Leitner Interns Blog

It's Only The Beginning!

2011-10-14T10:47:00.007-05:00

Although the Middle East has long been viewed by many in the Western hemisphere as a haven for despotism and the rule of harsh dictatorships, if the Arab Spring has taught us anything it would be that this region can pleasantly surprise us with sudden changes of course and humanistic endeavors.

I worked this summer with the Maria Cristina Foundation (MCF) in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates to secure registration for our charitable mission: to provide excelling children from Bangladesh the opportunity to attend some of the UAE's most reputable private schools. MCF began over six years ago in Dhaka, Bangladesh where Maria Conceicao, a flight attendant based out of Dubai, was moved by the level of poverty she saw in Bangladesh. She began to collect resources and school supplies and distribute them in the slums each time one of her flights landed in Dhaka. The support she received from the Dubai community, eventually allowed her to set up a school and day program, aptly named "The Dhaka Project", that has now grown to provide education for 500 children and their families.

Just over a year ago, the Dhaka Project was in full swing when Maria realized that several of the children had exceeded all of their teacher's and curriculum's expectations. The question she faced was whether the Dhaka Project could afford to encourage the children to keep maximizing their full potential and support their dreams of attending high schools that could lead them to potentially attend world-class Universities. Before it even seemed like a plausible idea, Maria knew the answer would have to be an unequivocal, yes.

Maria's decision to support this new endeavor led to the setting up of the Maria Cristina Foundation in Dubai. The opportunities for Maria's children to come to Dubai and enroll in school were overwhelming. Several Dubai private schools were competing for the children and even offered to pay for their transportation. However, the challenge she faced is that the UAE has a strict policy for registering charities and NGO's. In fact, there are no "local' or grass roots NGO's permitted in the the UAE. Each NGO that wants to set up an office in Dubai must have been registered abroad for at least five years and register under one of five government organizations. Furthermore, the office must be set up in one of the emirates "free zones" and have at least ten branches abroad.

Fortunately for MCF, the Ministry of Higher Education ("Ministry") agreed to sponsor the children's visas and made an edict that MCF could partner under the Red Crescent Society in Dubai. When I arrived, the Ministry had already sponsored seven children's visas, but the main problem for MCF was getting all the paperwork for the Red Crescent Society underway so that MCF could open a bank account, open an office and hold fundraising events.

Because MCF had been "brought" to Dubai under edict by the Ministry, our humble organization did not fulfill many of the requirements that would ordinarily already have been satisfied by an NGO by the time they partnered with the government office. To add to the mix, MCF would be the first autonomous "grass-roots" NGO to ever open in Dubai let alone be sponsored by the Ministry. Thus, our task of coordinating all the essentials for the smooth running of an organization proved to be quite challenging. No formula, or road map existed to guide us to the best solutions to our problems. My days were spent running around the Emirate organizing all the paperwork that Red Crescent needed to open a bank account for MCF, get us approved for an office space outside of a free zone, and secure Red Crescent's partnership so that we could get approval from the Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department for fundraising events.

All in all, this pursuit took up the better part of my summer, but eventually we managed to accomplish everything that we needed for the efficient running of an office and and a registered NGO.

The latest pursuit of MCF, is to take recent graduates of the Dhaka Project school in Bangladesh and partner with Emirates Airline to sponsor their training in various fields of company and thereby, find them long-term employment. This new endeavor has proved challenging both for MCF and the Dhaka graduates. First, we had to convince Emirates that this proposal was not a waste of time and that providing free training to our candidates would be in their best interest. Second, the teenagers would have to combat the language barrier and homesickness. Third, MCF has to satisfy the requirements of the Bangladeshi Embassy in the UAE and verify that the children are not being used for underage labor.

Fortunately, we couldn't have chosen our first two candidates better. Robin and Al Amin keep our office lively and fun. Although, they can be a handful at times, and need to be continually reminded to do their homework, everyone in the office enjoys their zeal and exuberance for life. The two 18-year old's have never traveled outside of Bangladesh, been on a plane or seen a shopping mall. Every day they have new questions for why things are he way they are and we have to continually remind them to speak English to each other. At the end of their six-week course with Emirates, they will have to take an exam and pass with 80%. On top of that they will have to pass an interview with the Emirates HR department.

I truly do not envy the pressure that these two young boys must be under. Although they are young, they do understand that their success or failure with Emirates will decide the fate of many other young Dhaka school graduates that might be able to find employment with Emirates in the future. Besides this, however, they know that they will have to return home to Dhaka if they are not employed with Emirates. Unfortunately, returning to Dhaka would mean that their options for upward mobility in employment would be severely limited by social status and economic conditions. The boys dreams of having a families of their own and being able to help their parents small businesses in Dhaka would almost certainly be shattered if they don't pass their final. Robin, in particular, has a girlfriend in Dhaka that he desperately wants to marry someday, and continually reassures me that he has to pass if he ever wants to face her again. Al Amin, similarly comes from a large slum family and says that no girls will talk to him if the does not get a job. Everyday as he heads out from the MCF office to the Emirates program, myself and the other ladies in the office tell him to "lighten up on the cologne" but, honestly, he thinks it's the best thing, ever, and never listens.

Besides the utter joy I've received from partaking in a project that is dedicated to helping children reach their full potential, by far the most important thing I have done in my work with MCF is help establish the beginning of a system where grass roots NGOs may be able to set up in Dubai and establish the first inklings of an organic UAE civil society. My work with MCF has proved that there is a sliver of hope, however narrow, for movers and changers in the Middle East to make a difference in the institutions that at first glance seem like immovable mountains. With hard work and perseverance it is possible, I believe, for this generation of Middle Easterners to expand the horizons for humanistic principle in their societies.

Twitter & Feminism in Transitional Justice

2011-09-14T17:56:00.014-05:00

My experience as a Leitner Intern this summer was about flight. Flight of ideas, flights from New York to Paris and back again, flights across the web.

I worked at the International Center for Transitional Justice for the Gender Justice program under the guidance of its fantastic director, Kelli Muddell. For the month of June, I was in the New York office every day, conducting research on gender and transitional justice in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). I read, compiled, and provided feedback on a list of sources that were then used for a conference in Beirut to help implement transitional justice measures for women in the region. The documents covered transitional justice generally through a gendered lens, truth seeking commissions, civil society participation in truth seeking commissions, reparations, civil society and participation in the international criminal justice system, criminal justice generally, and security sector reform (including civil society participation). I also provided feedback and extensive editing on a number of other related documents to help activists prepare for implementation of transitional justice measures.

At the end of June, I went to Paris where I studied French language, Human Rights, Comparative Family Law, and World Trade and Development. I took classes at the Sorbonne (Paris I) with Cornell University's Summer Law Institute along with students from all over the world.

In addition to my coursework, I continued to work for ICTJ on a monthly gender situation report. ICTJ sends monthly situation reports from and to its various offices all over the world, allowing staff and interns a window into the global work in transitional justice. This project was and is becoming one of the most valuable experiences in my career. My assignment was to follow the news on gender and transitional justice and write up a summary of the relevant articles I found.

I ended up turning it into something much more fascinating than I ever anticipated. I created a list on Twitter of different organizations and news media that I wanted to follow - a list that included organizations like UN Women, Equality Now (an NGO I interned at in the Spring), Al Jazeera, the International Justice Tribunal, the ICC, Global Fund for Women, and more.

I followed this list regularly for updates. Not only was I reading the news; I was also watching the revolution in Libya un

fold. So I did more than summarize the articles I found - I analyzed and critiqued them.

In particular, I was interested in the way

s states use sexual violence and oppression to silence women's voices and participation in democracy and revolution. The following is an excerpt from my summary and analysis:

"This article demonstrates how different forms and degrees of sexual violence are used to reinforce gendered boundaries and keep women in the private sphere...By exploiting cultural norms about female sexuality, the state is able to use sexual violence, assault, and harassment to keep women out of public life...The article treats information accessibility and the link between democracy and patriarchy as separate issues, and runs the risk of the incorrect assumption that democracy results in major improvements for women. For democracy to benefit women, it must be accessible and inclusive. However, as the article contends, the advent of accessibility through social media is important. Not only is information through social media available across the public/private boundary, anyone with Internet access can participate in it. This means that social media could help women gain access to democratic debate, and also enable them to play a more substantial role in shaping it."

Internet access is still privileged and subject to censorship, but it is still an incredible platform on which a vast number of people who otherwise wouldn't have access to

voice can stand. What's more, it can happen publicly or privately, and often simultaneously. By reading and writing the mon-

thly situation report, I was circulating this knowledge through a powerful NGO, and by retweeting posts and adding a few of my own, I was perpetuating the circulation of knowledge that was forming the revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa, or more generally, the ideas that are shaping current feminist and human rights work.

This was particularly fascinating for me, because in college I wrote about problems of ascribing nationhood to women's bodies (see above for the Delacroix painting of La Liberté guidant le peuple), and left for a work of art incorporating the Statue of Liberty that I saw near ICTJ's headquarters in downtown Manhattan. (Or just think of the Statue itself). I should note that I think the Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World) is very different from the French Lady Liberty, or at least has the potential to be: she represents the Roman goddess of freedom and isn't sexualized. She holds a torch, a symbol of light, a crown evoking the seven seas, continents, and sun, and a tablet with writing, which of course enables the transmission of knowledge. Instead of representing American identity, (as Marianne does in France) she welcomes immigrants and travelers to New York City ... and New Yorkers back home.

Instead of finding national identity in a female symbol, it is imperative to a fairly functioning democracy that women's ideas, not bodies, enter the public sphere. This brings me to a project I am finishing for ICTJ, a note for the CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women) commission with UN Women. In this note, I am being asked to identify links between transitional justice and CEDAW to give a stronger foothold in gender-sensitive transitional justice measures. Rape must be seen as a state perpetrated crime, truth commissions must ask women at all levels about their experiences. Success in transitional justice efforts depends upon the full and fair participation of women, and opening up democratic processes to all women harmed by violence and affected by revolution.

Overall, I find the widespread use of women's bodies in museums and public places as a way to articulate political, cultural, social, and philosophical ideas to be offensive and problematic, although as someone who loves art, I can still appreciate the message and beauty of the art for its own sake. However, I demand entry into the conversation. Graffiti to me is a brilliant way to assault the established order and shock the conscience. It requires no ticket for admission, and does not ask for the viewer's permission. Therefore, I end my post with this image (another welcome home!) in the hope that my post will inspire readers to fight for women's rights, for fighting for women's rights is ultimately fighting for everyone's rights. Change begins in the home, and the writing is on my own street ;)

Iraqi Refugees in Egypt

2011-08-29T09:27:00.004-05:00

“If you need help with it, just ask Abu Layla,” Amir told me.

Later, responding to a different question, he added, “Abu Layla should know where it is.”

And even later, “When you’re finished, put it in Abu Layla’s box."

All of which would have been helpful information, but I didn’t know who Abu Layla was. (By the way, names have been changed because, who knows?) I was too embarassed to ask, since everyone else seemed to know. However, by the end of the day I needed to know and approached our Iraqi office manager, Malik. "Malik, Amir keeps talking about Abu Layla. Who is that?"

The office manager is a stout, balding man who always dresses in trousers and an ironed polo shirt and sports a pair of large, gold-framed engineer-style glasses that I secretly covet. They have thick lenses and are super-retro-cool. They look like those worn by Walt in “Breaking Bad.” I thought about all of this as he grinned mischievously. “Jonathan,” he put a hand on my shoulder and laughed good-naturedly, “Abu Layla is me."

And so I had another embarassing lesson in Arabic culture. “Abu Shada” means father of Shada, and Iraqi adults are often called with reference to their first-born children.

Malik is a helpful and attentive office manager, and genial (he didn’t laugh at me too much). He is also a refugee from Iraq (most of the staff at the office are refugees). He speaks very good English, which has been common with my Iraqi clients, though with none of my African clients. And, of course, Iraqis speak Arabic, while Somalis, Ethiopians, and Eritreans do not (Sudanese do, for the most part).

