Director Margaret Satterthwaite and CHRGJ Research Director Jayne Huckerby.
Jean-Pictet Competition on International Humanitarian Law, NYU Team Selection Information Meeting
(September 21, 2011)
12:30-1:30 PM in OCS/PILC conference room in Furman Hall, Room 430.
The Jean-Pictet Competition is hosted by the International Committee of the Red Cross and is a unique opportunity to gain in-depth and hands-on knowledge of international humanitarian law (IHL). The competition is a week-long training event on international humanitarian law, consisting in “taking law out of the books”, by simulations and role plays, allowing the Competition jury to evaluate teams’ theoretical knowledge and practical understanding of IHL. The situations are founded on fictitious but realistic scenarios of armed conflict.
NYU School of Law will select an NYU Team comprised of three law students to apply to compete in the 2012 Competition in South Africa from April 14 to 21, 2012. It will be the responsibility of the NYU Team to apply to participate in the Competition and if accepted, to prepare itself for the Competition. Students should consult the competition website for further information. All full-time NYU law students based in New York are eligible to apply to be a member of the NYU Team. The Hauser Global Law School Program will pay the registration fee and transportation expenses; the Competition provides housing and food for participants during the event.
The selection of the NYU Team will not guarantee participation in the Competition. The Team will be required to complete a separate, substantive application process that will be defined by the Pictet organizers, who ultimately decide which teams are invited to compete. The Pictet application process has not been announced but it is expected that submissions will be due in November and December 2011, with Pictet decisions on participation in early January 2012.
The application for inclusion on the NYU Team is available on the CHRGJ website. All full-time NYU law students based in New York are eligible to apply. Applications are due on Monday, September 26, by 12 noon. After a review of the applications, finalists will be selected and interviewed during the week of October 3, with selection of the NYU Team thereafter.
Again, an information session regarding the Competition and NYU Team selection is scheduled for Wednesday, September 21, from 12:30 to 1:30 in Furman 430. If you cannot attend but have questions, please contact Tish Armstrong at CHRGJ.
Launch and panel discussion of CHRGJ's groundbreaking report, "A Decade Lost: Locating Gender in U.S. Counter-Terrorism"
(September 15, 2011)
6:30-8:30 PM/ Furman Hall, Room 216 (245 Sullivan street, NYU school of Law New York, New York)
Valid ID required for admission. The event will be followed by a brief reception. Please RSVP to Audrey Watne at watnea@exchange.law.nyu.edu.
Over the last decade of the United States’ “War on Terror,” the way women and sexual minorities experience counter-terrorism has been invisible to policymakers and the human rights community alike. Drawing on regional consultations, interviews with U.S government, and secondary research, A Decade Lost: Locating Gender in U.S. Counter-Terrorism provides the first global account of how the U.S. government’s counter-terrorism efforts profoundly implicate and impact women and sexual minorities and often squeeze them between terrorism and counter-terrorism. Panelists will highlight the unique gender dimensions and impacts of U.S. counter-terrorism in the United States, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East and North Africa—ranging from the impact of anti-terror cuts in humanitarian aid to Somalia on women and girls to the experience of Iraqi gay men in the aftermath of the U.S. invasion to the effects of targeted killings on female family members in Pakistan. Panelists will also reflect on the impacts for women of the Obama Administration’s new August 2011 policy to counter violent extremism in the United States, drawing on a comparison with the U.K. government’s policy approach.
The panel discussion will feature the two primary authors of the report, CHRGJ's Jayne Huckerby and Lama Fakih, as well as Arun Kundnani, Fellow, Open Society Foundations and Christopher Rogers, Afghanistan-Pakistan Regional Policy Initiative, Open Society Institute.
About the panelists:
Lama Fakih is Gender, Human Rights, and Counter-Terrorism Fellow of the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, where she manages the Center’s project on Gender, National Security and Counter-Terrorism and is co-author of A Decade Lost: Locating Gender in U.S. Counter-Terrorism. Prior to rejoining the Center in 2010, Lama consulted for the Iraqi Refugee Assistant Project in Damascus, Syria where she provided legal assistance to Iraqi refugees seeking resettlement to the United States. In 2008-2009 as CHRGJ Center Fellow Lama provided research, litigation, and advocacy support to several of the Center’s thematic areas of work. Her prior experiences include working at the Women’s Rights Division at Human Rights Watch and the Women’s Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union. Lama was also awarded a Fulbright Fellowship in 2004 to conduct research on the implementation of Islamic law in the Egyptian National Courts. Lama holds a B.A. in Middle East Studies from Sarah Lawrence College (2003) and a J.D. from New York University School of Law (2008), where she was awarded the Ann Petluck Poses Memorial Prize for her work in NYU’s International Human Rights Clinic.