Some of these Iraqi refugees government jobs and perhaps even joined the Ba’ath Party (which was often necessary to get a promotion if you worked for the government), which made them targets after Saddam Hussein’s government collapsed under the weight of U.S. bombs. Others aided or worked for American or Multi-National Forces, or translated for a U.S. media company, and were endangered because of their association with Westerners. Most are well-educated, middle-class folks, or at least they were back home. Which is to say that, for the most part, they have an easier time than other refugees in Egypt, but their lives here might be a far cry from what they had in Iraq. (This also means that Iraq is losing a lot of its educated professionals.

Well over two million Iraqis have fled their country since Hussein was deposed in 2003, and many others have been displaced internally. Of those who left, many have gone to Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. A smaller number went to Egypt, but this is a still a lot of people: there are estimates of 150,000 as of September 2008, and it’s surely increased since then. I’ve heard reports of people returning; after all, it’s not nearly as dangerous as it was a few years back. But violence continues in Iraq (28 people, including an MP, were killed at a mosque bombing on Saturday) and for many of these refugees, it is not safe to go back now.

Even for those with a middle-class background, being a foreigner is difficult in Egyt. For the most part, Iraqis are not legally permitted to work. Doctors, engineers, it makes no difference. They cannot enroll in public schools, so expensive private institutions are their only option. Many are drawing from dwindling savings accounts. Some have substantial government pensions, but Egypt does not allow these accounts to be transferred in-country, unlike the policies of Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. Many feel unwelcome in Egypt. And the revolution, by creating instability and by undermining the authority of the police, has unnerved many of the Iraqis I’ve spoken to. This may be why, according to the accounts I’ve heard, the number of Iraqis applying for resettlement is increasing.

Many apply to the quote-unquote normal refugee resettlement program of the UNHCR; others apply directly to a country’s immigration authority, for instance if they have a close relative who lives there and is willing to sponsor them. But those who fled Iraq because they worked with Americans are eligible to apply to the Direct Access Program (DAP). DAP is supposed to make it easier for these Iraqis to apply for resettlement to the US, for instance by not requiring a referral from the UNHCR or other agency. Iraqis who worked with Americans for more than one year (and were thusly endangered and had to flee, of course) can also apply for a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV).

These are very different than the UNHCR resettlement mechanism. Eligibility for the UNHCR program is based on vulnerability in the country of refuge, whereas DAP and SIV criteria don’t address that at all. They’re almost merit-based programs; the key to assembling an application is getting proof that the applicant did in fact work for the American military, or USAID, or whoever. Of course, they must have been targeted because of this association, as well, but that's not usually hard to prove. Stories of black Xs painted on doors and bullets in envelopes are all too common.

The process itself is fairly complex, which is one reason that many have not applied. Some (by now outdated, surely) stats I read reported that only 20,000 applications had been received, though 150,000 Iraqis are eligible for either DAP or SIV. Of those 20,000, only 4,500 or so had been resettled. There is a huge backlog of SIV applications waiting on approval from the US Chief of Mission; this step alone often takes more than a year. Both DAP and SIV require the applicant to provide documentation of their employment by USG or other eligible organizations, which they may not have. (In some cases, the USG insists on copies of contracts to which it is itself a party! The idea that it doesn’t have a copy already is unsettling.) These and other bureaucratic issues seem mundane enough, but since this is a program for people who may still be in mortal danger, such delays are very important. Consider that some people are applying while still in Iraq, where simply approaching the US Embassy in the Green Zone might not be safe. NYT ran an article about delays in the SIV program earlier this month, though I don’t think this issue gets a lot of media attention on the whole.

Working Globally...Locally

2011-08-27T19:12:00.005-05:00

Where's Kelly?
I experienced an earthquake and now a hurricane, have teleconferenced with colleagues in Geneva, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Bahamas, arranged a conference in Thailand, and gone into work early to make calls to Turkey. Where was I? In New York, of course! It's been quite an exciting summer working with the United Nations Development Programme ("UNDP") in the Gender Cluster of the HIV/AIDS Group of the Bureau for Development Policy ("BDP"). I had the privilege of touching livesglobally from the UN headquarters in New York this summer.

Part of the UNDP BDP HIV/AIDS Group, Evacuated for the August 23rd earthquake. (I am third from the right)

Reflecting on last year's work:

Last May 2010, I worked in as a Leitner intern in New Zealand in refugee family reunification, with the Wellington Community Law Centre. This was a direct client services position working through the legal process of New Zealand to refugees who had been resettled to New Zealand from parts of East Africa and South America.

This summer's experience was much different, not only because I was locally situated in New York, but also because I had the opportunity to work with an inter-governmental organization ("IGO") as opposed to an non-governmental organization ("NGO"). My involvement this summer was also more focused on policy than on direct client services. Each experience developed a different set of legal skills, and has allowed me to see the benefits of each working environment.

The facts on HIV & gender:

Much of my work has focused on the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women ("CEDAW"). (Get used to the acronyms--this is the UN). CEDAW is the primary international human rights treaty establishing the framework around which discrimination against women can be addressed. Through its focus on gender equality, CEDAW is a particularly helpful tool for enforcing the rights of HIV-positive women and girls. Article 12 of the Convention specifically addresses equality of the right to health, which in the context of HIV translates to equality in access to not just treatment but also to preventative care. Worldwide, about 50% of all people living with HIV are women. In the Caribbean 53% of HIV-positive individuals are women, and in sub-Saharan Africa it is closer to 60%. In Asia, while in 1990 only 21% of those living with the virus were women, this jumped to 35% in 2009. In short, women and girls bear an increasingly significant burden of the epidemic, and this extends beyond just these numbers.

Gender inequality is both a cause and a consequence of HIV. Women and girls' lack of sexual and reproductive health rights contributes to HIV vulnerability. In example, social norms suggesting sexual health education is inappropriate for women and girls, legal barriers requiring women to be accompanied by their husband to visit a sexual health center, and economic challenges preventing women from accessing the financial resources needed to travel to a clinic or pay for services all contribute to increased vulnerability of women and girls to HIV. An estimated 18% of material mortality globally is attributable to HIV. The effects of HIV also fall disproportionately on women and girls: taking on roles as caretakers for HIV-positive family members, experiencing heightened stigma within communities, becoming more likely targets for violence, and being coerced or into sterilization by medical professionals.

The work, an example:

With these realities in mind, one of my primary projects has focused on working with specific countries to augment their monitoring and reporting for CEDAW. Governments and civil society organizations like NGOs both contribute separate reports to the CEDAW Committee every four years. We are working to directly target three Caribbean countries who will be reporting in July 2012. To do this, we analyzed past reports for where HIV was addressed and looked for entry points where HIV could have been discussed and should be monitored in the future. Based on these conclusions, we will hold workshops in each of the countries meeting with NGOs working with HIV-positive women and provided technical support to develop strategies for monitoring discrimination and then for drafting the reports. For the government actors responsible for the report submissions, we will work with them separately in workshops in the same way.

Another aspect of the work has been targeting the CEDAW Committee, a panel of 23 experts on women's rights. Last month, we held a briefing with a plurality of the Committee members to brief them on the HIV dimensions of discrimination against women and develop a framework for moving forward with the Committee on incorporating HIV into the CEDAW report review process. This involvement will heighten in advance of the January 2012 and July 2012 CEDAW sessions as well.

The future:

This summer's work has been inspiring, and I will continue to work part-time throughout the 2011 fall semester.

For more information on HIV/AIDS and for support of the statistics referenced in this entry, see UNAIDS. Global Report on HIV. 2010, available at http://www.unaids.org/documents/20101123_GlobalReport_em.pdf

Summer Internship in Port-au-Prince, Haiti at the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux

2011-08-26T14:44:00.015-05:00

This summer I was an Ella Baker law intern with the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), and was based at the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI) and the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. BAI is a public interest law firm that, in coordination with its US affiliate, IJDH, "strive[s] to work with the people of Haiti in their non-violent struggle for the consolidation of constitutional democracy, justice and human rights conditions in Haiti, pursuing legal cases, and cooperating with human rights and solidarity groups in Haiti and abroad." BAI works on the following issues, among others: Rape Accountability and Prevention, Housing Rights, the Right to Vote, Haitian Immigration Rights, and Health and Human Rights in Prisons. In order to bring about change and strengthen Haitian-led rights advocacy, it works with Haitian grassroots organizations to organize people around the right to housing, gender-based violence, and other issues. It also works on the international level, raising awareness of rights violations in Haiti, pushing for policy change in the US, and influencing the Government of Haiti to improve its respect for Haitian human rights through the Human Right's Council's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process and submitting petitions to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

While I supported various projects of the BAI/IJDH, I spent most of my time working on the Housing Rights Advocacy Project. One component of this project was to visit internally displaced person (IDP) camps in and around Port-au-Prince, to investigate instances of threatened and actual forced evictions from the camps. According to international law, the Government of Haiti has special obligations to protect IDPs' from rights violations. The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement provide for "protection against arbitrary displacement, offer a basis for protection and assistance during displacement, and set forth guarantees for safe return, resettlement and reintegration." The violent threats and illegal forced evictions occurring in Haiti, sometimes at the hands of private purported landowners and their hired thugs and other times at the hands of local government (such as the Mayor of Port-au-Prince), violate the human rights of IDPs.

The forced evictions also violate the domestic right to housing, which the Government of Haiti is bound to respect. The Haitian Constitution of 1987 provides that the "State recognizes the right of every citizen to decent housing, education, food and social security." Moreover, the Government of Haiti is bound to fulfill the right to housing because it can be said to be incorporated within the right to life, which, per the Haitian Constitution, is an "absolute obligation." The Haitian Constitution provides in relevant part that the "State has the absolute obligation to guarantee the right to life, health, and respect of the human person for all citizens without distinction, in conformity with the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man." According to article 25(1) of the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man (now the UDHR), every person has the right to an adequate standard of living, which includes the right to housing. Accordingly, the Haitian Constitution's guarantee of the right to life can be said to incorporate and make the right to housing an absolute obligation as well.

On fact-finding trips to the IDP camps, which I conducted along with BAI attorneys, I was able to learn first-hand the plight of IDPs left homeless by the earthquake of 2010. Not only are IDPs living in tents and other makeshift shelters that neither provide people privacy nor protect them from the elements or crime (as most have no locks), but they are also usually not provided access to potable water or food (this, in the context of a cholera epidemic), and must spend what meager funds they have on these essentials. Toilets are in short supply and are often unhygienic and at the point of overflowing. I spoke with IDPs who had experienced violence at the hands of private and public actors, who feared the imminent loss of their temporary homes, and who had no idea where they would go if they were kicked out of their camp. Most IDPs who are evicted from camps end up on the streets, squeezed into other precarious IDP camps, or in "red" buildings, which are structures in danger of collapse at any moment from earthquake damage.

After visits to IDP camps, I helped draft press releases for the Haitian and international press and co-author opinion pieces for media outlets. I also used Twitter to help disseminate news of ongoing threats of evictions, violent evictions and arbitrary arrests, and IDP/grassroots protests against these rights violations. The articles I co-authored, as well as one podcast I recorded, can be accessed at the following links:

Podcast on Illegal Eviction, http://ijdh.org/archives/20417

Final Whistle for 514 Families as Haitian Government Illegally Closes Stadium Camp, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/beatrice-lindstrom/final-whistle-for-514-fam_b_911638.html

Hundreds of Displaced Families Face Violence and Threats of Unlawful Eviction in the Carrefour Neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, http://ccrjustice.org/hundreds-of-displaced-families-face-violence-and-threats-of-unlawful-eviction-carrefour-neighborhood

Displaced Women Demand Justice in Port au Prince, http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/06/30

Another component of my work on the Housing Rights Advocacy Project was to conduct research on comparative constitutional law (South African and Indian) on the right to housing and draft a memorandum discussing what could be learned from this to enhance advocacy and litigation on housing rights in the Haitian context. One purpose of this research was to help support the BAI statement on the Government of Haiti's report to the Universal Periodic Review (including its inadequate treatment of the housing rights of IDPs). Another purpose is to support the BAI in upcoming litigation on the forced evictions of IDPs from their camps.

Living in Haiti and seeing the current human rights situation with my own eyes--such as by visiting IDP camps, speaking with IDP victims of the earthquake, and attending grassroots groups' press conferences at the BAI office--was absolutely invaluable to understanding the issues I was working on and motivating me to continue working for social justice with my legal education. I was greatly inspired by the work of CCR, BAI, IJDH, and the Haitian grassroots groups they partnered with, and am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work in Haiti this summer.

ICTY and It's Power to Arrest

2011-08-19T15:22:00.002-05:00

The dramatic arrests this summer of both General Ratko Mladić and Goran Hadžić have brought the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) back into the international spotlight. After 18 years the ICTY has now arrested all 161 of its indictees. The arrest power of the ICTY raises interesting jurisdictional and pragmatic questions. In order to understand what powers the ICTY actually has to arrest, and how this impacted its ability to effectuate its warrants, this blog details an overview of this fascinating legal area, focusing particularly on its initial arrests, and then the “high-level” arrests it has made in the last decade.

In 1993 the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 827 which formally established the ICTY “for the sole purpose of prosecuting persons responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia.” While the ICTY does not have a formal arrest apparatus, Article 29 of the ICTY Statute provides that UN member states “comply without undue delay with any request for assistance or an order issued by a Trial Chamber.” Consequently, the ICTY has been able to utilize a variety of methods to arrest indictees. In the early years the multinational force under the auspices of NATO had the power to arrest. On July 10, 1997 NATO made its first arrest attempt. Operation Tango, as it was codenamed, brought soldiers to Prijedor, a small town in the north west of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Here they spent four weeks staking out Simo Drljača, a former Serbian police chief thought to have been instrumental in organizing ethnic cleansing in Muslim towns. The mission went awry when the arrest by Special Air Service operatives from the United Kingdom turned into a shootout with Drljača; who ultimately was shot dead. In another Operation Tango mission, executed simultaneously to the Drljača mission, NATO forces disguised as Red Cross officials successfully arrested the President of the Municipal Assembly of Prijedor, Milan Kovačević.

In the same year the ICTY examined the legality of its arrest power. In the Prosecutor v. Slavko Dokmanović the Accused challenged his arrest, claiming he was subject to irregular rendition. Dokmanović was arrested while a livery service that he thought was taking him to a meeting actually was undercover officers. The Trial Chamber ruled that Dokmanović had not been forcibly abducted, but rather just “lured” into the car, and that this was within ICTY powers.

In Prosecutor v. Dragan Nikolić, the Accused was arrested via an abduction by unknown persons who subsequently turned him over to the ICTY. Nikolić argued that his abductors had violated the sovereignty of the former Yugoslavia and this was a grave breach of his own rights as a citizen of the country. The ICTY Appeals Chambers held, however, that arresting and trying an international criminal took precedent over the competing interest of state sovereignty.

The first high-level arrest was realized in autumn of 2000. The fall of former Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milošević transformed the political landscape dramatically and changed the dynamic of the ICTY’s arrest apparatus. Tragically, Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić’s dedication to international justice, rather than Serbian nationalists, would ultimately cost him his life. Until Đinđić’s assassination in 2003, his government, fueled by international pressure, became the main driver for ICTY arrests. President Milošević was arrested by the local police in a 36 hour standoff at his villa home in Belgrade and eventually turned over to the ICTY to face international criminal charges.

Eight years later, on July 21, 2008, Radovan Karadžić, the former President of Republika Srpska, was arrested. Donned with a shaggy beard and long grey hair, he had been living under the assumed identity as an alternative medicinal healer. Karadžić’s arrest was reputed to have resulted from a tip from locals in Belgrade who learned of his identity. While there may have been less political will in Serbia to arrest ICTY indictees after Đinđić’s assassination, the European Union leveraged Serbia’s membership to the sought-after club by making it contingent on Serbia effectuating the remaining arrests warrants.

After Karadžić’s arrest, this left two indictees at large, Ratko Mladić and Goran Hadžić. Over the last decade, Mladić, according to the New York Times "received vital…assistance from Serbian military forces and several of the country's past governments." He was apparently seen at football matches and weddings throughout these years. But, on May 26^th, three special units after surveilling his residence in the village of Lazarevo for two weeks, surrounded it and made the historic arrest. He was immediately brought before a Serbian court, and in a matter of days extradited to The Hague to face his international indictment at the ICTY.

Approximately two months later, in bizarre twist of events, Hadžić’s arrest finalised the ICTY indictments. Apparently the Serbian authorities were tipped off to Hadžić’s whereabouts when he tried to sell an Amadeo Modigliani painting in order to continue financing his fugitive lifestyle. He had been living under a pseudonym in Russia, and was hidden by a sympathetic Serbian nationalist priest; however, a special under-cover police force surrounded him deep in a forest were he had arranged to meet a friend. He too was arrested and brought to The Hague to stand trial.

It appears that the success of the ICTY’s arrest power was predicated on a mixture of international co-operation, changing political tides in Serbian politics, international pressure, and a little luck. It will be interesting to see how other international criminal bodies reflect on the legacy left by the ICTY.

Sources

1. European Journal of International Law

http://ejil.oxfordjournals.org/content/9/1/174.short

2. BBC News “Milosevic Arrested”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1254263.stm

3. The Atlanitc “Why Serbia Captured Mladic and Pakistan Harbored Bin Laden

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/05/why-serbia-captured-mladic-and-pakistan-harbored-bin-laden/239522/

4. Goran Hadzic Arrest: A Turning Point for Serbia

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-14238332

5. Charter of the United Nations

http://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter7.shtml

6. The Hunt for the former Yugoslavia’s War Criminals: Mission Accomplished

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/03/former-yugoslavia-war-crimes-hunt

7. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia - Enotes

http://www.enotes.com/genocide-encyclopedia/international-criminal-tribunal-former-yugoslavia

8. ICTY Statute

http://www.icls.de/dokumente/icty_statut.pdf

Yes, people actually flee TO Egypt

2011-08-19T14:43:00.011-05:00

By 10 AM it’s hot enough that my forehead is shiny with sweat after walking just a couple of blocks. Why did I come to Egypt during the summer?, I ask myself for the umpteenth time. The Cairene sun is already high in the sky, and Ramsis Street is thick with traffic. Cairo is notorious for its traffic - too many cars, too few rules - but from my pedestrian’s perspective, the more jammed the better. It’s easier to zig-zag between cars that are inching, rather than roaring, down the road.

It’s relatively quiet behind the dusty iron gates of St. Andrews Refugee Services. There’s no sign, but the church steeple is visible from the street. There’s another church building across the way, however, and that’s where I was directed my first day, when all I could do to ask for directions was to make a cross with my fingers. I can still hear the din of traffic and the shouts from the informal microbus station across the street, the drivers yelling out their destinations to passersby. But a few trees - there are too few trees in downtown Cairo - shield the courtyard somewhat from the sun and the sound. In any event, as soon as I’m inside the small office, I plop myself directly under the air conditioner, the buzz of which drowns out everything else. I wasn’t in the office during the last protest outside the High Court building, which is just across the square, Midan el-Esaaf, but if I was, I might not have heard it.

I’ve arrived just as our office officially opens. Two Iraqi staff are checking over the day’s schedule and making some tea, spooning heaps of sugar into the small glasses of Lipton. I join them, enjoying the emptiness of the office. Soon the small space will be packed: interns hunched over laptops or interviewing clients, interpreters translating documents on the table in the tiny kitchen, and computer power cables everywhere. Several times a day we play a version of musical chairs, shuffling between tables when someone has an appointment with a client.

The office has been busier than usual, I've been told. Things shut down for a while during the revolution. Even when there weren’t clouds of tear gas floating by, the unstable situation counseled against asking clients to make the trek into Downtown. Intake request forms are still piled high, and despite the pace of work we haven’t seemed make much of a dent.

It’s not clear if the flow of new refugees entering Egypt slowed down due to the revolution (even someone fleeing violence in Sudan, for instance, might think twice about going to Cairo when there are tanks in the streets). It’s not clear how many refugees there are in Egypt, for that matter; the figure changes from one report to another. The UN says 50,000, others say 200,000. Sudanese comprise a large portion, as well as Somalis, Ethiopians, Eritreans, and Iraqis. My own clients are Somali and Iraqi, as it happens. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

I’m working at the Resettlement Legal Assistance Project (RLAP) at St. Andrew’s Refugee Services. St. Andrew’s has been around for a while and has several programs, including a school teaching a Sudanese curriculum, and a psychosocial services office. RLAP is a much younger entity. It began in 2008 as the Iraqi Information Office, and dealt specifically with the growing number of Iraqis who had fled the violence in their home country. Presently, the client base is broader and the mission is more focused. RLAP assists refugees in Egypt - from any country - to apply for resettlement to a third country (meaning, neither their country of origin nor Egypt).

“Refugee” is a term of art referring to someone who fled their country of domicile because of a well-founded fear of persecution based on their membership in at least one of five enumerated categories: race, religion, national origin, social group, and political opinion. Ideally, having fled they can enjoy a quote-unquote “durable solution,” but this is not always the case.

Cairo is a big, crowded city - the "greater metropolitan area" holds over 15 million - with high unemployment and poverty rates. I don’t want to imagine what would happen were the government to discontinue its long-standing subsidies on staple products - rice, cooking oil, petrol, and so forth. Being poor in Cairo, and most refugees in Cairo - excluding the Iraqis, who I’ll discuss more in another post - are poor, is tough. It’s even tougher if you’re seen and treated as an outsider, don’t have many legal rights, and don’t speak Arabic (while Sudanese speak Arabic, many Somalis, Ethiopians and Eritreans do not).

In general, refugees in Egypt cannot work legally (and given the unemployment figures, it would be hard to find a job anyway), so are dependent on disbursements from Caritas and other organizations to pay for rent and groceries. They can’t go to public school (Egypt is signatory to the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, but exempted itself from the requirement to provide elementary education same as nationals), and neither do most have the means to pay for private education. Couple this with the antipathy many refugees face on the streets of Cairo, and it’s no mystery why many hope to live in the U.S. or Canada or Sweden, or whichever country will have them.

Most are not resettled. Applications go to the UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees), which evaluates them and calls in some applicants for interviews, a number of which may eventually be referred for resettlement. The UN's criteria require that an applicant's situation be particularly bad (viz, not a "durable solution") in certain defined ways: a need for legal or physical protection, suffering from the lingering effects of violence or torture in your country of origin, a serious medical condition that cannot be treated in the present location, and so forth. The list seemed fairly comprehensive to my eyes when I first read it in preparation for this summer. I hadn't worked on refugee issues before, so I didn’t know what the list doesn’t cover, nor how large the gap is between the words in the UNHCR resettlement handbook and the reality. If you’re a Somali woman who is verbally, even physically harassed by men on the street every time you leave your apartment, you’re probably not eligible. If you come home late one night and are raped, you might have a chance, but the odds aren't good. If you decide to report that rape to the police and they refuse to help you, tell you it was your own fault, and throw you out of the station, you’ll have an even better shot. Before that, the resettlement door is closed to you.

The bar is set pretty high. Only 17 countries allow refugees to be resettled within their borders, though a large proportion - somewhere around 75%, though it varies year to year - go to a single nation: the United States. Resettling refugees who are often destitute (having fled their homes and possessions) and in need of significant assistance to acclimate to a different culture and language, is a financial burden as well as a political one, and there’s little pressure to accept more. The UNHCR estimates that this year it will only consider 3,600 refugees in Egypt for resettlement, and will probably only provide a resettlement referral for 900.

In this situation, a vital part of my job has been to quickly assess the strength of a potential client’s case and, sadly, to turn them away if they don’t have a shot. The office is small and more intake requests are added to the pile every day. Meanwhile, the violence that drove people from their homes in the first place continues. War did not end with the birth of South Sudan, and people are still hiding out in caves in the Nuba Mountains to avoid the northern government’s bombing sorties. Somalia’s officially recognized government controls only a few square blocks of Mogadishu, while militias hold sway in the rest of the country. The conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea remains unresolved. Iraq is shaken by more bombings all too often. For most refugees in Egypt, it will not be safe to return in the foreseeable future. Given the odds for resettlement, the vast majority must make Cairo their home for a long time to come.