Jayne Huckerby is Research Director of the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at NYU School of Law, where she directs the Center’s project on Gender, National Security and Counter-Terrorism, is co-author of A Decade Lost: Locating Gender in U.S. Counter-Terrorism and co-editor with Professor Meg Satterthwaite of the forthcoming book Gender, National Security and Counter-Terrorism: Human Rights Perspectives. She has worked with various inter-governmental and non-governmental entities, including with the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism, the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW), the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), the U.N. Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), and the U.N. Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, in the areas of gender and counter-terrorism, gender and anti-trafficking initiatives, gender and transitional justice programming, gender budget initiatives, and gender and the political economy. She was also Adjunct Assistant Professor of Clinical Law from Spring 2009 to Spring 2011, co-teaching the International Human Rights Clinic and Global Justice Clinic. She holds a BA.LLB (Hons 1) from the University of Sydney and a LL.M. from New York University, where she was a Vanderbilt Fellow and recipient of the David H. Moses Memorial Prize.
Dr Arun Kundnani is a fellow at the Open Society Foundations where he is writing a book on US and UK initiatives to counter radicalization. He is the author of the report Spooked: how not to prevent violent extremism, which raised issues with the UK's Prevent program, and gave evidence to Britain's parliamentary select committee on its findings. His previous work includes the book The End of Tolerance: racism in 21st century Britain, a major study of UK race relations, published in 2007. From 2008 to 2010, he was editor of the journal Race & Class.
Christopher Rogers is a program officer for the Afghanistan-Pakistan Regional Policy Initiative at OSI, focusing on conflict-related detentions and civilian casualties. Prior to joining the Open Society Foundations, Rogers was the research fellow in Pakistan for the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC), investigating civilian casualties from military operations, terrorism, and drone strikes and advocating for victim assistance programs. Rogers graduated from Harvard Law School in 2009 where he worked with UNHCR in Jordan on Iraqi refugee protection and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza and served as an executive editor of the Harvard Human Rights Journal. Rogers also worked with Human Rights Watch on the negotiations of the Convention on Cluster Munitions and with the International Center for Transitional Justice in Namibia through the Harvard Human Rights Program. Prior to law school, Rogers worked with development NGOs in Rwanda and South Africa. He received an MPhil in International Development from Oxford University and BA in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania.
Business and Human Rights Documentation Project Launch: Bogota, Colombia (August 10, 2011)
Bogotá, Colombia played host to the Latin America launch of the B-HRD Project, hosted by the Program for Global Justice and Human Rights at the University of the Andes Law School.
Helena Alviar García, Dean of the of the University of the Andes Law Schhol and César Rodríguez-Garavito, founding Director of the Program on Global Justice and Human Rights at the University of the Andes, opened the Conference. Marcela Vieira from the Working Group on Intellectual Property (GTPI) from the Brazilian Network for the Integration of Peoples (REBRIP), and Felipe Carvalho from Associação Brasileira Interdisciplinar de AIDS (ABIA) both provided insightful commentary on B-HRD with a unique perspective into HIV and the pharmaceutical industry in Brazil. Alirio Uribe of the Colectivo de Abogados José Alvear Restrepo followed, providing historical insights into the corporate accountability movements internationally and the important role B-HRD can play. The launch event ended with a lively discussion amongst participants.
For more information and to watch video of the launch, please visit: http://www.B-HRD.org.
Business and Human Rights Documentation Project Launch (June 28, 2011)
6:30 PM/ Lipton Hall at NYU School of Law, 108 West 3rd St, New York, New York
Valid ID required for admission. The event will be followed by a brief reception. Please RSVP to Jenae Noell at noellj@exchange.law.nyu.edu by June 24.
The Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ) at NYU School of Law and the International Network for Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ESCR-Net) are proud to announce the launch of the Business and Human Rights Documentation (B-HRD or Be Heard) Project, and interactive, multi-lingual information portal that provides grassroots groups, NGOs, experts, advocates, academics, and the public at large with vital information about the human rights impacts of business activities, and with much needed advocacy tools to hold businesses accountable in a globalized world.
Panel discussion featuring:
- Katherine Gallagher- Senior Staff Attorney, Center for Constitutional Rights
- Nicolas Lusiani- Program Officer, ESCR-Net
- Lisa Misol- Senior Researcher, Business and Human Rights Program, Human Rights Watch
- Smita Narula- Faculty Director, CHRGJ, NYU School of Law
- Jenae Noell- Center Associate, CHRGJ, NYU School of Law
- Annabel Short- Programme Director, Business and Human Rights Resource Centre
- Jimmy Pan- Former Student Member, International Human Rights Clinic, NYU School of Law
For more information and to watch video of the launch, please visit: http://www.B-HRD.org.
Panel Discussion: "Haiti: Behind the Headlines" (May 17, 2011)
Click here to listen to the audio recording of the event.