Those whose story might fit into the categories recognized by the UN are taken on as clients. My job has been to interview those clients, teasing out their histories, and then write them up in a way that will persuade the UN of their eligibility. This is easier said than done, especially given the cultural and linguistic differences between myself and the clients. I must interview all of my African clients through an interpreter, and if the testimony differs from what the client says if they're called in for an interview, they could be deemed unbelievable by UN interviewers trained to sniff out fraudulent applicants. A lot of details are needed to write a compelling application, so experiences and events are rehashed several times, and sometimes new information is gleaned each time. Sometimes the story is revised in the retelling, which makes me nervous even if the new information strengthens the client's case.

Several more staff have arrived by now, and I’ve moved my computer once already to cede my prime real estate under the aircon to someone with a client. Soon one of my own clients will be here to review her testimony and verify the timeline of atrocities that makes her case viable, and I’ll need to shoo away my fellow interns, whose laptops now share the small table with mine. Back to work.

Rule of Law in Southern Africa

2011-08-16T17:26:00.003-05:00

I’ve spent my summer in Johannesburg, South Africa, working for the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC). SALC helps lawyers in southern Africa bring strategic human rights litigation, and also works to strengthen the rule of law in southern Africa. Strengthening the rule of law is the theme that has run through the research that I’ve done this summer, and I’ve worked on three projects in particular.

Earlier in the summer SALC co-hosted, along with Redress and African Rights, a conference focused on ensuring that Rwandan genocide suspects living in southern Africa are prosecuted for their crimes. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) was meant to ensure that those most responsible for the Rwandan genocide would be prosecuted, but was never meant to be the only forum for trying all suspected genocidaires. The ICTR has also stopped taking new cases, and will be winding down in 2013, but there are still many suspected perpetrators living in southern Africa. The conference then focused on ways that southern African states could ensure that genocide suspects do not continue to benefit from impunity. It examined the concept of aut judicaire aut dedaire (extradite or prosecute), which refers to a state’s obligation to either prosecute an individual or to extradite that person to a state willing to prosecute. For states unwilling to extradite suspects to Rwanda, the conference examined the ability of states to prosecute on the basis of universal jurisdiction. The conference was aimed at spurring action, because to date no southern African states have extradited any suspects to Rwanda nor have any southern African states prosecuted any suspects for their crimes. This is in contrast to European and North American countries, which have prosecuted genocide suspects after refusing to extradite them to Rwanda out of concern that fair trail standards would not be met. The conference brought together civil society organizations and government officials, both from the region and globally, and sought to determine how to overcome barriers to prosecution that spring from both a lack of political will and a lack of capacity.

SALC also co-hosted, along with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Lawyers Association and the International Commission of Jurists, a conference on the future of the SADC Tribunal. SADC is a regional economic body, and one of its organs is a Tribunal that can hear cases between states, and between individuals and states where the individual has exhausted all other remedies or is unable to proceed under the domestic jurisdiction. Crucially, the court is able to hear cases that concern individual human rights violations.

However, the SADC Summit has recently suspended the Tribunal, during which time a review process is meant to take place. The review and suspension of the Tribunal was precipitated by a decision of the Tribunal in which it ruled that the seizure of land from white Zimbabwean farmers was done illegally. Zimbabwe refused to enforce the decision and argued that the Tribunal had been improperly constituted. Rather than sanction Zimbabwe, SADC ordered a review of the Tribunal. SADC hired outside consultants to conduct the review, and the consultants concluded that the Tribunal was properly constituted and made a number of recommendations for the improvement of the Tribunal. The SADC Committee of Ministers of Justice/Attorneys-General also confirmed the findings of the outside consultants. However, the SADC Summit of Heads of State decided to extend the review period, not to reappoint members of the Tribunal whose terms of office were about to expire, and stopped the Tribunal from receiving new cases during the review process. SALC argued that this amounted to a suspension of the Tribunal, which was an illegal action for the SADC Summit to take because it was not allowed according to the SADC Treaty and would deny individuals redress for violations of their rights. The meeting that SALC co-hosted worked to address ways in which regional lawyers, law societies, and civil society organizations could work to ensure that the Tribunal was preserved, and that it emerged from the review process a stronger and more effective mechanism for citizens to secure justice.

SALC has also been assisting in the legal defense of Swaziland Judge Thomas Masuku, a case that it part of a wider rule of law crisis in Swaziland. Swaziland is the last remaining absolute monarchy in Africa, and King Mswati III recently installed a new Chief Justice, who is at the center of the crisis. For example, promptly after being appointed, the Chief Justice issued a judicial edict that said that the King could not be the subject of any legal suit.

The Chief Justice also brought twelve charges of judicial misconduct against Judge Masuku, all of which are unsubstantiated and most of which are not deserving of serious response. For instance, he is accused of destabilizing the court and associating with people who wished to overthrow the regime. He is also accused of referring to the King as “forked tongued” in a judicial decision, a charge that represents a clear misreading of the opinion and a threat to the principle of judicial independence. SALC has been working closely with the advocates representing Judge Masuku in preparation for his hearing before the Judicial Service Commission, a hearing that is presided over by the Chief Justice, the same person who brought the charges. SALC has urged the Swazi authorities to drop the case, which is clearly motivated by fear of independent judges such as Masuku.

However, to be clear, not all of my time this summer has been spent indoors at conference centers and in office parks. I’ve also had the opportunity to explore some of South Africa’s natural beauty, and since pictures are worth a thousand words I’ll end with a picture of myself on the Cape Peninsula.

The Making of a Feminist

2011-08-05T07:49:00.001-05:00

I grew up in a family full of brothers, and contrary to what seems to be popular opinion when I first meet some people, I was not the “princess” of the family. I fought my way up, literally and metaphorically, and from an early age was determined to be able to do anything the boys were allowed to do. I tagged along on as many adventures as possible, learning sports ranging from basketball to American football, and amassing my own collection of tools, bruises and bragging rights. I had my girly side of playing house and dolls, but I took on some challenges just to prove that I was as tough and capable as any of the boys. Keeping on the same terms as my brothers became more complicated when I hit high school and sought independence, as my parents worried about where I was going, who I was with and when I would be home. I remember arguing that just because certain individuals in the world could make it an unsafe place to be a female did not mean I should be required to lock myself in at a certain hour out of fear – after all, how was the world going to change if we let them run it through news story intimidation?

I grew more stubborn about my ability to do anything regardless of my gender as I became older, despite gaining a little more realistic caution in the process. I’ve made my more gentlemanly guy friends upset on occasion because I insisted on carrying my bags while they go empty-handed or completing a more physical chore unaided as they stand and watch. Ironically, even with the “I can do it myself” attitude, I am a bit “old-fashioned”/traditional – I still believe it is the guys who should do the asking out for dates and I appreciate men who take the time to hold doors open for women.

I say all this to preface what I am about to say – that I have shied away from the word “feminist.” There are many women rights' leaders who I thank for the privileges that I now enjoy as an American citizen. However, I bought into the most negative connotations of “feminism,” which characterize it as an overbearing and overly aggressive approach to equal rights. This past week has given me a change in perspective though. I have come to realize that much like the words abolitionist, environmentalist, and pacifist, the label “feminist” is a sign of what you are willing to sacrifice for (or have already sacrificed for) and what you believe in. And just like those other words, positive or negative connotations can be given them – by your own actions and/or by others preconceived notions. I’ve come to realize to a much greater extent than before the strength and perseverance that is encompassed in the women’s empowerment movement.

I attended a few all-day meetings last week focused on the women’s political movement in Nigeria. Two of the days were a program run by the International Republican Institute (IRI), a DC based organization “advancing democracy worldwide.” The program was titled “Review of Women’s Political Participation in the 2011 Elections and Strategies Towards 2015.” Women candidates – some elected, some who had lost their bids and others who were contested in their election (meaning their case is currently before the tribunal) – along with some of the women political movement’s leaders, came together with the sole goal of forwarding women’s involvement in the political sphere. Out of all the meetings I have attended here, this one seemed the most useful and most productive. Time was spent discussing what went wrong, what could be changed, what activities needed to start now for 2015 elections.

In those two days, however, I gained a newfound respect for women, all they have done and all they are going to do. Some of these women had been through untold hell just to run for office. Despite maybe not even winning or being substituted by a male party member in the end, they were still at this meeting, determined to discuss election strategies for 2015. And for the most part, these are not the overly optimistic youth you would probably expect. These are women who have raised families and many who have personal stories from elections past. Several of them are likely around or over the retirement age of 60, but you would not guess it from the faces and energy of most of them. They know there is a long road ahead, but they are going to travel it and are working to mentor and encourage other women to join on the path as well.

There is currently a move in Nigeria to implement an affirmative action goal of 35% women in political offices. President Goodluck Jonathan has taken this mandate and appointed 13 female ministers to his cabinet, out of the 43 spots available (slightly short of 35% for those of you calculating, but efforts are being made at least). Most states however, have not domesticated this goal and therefore, it does not have the legal backing, nor the support of all local governments – the 2011 elections actually saw a drop in the number of women elected compared to 2007.

Much like the United States, people have differing views on affirmative action and even some active political women are not supportive of it as a way to increase their numbers in offices. I would guess the reluctance to support such action is partially due to affirmative action sometimes being portrayed as a handout. At the meetings I attended, however, it was reiterated several times that affirmative action was suppose to be a temporary tool to help women empowerment. They were not asking for electorate seats on a golden platter, rather they were asking for fair consideration as qualified candidates. It was even stated that if a woman was just in it for the money, she should step aside and let others knew how to do the job take her spot. These women are asking to be heard, to have the chance to democratically represent a population that is 49% female.

The women are well aware that they will be watched and most critically judged. Some of the comments emphasized this – that the lives they lead must be worth of imitation. They know what it takes to win – they are aware of the need to invest in your constituents, be involved with your community, and engage the support of your party members. However, they were aware of something men do not have to consider as much – they have to prove themselves to give validity to women candidates and that proving of self has to start before they even step into office. Since men have throughout history been considered the natural leaders for such jobs, they are not questioned nor scrutinized as women are. A woman is quizzed on her clothes and hairstyles and questions are raised about whether she is neglecting her duties as a mother and/or wife, whether it would not be better if she stayed at home.

I will not deny men receive their fair share of criticism and face challenges of their own. But they are much more likely to be judged on their actual merit and individual performance in office than a woman. After a scandal, no one says, “Well, that is it, men can’t do the job;” whereas the question of if a woman can do the job is raised before she even announces her bid for office. Women will do the job correctly and they may even do it better than their male counterparts – not necessarily because they are superior to males, but because they must do the job better to claim their place in society; and not just themselves, but for their sisters as well.

I’ve stopped laughing at the “because she’s a woman” jokes that I heard growing up. When you realize what women have fought through just to be accepted as women, such jokes are no longer funny. They just imply that in order to be accepted in the male dominated world, you must become like a man – but even if you do that, you may be called a overly aggressive. I believe in women. I believe that their voices need to be heard alongside the men. I believe they have an unmatched strength and fortitude and can succeed at their chosen courses. I believe that when a job is open, a candidate should be considered on his or her respective qualifications. I believe the genders should not be disregarded – there is great beauty and strength in each – but I believe that for an equal society to exist, both genders must be represented.

If all this makes me a feminist (which, at least by my own definition, it does), then I will proudly claim the label. Here in Nigeria, these women have decided to take a stand. Party lines were put aside and networking was strongly encouraged. Women need to support each other because it is easy to fall into the mentality that you must go it on your own and prove yourself in the boy’s world. But with a population of almost 50/50, it is just as much a women’s world. And there is great value in both sets of voices being heard.

I have desperately tried to prove myself all my life, but it occurs to me now that I have been trying to prove myself in the world of men, rather than prove myself as the woman I am. Come to think of it, in my fight for equal consideration as my brothers, I’ve been a feminist in some ways since a young age. However, I’m learning to give up my bags and step aside when there is a guy around to change the flat tire – not because I couldn’t do the job, but because I am learning to let men be men through their protective strength, while I discover my own strengths as a woman.

2011-08-02T09:36:00.002-05:00

“There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why? I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?”

- Robert F. Kennedy

When I was first introduced to the human rights-based approach to development (HRBA), the discussion revolved largely around its impracticality. While few quarreled with the legal and moral soundness of its premise—that development should be grounded in the rights and obligations established under international law, rather than reliant on the charitable spirit of the donor—most considered it irrelevant in light of the politics surrounding development. If countries were inclined to give, they would. If not, reminding them of their obligations would not do much good. Like many other conversations about international law and human rights, the tone of this one was cautious, if not cynical.

Through my internship at the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, my vision of what is possible began to change and I started to see the practical applications of this approach. A government does not have to accept the HRBA wholesale for it to provide a helpful, and often well received, critique of its programs and policies. And the HRBA is not limited to government actors, as is clearly evinced by the RFK Center, whose model fully embraces it.

Rather than launching independent initiatives, the RFK Center works with human rights defenders on existing projects, empowering them and their communities to claim their rights and assert their voice. Every year the center chooses an activist to honor with the Human Rights Award, which is accompanied by a six year partnership. Through this collaboration the Center supports the activist and advocates on their behalf. For the RFK Center, empowerment, participation, and local ownership serve more than a rhetorical function; they are the foundation of the Center’s work.

Unique in its approach, the RFK Center is the perfect living memorial for a man who lived with legendary boldness and idealism. Ever aware of the obstacles he faced, Robert F. Kennedy pushed the limits of law and politics with imagination and compassion. In his memory, the RFK Center and its laureates continue to do the same.

What's Whack with Immigration

2011-07-28T15:28:00.003-05:00

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I have been doing some work at the Children’s Village in Dobbs Ferry for several unaccompanied alien minors who need representation. Briefly explained, Catholic Charities helps children under the age of 18 who have been detained for being illegal immigrants and not being in the custody of a legal guardian. Once a child gets picked up by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (affectionately known as “ICE”) officer, they are put into a detention center in certain places around the country. One such place is at Children’s Village in Dobbs Ferry, about a 1hr train ride north of Manhattan.

Catholic Charities helps these unaccompanied minors in three specific ways. First, they try to assist the recently arrived kids understand the nature of the proceedings and the reason why they are there. This is given in an hour-long orientation called a Know Your Rights presentation, where the minor will get general information about his or her rights, immigration law in the US generally and some examples of ways that minors and others immigrants can stay legally in the United States. Second, Catholic Charities tries to do a basic intake of the client, asking about their particular personal history and case. Last, Catholic Charities, while not technically representing the minor will try to help seek representation for the child, usually a pro bono lawyer either from Catholic Charities itself or perhaps from another friendly organization.

For the past month and a half of my internship, I have gone every week up to Dobbs Ferry to speak with some of the detained children. The conditions that these kids are put in is quite surprising. While they are not in a prison, their freedom is greatly restricted. They live in a large dorm style house where there are classrooms and administrative staff watching over them at all times. Additionally, there is a locking mechanism on the house doors that prevent anyone from entering or leaving the house without the permission of the house master. There are also several security guards and people watching over them at all times. Certain houses have higher security ratings than others based on whether the minor has a previous criminal history or not. Each of these kids is told when to get up, when to go to class downstairs where they learn English and other subjects. They are told when they can play or go outside, and only with express permission.

The restrictive nature of their housing arrangement made me think about the nature of immigration itself. Immigration, as it stands now, is a civil proceeding between the government of the US and the person being deported. For this reason, immigrants are not entitled to the right to an attorney even though they may be detained for several hours or even days. Doesn’t it seem wrong to detain someone for so long in an immigration proceeding and put them in one of these houses without giving them a right to an attorney? Doesn’t it seem like its more of a criminal situation than a civil one? Yeah most government employees will tell you that this is not criminal because the worst consequence is getting taken back to your country of origin and that you can’t be put in jail for just being an immigrant. Yeah sure, but doesn’t being locked up for all the time until you get deported seem a lot like punishment. Most detention centers for immigrants are held in the same place as the prison, in case you didn’t know.

Additionally, the decisions on who to detain and who to deport, made by policemen and judges alike, are highly arbitrary and sometimes fairly capricious.

The following is an account that one child gave me in an interview. For the purposes of confidentiality, any identifying information has been changed or altered so as to protect him:

Juan was three years old when he came to the United States. He was born in Mexico to his two parents, both of Mexican citizenship. Juan doesn’t even really remember coming to the United States. His earliest memories are of him in Phoenix, Arizona with his mom and dad. He continued to live with them until they moved to Queens in New York.

One day while he was riding his bike, he passed by a police officer, who turned around his patrol car and stopped Juan. He told Juan that he was riding his bicycle on the wrong side of the street. He asked him for ID. Juan didn’t have any. He was taken to jail where he was locked up for a few hours. Then, half-asleep he heard his last name being called by the guards. In a stupor he walked to the front of the line and they led him to the patrol car and took him to Immigration court. In court he was asked for his full name. When they realized that he was not the person that they had wanted and that they had mixed up his name with another inmates, they decided to run his name in the system anyway. There they found that he too was an illegal immigrant and so he was put in proceedings.

So now this kid who has lived almost his entire life in the U.S., speaks English better than Spanish, and was picked up on the street for no real apparent reason other than the fact that he might have “looked suspicious”, will have to face being deported and being thrown back into a life he has no idea about: a life in Mexico.

I tell this story because it has happened to countless immigrants and immigrant families. I realize that many immigrants struggle for rights and for an ability to simply live where they have established themselves.

With this struggle in mind, I obviously cannot help but see the other side. Many might say that illegal immigrants take away jobs from U.S. citizens; others say that immigrants do the jobs that no one else will. I think both are true because immigrants get paid much less to do the worst jobs generally speaking. (I’m talking about the most common immigrant worker as opposed to the professional immigrant worker here.) But if those immigrants were taken away, then maybe employers would be forced to raise wages so that U.S. Citizens who would otherwise not work would. This in turn seems like it might allow immigrants who do come to this country protection from abusive work practices that prevent them from getting paid a living wage and from getting protection for human rights violations in the work place. But then you have the problem of immigrants using public services like educations and health without paying any taxes. Some California hospitals have had to close because of so many illegal immigrants stiffing the hospital for the bill. (http://www.federalobserver.com/archive.php?aid=9572)

It all seems to have an effect. But the biggest hold on all of this is really the employers themselves, who dominate D.C. and control the politicians to stall any legislation that would force them to have to pay more to their workers. Most corporations depend on immigrant workers. Just think about all those undocumented Chipotle people that got laid off a few months ago.

(http://articles.cnn.com/2011-02-08/justice/minnesota.chipotle.immigrants_1_illegal-immigration-illegal-workers-immigration-policy?_s=PM:CRIME)

Corporations depend on it. So really is this whole immigration system meant to fail immigrants? Is it meant to just be some way for congress to justify sending someone to their home country just because we feel like it?

These issues are tough to deal with but in the end I think that we have to just let more people become documented immigrants in this country. But the difficult task is protecting people human rights and basic freedoms in the meantime. We shouldn’t treat immigrants so radically different from our own citizens just because they were born in another country, should we? Human rights relies on the fact that we all have one thing in common: we are all human. Bridging the gap between us and them needs to start with immigration. Changing our policies with immigration will radically change how we perceive others and how others perceive us on an international scale. I’d probably need more to back up that statement but for right now I’m going to leave it at that and hopefully you all will agree and see what else is out there. Hopefully these issues will come to the spotlight more as immigration issues become more important in this country.

How can the P.R.C.'s national "Mental Health Law" (Draft) be improved?

2011-07-22T00:56:00.013-05:00

The team of public interest advocates at Equity & Justice Initiative, Yirenping's partner organization in Shenzhen. From left to right: Finn Kwok, Pan Jiang, Renwang Zhang, Alice Wong, Xiaohu Liu, Xiaoxuan Huang.

How can the P.R.C.'s national "Mental Health Law" (Draft) be improved? Alice Wong, an attorney with Equity & Justice Initiative — Yirenping's partner organization in Shenzhen — has delivered her suggestions to the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council (ZH original / EN translation).

Below are the main talking points of Alice Wong's formal comment on the national "Mental Health Law" (Draft).

Pertaining to substantive criteria for involuntary treatment:

In the "Mental Health Law" (Draft), "Has dangerously disturbed public order" is one of many criteria that can be grounds for involuntary diagnosis and improper commitment in a psychiatric institution. Such criteria can be very easily abused, and should be deleted.
Criteria should be added to ensure that involuntary commitment and treatment is in the patient's best personal interest. The "Mental Health Law" (Draft) must be clear: all hospitalization and treatment conducted without personal consent should be considered involuntary; therefore, procedures and mechanisms to challenge such involuntary hospitalization and treatment shall apply.

Preventing abuse of the custodial guardian power and judicial protections related thereto:

Involuntarily hospitalized patients' right to legal counsel must be ensured.
"Capacity of conduct" determinations are a judicial power, and must be verified by a court of law after an urgent committal.

Regarding the commitment of homeless persons suspected of suffering from a mental disorder:

To ensure that commitment is premised upon the patient's interests, Civil Affairs Departments should exercise custodial guardian power in a temporary guardian capacity over homeless suspected sufferers of mental disabilities who have been involuntarily hospitalized, and whose close kindred relatives cannot be found.

Conclusion

Every case of psychiatric commitment, while involving intersecting propositions of medical judgments, ethical judgments and judicial judgments, can implicate innumerable combinations of relationships between symptoms, household society and the law, and an attempt to depend upon substantive legislation to establish an appropriate distribution of rights is almost an impossible task.

Front-end judicial review of cases involves immense social cost, and might be unachievable for the time being. Dispute resolution at the midpoint has already proven to be a weak defense after rights have already been infringed. Without relief there is no power, common relief is hopeless, and the next best thing is to permit persons able to save themselves to organize their own rescue. This already constitutes the stubborn pursuit presently before us.

Owing to a shortage of judicial resources, inadequate staff training, crude system construction, and an imbalance of power, the mentally ill who should be committed are not committed, and those who should not be committed are committed. This not only wastes social resources, but citizens thereby face a double threat, and society has lost its sense of security. Society's sorrow lies not in that resources are lacking, but rather in that the administration of justice has been to no avail. Although rule of law has a high cost, it is the only route for our personal safety. Social resources not invested in building the legal system and its institutions will, nevertheless, be astonishingly squandered in other ways.

Making it Through Law School: A Boot Camp for Human Rights Lawyers

2011-07-12T13:42:00.002-05:00

Boot camp conjures the notion, at least for me, of certain high-ranking officials constantly telling you that what you are trying to do cannot be done. Many enlisted men and women who attempt physical feats of strength are forced to endure the additional pain of being discouraged and criticized while doing it. They are begged to quit, go home and follow the path of every other civilian; being a soldier is not the faint of heart. Boot camp is not only to make sure that one can endure the possible pain on the battlefield, but also to test one’s determination and resilience in the face of defeat. Many fall by the wayside; only the strongest persevere.

In many ways, the first year of law school has been like boot camp for social justice lawyers. 1L year has not only tested many law students’ academic prowess in completing the required work, but also has forced many to wonder whether the legal profession is everything that they thought it would be when first started. 3Ls can be overheard boasting about their $150,000+ post-graduation salary; professors talk about getting the prime judicial clerkship or firm job that rocketed them to their position today, as opposed to working at a public interest firm doing human rights work or otherwise. Making the big bucks and working at the big firms is reinforced as what defines a successful lawyer. Any student coming into law school with notions of changing the world is a fish trying to swim upstream, bound to be swept downriver by the cachet and glamour of the private sector.