6:00-8:00 PM/ 40 Washington Square South, Rm. 206
The event will start with a brief reception. Valid ID is required for entry. Please RSVP to Audrey Watne at watnea@exchange.law.nyu.edu
About the panel:
Please join CHRGJ and its partners at Diaspora Community Services for a multi-disciplinary panel discussion on:
- Gender Based Violence in Haiti’s IDP Camps
- The Outcomes of Haiti’s Recent Presidential Elections
- The Current Status of Post-earthquake Efforts
Featured panelists:
- Carine Jocelyn, Executive Director, Diaspora Community Services and Centre Medico Social de Port au Prince
- Meg Satterthwaite, Faculty Director and Associate Professor of Clinical Law, Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, NYU School of Law
- Marie St Cyr, Executive Director of the Lambi Fund
- Francois Pierre-Louis, Professor of Political Science, Queens College, City University of New York
- Mark Schuller, Assistant Professor of African-American Studies and Anthropology, York College, City University of New York
For more information please see:http://www.chrgj.org.
Economic and Social Rights Empowerment Initiative (May 13, 2011)
5:00 PM/ Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University (20 Cooper Square, 5th Floor)
Presentation by Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, Terra Lawson-Remer, and Susan Randolph, Co-directors, Economic and Social Rights Empowerment Initiative
Comments by Larry Cox, Executive Director, Amnesty International USA
Comments by Margaret Satterthwaite, Faculty Director, NYU Center for Human Rights and Global Justice
Chaired by Craig Calhoun, Director, Institute for Public Knowledge, and President, Social Science Research Council
Countries are bound under international law to respect, protect, and fulfill economic and social rights, yet there are few viable tools to assess rights fulfillment or hold States accountable for these obligations. The Economic and Social Rights Empowerment Initiative will employ rigorous quantitative measurement and analysis regarding fulfillment of these rights—the right to food, the right to adequate shelter, the right to healthcare, the right to education, the right to decent work, the right to social security, and protection against discrimination. At the core of our initiative is the Social and Economic Rights Fulfillment Index (SERF Index), an innovative and powerful tool that will empower civil society to hold States accountable for fulfilling rights guaranteed under international law.
Please join us for a discussion with the authors of the SERF Index and commentary from experts in human rights and measurement tools. The panel will discuss the importance of assessing States on their fulfillment of economic and social rights obligations and the need for rigorous monitoring tools, explain the methodology of the SERF Index, and explore how the SERF Index can be used to empower civil society to work for economic and social rights fulfillment.
A reception will follow the program.
Please RSVP here.
For more information about the Social and Economic Rights Empowerment Initiative, visit their website: http://www.serfindex.org.
CHRGJ Brown Bag Lunch Series: Vaccination, Informed Consent, and International Human Rights (May 2, 2011)
12:30-2:00PM/ Golding Lounge, Vanderbilt Hall
Lunch will be served. RSVP and a valid ID required. Please RSVP to Tish Armstrong at tish.armstrong@nyu.edu.
About the Event:
Please join the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at NYU School of Law in welcoming an esteemed panel of experts as they explore issues surrounding basic decisions on vaccinations through the lens of the following essential question: Who should decide which vaccinations people get—individuals, governments, or corporations—and what is the relevance of international human rights standards to both the question and potential answers to that question?
About our Panelists:
Juana Acosta is an LLM candidate and Hauser Scholar at NYU School of Law. She holds a Bachelor of Laws degree (first in class) from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana of Bogotá, Colombia and a Master’s in Human Rights and Democratization from the Externado University and Carlos III de Madrid University. Her work experience before coming to NYU included a large law firm in Bogotá, an advisor on gender issues to the Presidential Office for Women’s Human Rights, and then to the Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs, and a Consultant to the United Nations Population Fund. A current research project focuses on international human rights norms that apply to vaccination as a preventive medical intervention.
Vera Hassner Sharav is the founder and President of the Alliance for Human Research Protection, an information resource and catalyst for debate on issues related to accountability in biomedical research. She is the author of a chapter in Vaccine Epidemic entitled “Medical Ethics and Contemporary Medicine.”
Moderator:
Mary Holland is an NYU Research Scholar and Director of the Graduate Legal Skills Program. She is also a founder of the Center for Personal Rights and the editor of and contributor to Vaccine Epidemic.
The discussion will draw on issues raised in Habakus and Holland (eds), Vaccine Epidemic (2011 Skyhorse Publishing), copies of which will be available for $20, all proceeds to go to the Center for Personal Rights (www.centerforpersonalrights.org).
Conflict Security and Development Series Spring 2011: Dr. Donna Espeut (April 14, 2011)
12:30-1:30/ The Puck Building, 2nd Fl (295 Lafayette Street)
The Conflict, Security, and Development Series is co-presented by the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at NYU Law School, the Center for Global Affairs at NYU’s School for Continuing and Professional Studies, NYU Master's Program in Global Public Health, and the Office of International Programs at NYU Wagner. Each Thursday, this series will examine new research, discuss creative policy approaches and highlight recent analytical and practical innovations in responding to the challenges of security and development in the context of conflict and post-conflict situations.
This week's speaker: Dr. Donna Espeut, maternal, newborn, and child health specialist, Concern Worldwide (U.S.)
RSVP today at http://wagner.nyu.edu/events/conflictsecurityanddevelopmentseriesspring2011-01-27-2011