I began law school as one of those students, wanting to change the world by unifying people and cultures and working towards Martin Luther King and Gandhi’s dreams of a brotherhood among men. My law school application’s personal statement even reads:

By creating laws that represent different points of view on a level playing field, by weighing the balances of justice, the various legal systems around the world can facilitate, motivate and obligate people to respect one another or in other words, to abide by the golden rule. The law continues to provide the framework and positive driving force compelling the recognition of the greater good that connects us all. Thus, I have decided to dedicate my life to the pursuit of justice because the law offers the greatest capacity to realize a unified global community: a world where my children and grandchildren can transcend the concept of national, cultural and racial limitations and live in one united world where high moral conduct, collaboration and reverence for all life abound.

That personal statement certainly exudes the characteristic idealism of a future social justice and human rights lawyer. But has the law school broken me down like yet another enlisted man in boot camp?

While I am proud to say that I do maintain the same idealism I have always had, I must admit that my perception of the legal system has evolved as a result of my internship and through the law school experience. I had always fervently believed that justice was always served in the courts, that lawyers were representatives of the principles of equality, freedom and respect that the United States was founded on. Working at Catholic Charities has shown me however, that much of law-making can be very arbitrary and capricious: one unaccompanied alien minor might be deported simply because the judge, who enjoys a great deal of discretion, might simply be having a bad day; a man who almost certainly will be killed if he is returned to his home country will be prevented from gaining asylum because he filed his application after the one-year deadline. Injustice persists even in this country.

In immigration, for example, I have observed that representation and assistance of counsel to immigrants is a serious flaw in the system in need of reform. In New York City in 2009, 60 percent of detained immigrants did not have counsel; neither did 27 percent of non-detained immigrants who appeared in immigration court, according to government statistics. Because judges are given an enormous amount of discretion in these courts and immigration judges have incredibly full dockets (sometimes exceeding 2,000 cases), immigrants without legal assistance are left to fend for themselves, usually without a firm grasp even of the English. As a result, as one can easily imagine, immigrants representing themselves are facing a steep uphill battle.

But sometimes even people with an earnest desire to help become overwhelmed with the flaws of the system. One such helper, a priest named Father Bob, with no legal training or expertise had seen the lack of assistance for immigrants and had decided to assist them in their cases. However, as Father Bob continued to work and saw the gaping hole in representation for immigrants, he began to take case after case, refusing to decline anyone. As a result, as of June 2010, he had amassed 761 working cases. With so many clients, even with his compassion and desire to help, his work began to slip and he began to fail his clients by not advising them of deadlines. As a result, he has recently been barred from representing immigrants at all. For more information about Father Bob, check out the following website:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/08/nyregion/priests-former-caseload-exposes-holes-in-immigration-courts.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1

While of course I would never condone people who fail to adequately represent their clients, Father Bob’s situation underscores the work of public interest lawyers who struggle in the fight to reform backwards policies and under-represented groups. Sometimes one’s passion and dedication seems to be simply not enough.

In spite of all of this, I continue to be steadfastly committed to changing the world through the legal process because I firmly believe that lawyers are soldiers on the front lines of Martin Luther King’s “radical revolution of values.” I now approach law school as a test of will power: the many challenges that law school puts in my way only make my determination to help others stronger because so many others fall by the wayside. I realize that I am a soldier of change and that my country, my brothers and all those who depend on an equal access to justice depend on me. These tests will ensure that I can endure the battle for social justice. The path to achieving the unified global community that I seek may be, by most accounts, near impossible, but at least I know that if I pass this law school boot camp, that possibility of change still exists.

Do you have what it takes?

What a Difference a Border Makes

2011-07-10T05:57:00.012-05:00

The Shenzhen-Hong Kong border crossing between Futian Kou'an 福田口岸 (left) and Lok Ma Chau 落马洲 (right).

What a difference a border makes. You know that old Grammy Award-winning Dinah Washington song, "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes?" Well, Dinah was right, days certainly make differences — but so do borders.

Take Shenzhen for example — this is where I'm interning this summer. Shenzhen is a sub-provincial city adjacent to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (S.A.R.). Both Shenzhen and the Hong Kong S.A.R. are part of the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.), but a border separates them (consistent with the "One country, two systems" policy), and there are three main points at which to cross the land border between the two regions. Let me first tell you a little bit more about the border itself, and then I can tell you about the difference that border makes.

The Shenzhen-Hong Kong border crossing between Futian Kou'an 福田口岸 and Lok Ma Chau 落马洲 remains open until midnight; the border crossing at Luohu 罗湖 remains open later. The crossings at Lok Ma Chau 落马洲 and at Luohu 罗湖 are each serviced by metro stations on either side of the border, operated by the MTR Corporations of Hong Kong and of Shenzhen, respectively.

As I quickly learned, only the border crossing at Huanggang 皇岗, which is serviced not by metro, but rather by bus, is open 24 hours. Express buses transport passengers at all hours of day and night between Huanggang 皇岗 and the ferry pier in Wanchai 湾仔, and other destinations in Hong Kong, generally within 45 minutes — and for prices of HK$50 (=US$6.42) or less.

In Shenzhen, a river separates mainland China from Hong Kong. But differences between the legal rights of mainland Chinese citizens, and those of Hong Kong citizens, make the border between them feel like a distance far greater than a mere 150 meters.

Both the P.R.C. Constitution and The Basic Law of the Hong Kong S.A.R. guarantee freedom of the person, and the freedoms of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration. But whereas Hong Kong citizens exercise these rights regularly, mainland Chinese citizens mainly enjoy these rights on paper alone.

On the mainland, official July 1 celebrations for the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (C.P.C.) were carefully choreographed and widely publicized to an apparent absence of either public participation or unrest. As one Beijing taxi driver told me, "The celebrations are only for the Party and its members. They don't have anything to do with ordinary people."

In Hong Kong, people marked that same anniversary — which was also the 14th anniversary of the handover — with the largest July 1 protest in seven years. Official organizers estimate that 218,000 people turned out for the protest, while police put the figure at 54,000.

Where the border is concerned, Hong Kong citizens also enjoy a greater freedom of movement than mainland Chinese citizens do: it is far easier for Hong Kong citizens to visit mainland China, and comparably more difficult for mainland Chinese to visit Hong Kong.

Accordingly, I can and have visited Hong Kong with greater ease than my mainland Chinese colleagues. My multiple-entry P.R.C. visa permits me to return to the mainland as frequently as I want, but I don't require a visa to go to Hong Kong — and a stamp in my U.S. passport allows me to stay there for up to 90 days.

In contrast, most mainland Chinese citizens can only stay in Hong Kong for one week at a time, and need the equivalent of a visa to travel there. Each and every time a mainland citizen wants to visit Hong Kong, they must return to the main Public Security Bureau (P.S.B.) office of the city in which they are registered to reside. (Most people refer to this as "the city where my household registration [or hukou 户口] is located.") At that P.S.B. office, they must apply for a two-way permit (or tongxingzheng 通行证) — which looks and functions like a passport — or, if they already possess a two-way permit, they must obtain an exit endorsement (or wanglai gang'ao qianzheng 往来港澳签证) — which looks and functions like a visa — that, in most cases, permits them to travel to Hong Kong once, and to stay there for up to 7 days. In addition, most mainland citizens can only visit Hong Kong once within a 30-day period.

Other examples abound demonstrating the different legal rights of mainland Chinese versus Hong Kong citizens. Although mainland citizens' freedom of the person is ostensibly guaranteed, the government violates that freedom without respect "for even the modest requirements of its own laws".

Furthermore, it is by no means true that one is safe in mainland China as long as one does not go looking for trouble. If you are considered a "high risk" person, a category "including former inmates, vagrants and the mentally ill," and the reputation of your city is deemed to be at stake because the city will play host to a major international sporting event — such as the 26th Summer Universiade — within a few months' time, the local people's government may elect to temporarily banish you from that city, seemingly without recourse.

Such has been the backdrop of my summer internship with Yirenping, a Chinese N.G.O.

In order to avoid confrontation with the government, Yirenping has formulated and adheres to a narrow mandate as an apolitical, non-religiously affiliated, civil rights-focused N.G.O. that now strives to eliminate discrimination of all kinds (formerly focused on combating discrimination on the basis of Hepatitis B and H.I.V./A.I.D.S.), to strengthen workers' rights, and to promote the general welfare through public health and education.

A newer project of Yirenping's Shenzhen office concerns mental health regulation reform; the mission is to put an end to improper involuntary civil commitment of private citizens in psychiatric institutions. This topic has been and will continue to be the main focus of my work and of my comparative legal research here.

This is a very exciting time to be in China and involved in the issue of mental health law. On the afternoon of June 8, I was briefed by an Yirenping attorney regarding the lobbying she had done that morning with Shenzhen municipal legislators. Those legislators were drafting an updated mental health law to take effect in the city, and at the time, Shenzhen was one of seven Chinese cities — along with Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Ningbo and Wuxi — that had passed municipal mental health laws. Two days later, on June 10, the P.R.C. central government published a new draft national mental health law, and announced that the public would have one month — until July 10 — to comment on this new draft.

If promulgated, the national mental health law will supersede the municipal efforts of the seven aforementioned Chinese cities; and while the draft national law advances more positive reforms than do the respective municipal laws, it also contains dangerous loopholes which, if left unchanged, could legalize the psychiatric commitment of political dissidents on a large scale. My co-intern in Shenzhen and I have already translated this draft national mental health law (ZH original / EN translation).

Although the central government put an early end to the public comment period, and barred further suggestions on June 25 — the day after an Yirenping partner attorney and I met in Beijing with an American expert on mental disability law— the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council of the P.R.C. has received and accepted Yirenping's formal letter providing suggestions on the draft mental health law. I will translate that formal suggestion letter this week.

In addition to translating, in Beijing I had the opportunity to attend two conferences pertaining to P.R.C. law. I have also been able to liaise with other organizations and individuals both in mainland China and in Hong Kong. This internship with Yirenping has been everything I had hoped it would be, and more...but the diverse opportunities with which the internship has presented me have kept me more than a little busy!

Lagos, Nigeria

2011-06-30T17:33:00.002-05:00

I should probably start by telling you a little bit about myself so that you have some background context on my blogging. I will be going into my third year of law school in the fall. I moved to New York for law school, before that I completed my undergrad and worked for a couple years in California. Five years ago I would not have discussed traveling to Africa – I probably would not have been against it, it was just not a thought that crossed my mind. But then again, six years ago, I would have told you I was not going to attend any type of graduate school. My life, however, has had its numerous ironic twists. I grew up in a large family, yet my brothers liked to make fun of me for being shy. Somewhere during high school and college, I learned to be more extroverted, but some of my underlying shyness has stuck and sometimes surfaces as timidity or even passivity.

I give you this bit of background just to say that being in Africa for a summer, for my first experience abroad, is likely not the first place you would have guessed to find me. But then again, if you knew more of my background, it is not surprising in my series of life choices – I’m known to have a independent, even stubborn, streak in me, so this has partially helped me push past characteristics that might have held me back from the wider world otherwise.

My train of thought has just been interrupted by the sounds of a drum and trumpets, accompanied by the regular honking sounds of the day. It seems there was some little parade, though I unfortunately couldn’t reach my camera in time to snap a picture and the viewpoint from our office blocks most of the street. The honking wasn’t even in irritation of the parade – as I learned my first day here, you honk to notify anyone (car, motorbike or person) you are behind them. Most road rules do not apply in Nigeria and even lanes are more of a hypothetical idea. I haven’t seen an accident yet, so perhaps there is some method in the craziness of the driving.

I am working for the Women’s Consortium of Nigeria (WOCON) this summer. The organization was founded and is run by a woman who has been a lawyer here for several years now. WOCON is focused on women’s empowerment and did a lot of political work during the past elections. I, however, am focusing on the work they do against human trafficking. The office has been a bit slow since I got here, and the complications in getting Internet access slow productivity, but I have finally started some research and it seems things will pick up next week.

I am slowly learning about the politics and daily life of Nigeria. It seems that even in the past 10 years a lot of change has come about. Elections just passed before I arrived and though the nation was in a bit of turmoil, I am told it is improvement on other years. Poverty is still apparent, and I hate to think of the families flooded out of their “houses” because of all the rain there has been (and the more that is expected to come). There seems to be no middle class here – there is the wealthy and the poor. I am sure some of the “wealthy” would say they are middle class, but the gap even between them and the poorer classes seems so large as to make any classification of middle class nearly unbelievable. Good pay is 30,000 Naira a month, which is around $200. This is not reflective of the cost of living – Lagos Island is likened to Manhattan. Food may be a bit cheaper, but not by much. Some things are even more expensive here, perhaps because they would be considered more of a luxury (for instance, I paid $80 a night to stay in a “guesthouse” – their version of a motel). You can live on the mainland, which may be slightly cheaper, but supposedly also less safe. Nigeria just passed a minimum wage law for 18,000 Naira/month which should give you an idea of how little most families have to live off of… they are having some trouble getting some of the state governors to even implement this rate.

Electricity is one of the biggest worries for the city – everything runs off generators and diesel fuel is going up in cost. Daily life still goes about, but it is amazing how much you cannot get done without electricity – it is too dark to work sometimes if it is raining, and even if there is enough natural light, your computer battery may run out before you can finish anything substantial. I realize that in other parts of the world, or even in most parts of Africa, having running water at anytime would be an unheard of luxury. But for a city with millions of people, the lack of such things can stunt economic growth and progress. Most things are imported – even clothing factories could not last in the city because they were competing against exporters who have regular, and cheaper, access to electricity.

I think the biggest thing I am learning so far, however, is the change in timing and pacing of life. People keep busy here, and seem to go to bed late and rise early. Businesses usually open around 8, or even 7am and close around 5pm. Maybe the late nights/early mornings are not so far off from New York life. However, I think the days seem a little longer because people are not so rushed as in New York, though any place would be hard pressed to beat the NY speed of life. But you have to be okay here with waiting and not knowing the timing of things. Times and plans change on a regular basis, sometimes without notification. Of course the question of whether there will be electricity or whether you can connect to the Internet also plays into the need for flexibility. Timing also comes in to play to make sure you charge your electronics while the generators are running or get in a shower before the water runs out. I don’t mean this as a complaint though – while it has been an adjustment, it makes me thankful I have these things as I realize most of the rest of the country lives without reliable generators (even one of his co-workers said his apartment has had no light for over a week now) and running water is never expected.

Despite the challenges of living here, the people I have met here have been very polite and welcoming. I attended a family member’s 50^th birthday party with my boss and it seems that in the midst of everything, they have held on to the importance of community. There are a lot of parties for various things and it gets hard to tell who is actually blood related as people start calling numerous others their brothers or aunts because they have been around each other for so long. Given the friends I am making already and how caring my home-stay family has been, I have a feeling I will have my own little community by the time I leave here.

Sunny Day in Ireland

2011-06-27T14:25:00.003-05:00

First one we've had in a while so I thought, perfect occasion to sit outside with a cup of coffee (still a little chilly on this side of the Atlantic) and update my blog.

This summer I'm interning with the Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI) in Dublin, and I have to say, I love it! The Irish have been lovely hosts and have welcomed an additional intern with open arms.

To start, let me give a bit of background on the organization. The ICI is an NGO and independent law center in Dublin, specifically focused on providing information on immigration, promoting change in immigration law and policy, anti-human trafficking, anti-racism and integration. Saying this, it's a smaller organization so everything the ICI is involved in, is for a strategic legislative purpose.

My role at the ICI is two-fold. On Monday and Tuesdays I work on the Information Referral Line. Aside from training sessions with other organizations throughout the country, the referral line is the main source of contact with migrants seeking assistance. Open four days a week, this line is staffed with interns and staff members alike and takes calls from anyone looking for help!

After two short days of training, I jumped in and started taking calls. Even though I don't see these people face-to-face, it's a great experience listening to their situation and helping through the legal/policy immigration process. I say legal/policy because a lot of Irish immigration "law" is not actually legal; in fact, in many situations individuals associated with members of other EU States have more legal rights than those associated with Irish citizens. The Irish immigration policies are generally very discretionary and confusing to those who do not understand how the system works.

The referral line is generally fairly non-stop calls. It runs for two and half hour periods and I might only have a minute or two in between each call. The breaks in between are generally spent ringing back people whose situations I had to research further before giving them information. The calls I take vary from the most simple to the most complex. In some situations I have to weed through what one's immigration status is over many years of different statuses and periods of being undocumented-not to mention, the immigration policies change rather frequently so an individual might hold an immigration status that no longer exists!

That's essentially my work with the information referral line. On Wednesdays there is a legal team meeting where any recent changes to immigration law/policy are discussed as well as any complex queries received over the referral line.

After this meeting, I spend the rest of my week on the anti-human trafficking side of the ICI. I have to say, before my internship, I had no idea how extensive and horrifying the human trafficking world is! My role with anti-human trafficking includes research and writing for policy papers and letters to government officials. I also assist with clients the legal team can't take on directly. I might go with a trafficking victim to an investigatory interview with the Garda (Irish police) or assist her to write a letter to immigration.

Another aspect of my work with the anti-human trafficking team is assisting with their current campaign- Turn Off the Red Light (check it out at turnofftheredlight.ie). This campaign asks for legislation to criminalize the purchase of sex and decriminalize its selling. The rationale behind the campaign, is human trafficking is driven by the prostitution industry. By eliminating/diminishing the industry through criminalization of purchase, there will be less human trafficking. This concept was developed in Sweden a few years ago and has had a very positive effect. In a couple weeks we are briefing the newly-elected Irish Senate on our campaign and asking for their support.

Despite it being summer, I've come to Ireland at a very interesting time. Just recently the entire government was replaced and the newly elected TDs (representatives) and senators seem to be responding to NGOs insistences. Just last week, the Minister for Justice announced a change to the naturalization process that will result in a streamlined application process. We're hopeful that naturalization applications will now be decided in a short 6 months as opposed to the 2-5 year process now in place.

So that's Dublin and the ICI so far. I'll be sure to update soon on our campaign status and any interesting immigration issues I come across. For now, I better pack up and head inside because it's already started to rain!

First Impressions at Catholic Charities

2011-06-20T11:24:00.004-05:00

Hello all:

I am interning with the Immigration and Refugee Services Department of Catholic Charities of The Archdiocese of New Yorkin New York City. The office is located on 1011 1st Avenue. The office includes attorneys, immigration counselors and refugee resettlement caseworkers that provide legal assistance to immigrants within the New York area.

I have only been working here since June 1st, but I have really enjoyed my time here so far. The office is filled with incredibly knowledgeable and friendly people. I have been and will be working with Abigail on a range of immigration issues ranging from applications for asylum and temporary protected status to adjustment of status (i.e. green card) applications. One particular area in which I will be working serves alien unaccompanied minors from the Children’s Village in the Jamaica Screening Center who have been detained as a result of breaking immigration laws.

For those who are unfamiliar with this, these are minors (children under the age of 21) who have been neglected, abused or otherwise unsupervised but do not maintian legal immigrant status because either their parents were illegal aliens or the circumstances surrounding their own entry into the U.S. was illegal. The common example of this is, of course, in the illegal traficking context.

I thought I might share some discussions that I have had recently with people in the office regarding the rules of professional responsibility and our obligations based on attorney-client priviledge.

According to my supervising attorney, Ms. Abigail Cushing, Esq., the New York Rules of Professional Responsibility dictate that an attorney, or law student intern, cannot reveal confidential information obtained through representing a client. At Catholic Charities, co-workers may share information within the office environment, but can never divulge information to others outside of the office relating to the client or his case, especially if that would put the client in danger or would be detrimental to the case.

Ms. Cushing mentioned one area where confidentiality becomes particularly important – when assisting unaccompanied alien minors. When attorneys from Catholic Charities visit the Children’s Village, the issues of client confidentiality are particularly salient. First and foremost, there are many children who have either been abused or have witnessed serious abuse. Divulging identifying information about these children might directly put them at risk for further harm or persecution, whether mental or physical. Their situation is particularly fragile because they are younger and are really unable to represent themselves and susceptible to the influence of others. As a result, she mentioned to be particularly protective of the vulnerability of these children.

Second, attorneys interview the staff doctors and psychiatrists, who are appointed by the government and ultimately represent the government's side of the case. These doctors will usually share information about the child’s mental and physical health, usually with the hope of receiving some feedback about the child’s history. Due to the limits of attorney-client confidentiality, however, the attorney cannot share any information about the client with the doctor without permission. As a result, the medical professionals are usually left feeling unsatisfied because they may have divulged information to the attorney without receiving anything in return. This might lead the doctors to withhold information in an attempt to induce the lawyers to reveal more. This of course in the end would seem counter-productive because the lawyers are trying to best serve the child, just as the doctors are, so it would seem prudent to divulge information to the lawyers in order to assist their case, regardless of whether they will receive any information in return. Of course the situation might be a little more complicated than my cursory knowledge of it at this point, but I will continue to probe and ask deeper questions.

Additionally, trust is especially vital with minors. These minors have generally are very distrustful of authorities because they have been unable to trust adults in the past. If an attorney divulged confidential information that the clients told them, the children would become more skeptical of revealing information to their attorneys because they would distrust them. This is further compounded by the fact that if an attorney broke client confidentiality by revealing information to the doctors, then the children within the Children’s Village would share with each other that certain attorneys cannot be trusted. If that happened, the attorney would not only be unable to adequately represent the specific client that he broke confidentiality with, but also with all of the other potential clients in the center. Thus, there are important policy reasons behind these rules of confidentiality that not only protect the client from possible future harm, but also allow the attorney to build trust with the client.

With these considerations in mind, I began to consider how I would be able to share my experience on this blog with others in a meaningful way. What I came up with was the following: I plan on sharing practice-related experiences very generally, without divulging any information identifying my clients or my clients’ background. I propose viewing client confidentiality not as a burden that inhibits my actions, but as a possible building block to establishing a better working relationship with my clients. I aim to share information that would be helpful to other classmates on a general level without jeopardizing my client’s safety, security or trust. I am sure that I will continue to think about these questions in the coming weeks, and into my career as an attorney, much more. I will also continue to ask more questions about the structure and hierarchy of the entire organization.

But for right now, that's what I've got.
Thanks and all the best to everyone. I hope you are all enjoying your respective summers.

Legal Resources Centre, Accra, Ghana

2010-08-30T22:01:00.002-05:00

Looking back at my summer internship in Accra, I can now confidently confirm that my first experience in a Ghanaian district court in June was a prototype of the Judicial and Legal system here. Keep in mind, Ghana has been a democracy for over fifty years now and is one of the most developed countries in Africa in 2010.

In a legal aid case, my supervisor and I were representing a client who had been renting a taxi cab and paying back the owner the debt in monthly installments with his profits from collecting fees from passengers. After putting in a significant amount of time researching Ghanaian Contract law of a Conditional Sale agreement and the Hire Purchase Act, we prepared a strong argument for the defendant.

Our case was scheduled for 9 am in early June. With my New York habits still freshly ingrained, I arrived at Court at 8:45 am but was not shocked when my Supervisor arrived closer to 9:30 (by then I had been gradually assimilating to what we called GST-Ghanaian standard time. In short, we soon learned that 5 minutes meant 10, 10 minutes meant 30, 30 minutes meant 1 hour and 1 hour meant it was not happening today). Although the Judge called our case at 9, the plaintiff’s lawyer was present and requested the case be stayed until 10am to which the judge agreed.

At 10am, the case was called again. This time, however, our client was not present. When the judge inquired as to his whereabouts, my supervisor responded “my client says he is here.” The court room was small and there couldn’t have been more than 20 people in total present. After scanning the room again, everyone looked back at my supervisor and then to the judge. Naturally, the judge asked again where our client was. I couldn’t believe that again my supervisor responded that our client said he was present. Clearly he wasn’t present in this courtroom! As cell phones are not permitted in Ghanaian courts, my supervisor left the room to call him. When she returned, she had no further information and continued to repeat that the client said he was here. This conversation continued in circles for almost 5 minutes before the judge adjourned the case until July 29^th, 2010. When we left the room, my supervisor didn’t mention anything. When I asked about the situation and where our client really was, she responded that she did not know and he would contact her eventually. I couldn’t believe we put all this effort into this case and she was so complacent about contacting and finding our client, until I realized this is a common situation in Ghana. Due to judicial corruption and inefficiency, Ghanaian citizens often lose interest in settling cases through the legal system and look to other means to solve their problems or quite commonly dismiss them altogether.

This story is a good introduction to understand the basis of one of our major projects during the second half of the summer called the Judicial Vacation report. This report captured the essence of certain judicial inefficiencies and reasons for backlog and distrust in the legal and judicial system. These efficiencies often encourage citizens to solve legal issues on their own to avoid getting caught in the maladies of the Ghanaian judicial system.

Ghana has approximately a two month judicial vacation that begins in early August and ends in early October. Cases heard in the middle and end of July are often adjourned by judges until mid or late October due to the substantial vacation period and lack of necessary judicial officers on duty during the time period. Substantial delays in the administration of justice, however, create incentives to avoid the judicial system altogether or instead leads to bribery and patronage for special privileges from officers who may aid efficiency of the process.

The interns spent weekday mornings in the high courts, human rights courts and fast track courts taking copious notes about each case on that court’s docket. Our compiled information proved that many cases were unnecessarily adjourned until October or even early November, which effectively resulted in human rights abuses in many criminal cases for defendants that were detained. Inefficient or weak judiciaries result in inconsistent application of laws, arbitrary of excessively lengthy detentions, and the deterioration of individual and personal property rights.

Although there were definitely many major issues with the Ghanaian Judicial system, I did have many positive experiences with other projects at the LRC. One particular project inspired confidence and motivation in the Ghanaian legal system and international human rights law. Working with the Touch a Life Foundation and the Village of Love manager and director, I gained much exposure to client interviewing and learned a lot of about human trafficking developments and efforts to protect victims from child slavery on Lake Volta. I believe that with my interview efforts and data collected from the directors and managers, I can turn my findings into an academic paper with substantial continued researched at my University and contact with the Village of Love and LRC in the coming future months.

Central American Legal Assistance in Brooklyn, New York

2010-08-27T11:03:00.006-05:00

In New York City, notarios are almost on every corner claiming to provide competent legal services. Many Latinos desperate to obtain status in the United States go to these people in hopes of becoming Legal Permanent Residents or citizens. But, since many notarios know little to nothing about immigration law, they take people’s money and disappear, leaving many in removal proceedings. Sadly, many people come into the office after the damage is done and there is little we can do but tell them how they can proceed.

The Central American Legal Assistance (C.A.L.A.) founded in 1985 has been a place where people seek sound legal advice. They trust that we understand their country conditions and experience. Aside from doing walk-in consultations everyday, the organization specializes in asylum, NACARA, Temporary Protected Status applications and other forms for humanitarian relief that is available for Central and South Americans.

Central American Legal Assistance, located in the basement of a church.

Everyday at the office, we saw people who fled Latin America because of violence and persecution. Many children who merely wanted to reunite with their family were caught at the border and placed in removal proceedings. Due to the harsh immigration laws, more and more people are being detained and because of bad case law many people’s viable asylum claims are denied. One big issue that I saw this summer was young persons fleeing Central America because of the gangs or maras. The maras are powerful and merciless; they control territory, collect taxes and kill. The Board of Immigration Appeals held that young people who refuse to be recruited are not a social group and therefore do not fall under one of the five protected grounds to grant asylum (race, religion, nationality, political opinion and social group). Such a holding leaves many children and adolescents unprotected with the risk of death or torture if they are forced to return to their home country.

For instance, in Honduras, 15 year-old Luis went to school by bicycle forty- five minutes away from his home. On his way he encountered mareros who asked him time and time again to join their gang. He refused every time. But on one occasion they were fed up, they hit him in the head with a gun and left him unconscious on the road. He later woke up in the hospital with a concussion. His parents could do little because their local police station was an hour away and typically police officers dissuade you from making complaints against the mareros because it is more dangerous to do so. The maras see a complaint as an act of defiance against them and seek revenge. Luis’ parents knew that they could not protect him and therefore they sent him alone to the United States with a coyote. He came to the United States and went to his asylum interview but the asylum officer did not grant him asylum but rather referred his case to immigration court. Therefore, Luis has another opportunity to win asylum in court, but as I noted, because our case law is so bad—he would unlikely win asylum in court. Although, Luis is lucky he has another avenue to stay lawfully in the United States—a Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) visa. But since he lives in upstate New York no organization took his case. Although C.A.L.A. has little resources as it is, they took his case. Luis is now in a distinct path to lawful status, because the case law in the United States on asylum is not expansive enough to include such young people who are courageous enough to say ‘no’ even if by doing so their life is in danger. At C.A.L.A. time and time again I saw people with similar stories to that of Luis but others are not so lucky. They face deportation back to the country where they are left unprotected, many without their parents and where their future is uncertain.

Another troubling aspect of deportation defense is the lack of resources for organizations to do this type of work. C.A.L.A is one of the few organizations that provide direct legal representation to people in removal proceedings. It has been tough but a great learning experience working at C.A.L.A. this summer.

In Sucumbios (Ecuador)

2010-08-22T02:35:00.011-05:00

I have spent 2 days in this Ecuadorian province. We visited some polluted areas. I think, pictures explain everything!

Quito

2010-08-22T02:19:00.002-05:00

My lecture was successful. I've spent this week going to the office and working with some of the lawyers and voluntaries (nice people!)

(second pic- office's library, firts pic-celebrating the secretary's birthday)

Summer's End

2010-08-19T09:53:00.009-05:00

להתראות, ישראל!
(translation: see you later, Israel!)

My summer at the Hotline for Migrant Workers in Tel Aviv has come to an end, and I am back in New York after two and a half months away. It's nice to be home but I miss Israel so much. My last few days were a whirlwind of activity – the office was still packed every day with migrant workers applying for naturalization for their children from the moment we opened our doors until the last volunteer left. We had crayons and clay and children's books scattered all over the room, and it was slightly hard to focus on our work with the sound of babies crying and children yelling and running around. What was most interesting for me was that no matter what country their parents were from – the Philippines, Ecuador, Nigeria, etc – all the children played in Hebrew. One of the requirements for achieving citizenship was that they attend public school, so these kids are used to making friends and playing games in a language that many of their parents don't know.

My last project in the prison was working with a Somalian man named Akiba (who, at only 20, seemed even younger than his age) who was trying to apply for asylum in Australia. I mentioned him in one of my last posts. Anyway, the process was complicated by the fact that the application required 8 passport photos and he did not even have one, and we weren't allowed to bring cameras into the prison. Eventually, by waiting until the most helpful guard was on duty and then asking him for a printed copy of the photo that they had on file of Akiba, I was able to take the photo out of the prison and make copies on photo paper, which hopefully were professional enough for the Australian government. We spent a few afternoons together carefully filling out the application, and Akiba's last request of me before I left Israel was to ask whether I could make him an email address.

“Sure,” I said, “It's actually very easy. What name do you want?”

He asked me to make him an account with the user name “2pac no die.” Turns out Tupac Shakur is huge in Somalia – who knew? We're keeping in touch now through his new email account, and he signs all of his emails as 2pac Akiba.

I'm definitely missing many of the people I met in Israel, both from the detention center and outside. I even miss the language, though I spent the whole summer struggling with it. Between the staff and volunteers at the Hotline and the friends I made and strengthened in Israel, the summer was never boring and I had an amazing time. I'm so glad I went. I learned so much from some incredible people, and I couldn't have imagined a better way to spend my summer. Thanks so much to the Leitner center and to Jim Leitner for allowing us the opportunity to do this work!

Left: Learning to make Eritrean bread (Injera) from Eritrean refugees who opened a restaurant near the Tel Aviv bus station.

Right: Lafa-bread bakers in the Old City of Jerusalem near the Damascus Gate.

Sydney, HIV/AIDS Legal Centre

2010-08-18T18:38:00.008-05:00

Well, that was a quick summer.

I spent ten weeks of it in Sydney, volunteering at the HIV/AIDS Legal Centre (hereinafter “HALC).

HALC is located in Surry Hills, just minutes away from the Central Business District. The solicitors at HALC take on almost every legal matter that pertains to HIV, either because the person with a legal issue has HIV or because that issue is inherently HIV-related, like disclosure or discrimination. Since HIV disproportionately affects the gay population, HALC acts as a resource for those with legal issues related to homosexuality as well. Some of the cases I was able to work on were protection visas, workplace discrimination, disclosure, tenancy issues, wills, and superannuation and/or disability claims.

The work I found most interesting was helping people process protection visas as a refugee. The Australian government, among many others, grants permanent residency to persons they consider to be refugees if they are outside their country and are unable to return due to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion. Persons with HIV and/or are gay may fit into “membership of a particular social group.” I worked on one such case - a gay man was legitimately afraid of being killed by his family if he were to return to his home country after he was “outed” in Australia by a family friend.

I also helped out in a few employment discrimination cases, in which the employee was discriminated against by being passed over for promotions, treated horribly, and in some instances, fired, because of their HIV status. HIV is considered a disability, and it is unlawful in Australia to discriminate against those with disabilities in the workplace, in the educational system, in providing goods and services, etc. If an initial complaint to the employer is unresolved, HALC helps those in need file and process a formal complaint with the Anti-Discrimination Board and represents them during the hearings, and through an appeal if need be.

I was also fortunate enough to help in a number of other matters. These issues include tenancy disputes of all kinds, from contesting rental arrears to neighbor harassment to interpreting rental building by-laws. I helped to draft wills, enduring guardianships, and power of attorney forms, as then witnessed their executions. I helped relay advice from the solicitors to clients on whether or not disclosing their HIV status was mandatory in regards to insurance, employment, or immigration applications.

One of the laws in Australia that I found really interesting, but was not able to personally work with cases on, is the law against the vilification of persons with HIV or AIDS. It is illegal for anyone to publicly humiliate or incite hatred towards a person because they have HIV or AIDS (even if they are not actually positive). This was a very new concept for me – hopefully the United States adopts a similar stance soon.

Besides being able to become very involved in the cases, the best part about HALC was the people I worked with. Everyone there was happy to be there and did everything they could to make sure their client got the best representation possible. They were passionate about helping people with HIV, promoting HIV awareness, and encouraging positive policy changes. This was very inspiring.

When I was not volunteering at HALC, I kept myself busy doing touristy things. I saw attractions like the famous Opera House, the Royal Botanical Gardens, “the Gap” – famous for suicide jumpers, Bondi Beach and the Coastal Walk down to Coogee Beach, the nearby Blue Mountains, and I even managed a weekend in Cairns to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef. I also experienced quite a lot of the shopping, eating, and nightlife in Sydney.

It was a summer (Sydney winter!) well spent.

So long Kathmandu

2010-08-17T14:40:00.004-05:00

It is almost time to leave Kathmandu and it has been a wonderful trip. I’ve worked on a couple very interesting projects, met many lovely people, sped around on motorbikes to observe judicial proceedings about town, rode elephants, even drove an elephant, made friends with some stray dogs who became my loyal protectors, fell for a pretty cow named Beula, got attacked and run off the road by a bull, the neighborhood punk, almost lost a leg to a spider bite, and nearly lost my life about a million times in the everyday terror of traffic on the road. I’ve developed a love/hate relationship with Kathmandu and though I can’t wait to go home, I’m already making plans to return after taking the bar. Though I can't be more specific about the place I've been working, they have been wonderful.

One of the projects I’ve worked on is a report on fair trials in Nepal. The recent HRC decision on case of the alleged “Bikini Killer” basically sums up how ridiculously unfair the judicial system is in Nepal. From the very beginning a suspect is denied any legal protection. Multiple hearings take place before a single judge simultaneously. Corruption, bribery, torture, and other abuses of power are rampant. Many years pass while a defendant awaits an appeal. Nepal deviates from international law in almost all aspects of its legal system. It will be interesting to see the contrast between the U.S. and Nepali criminal justice systems in the coming months and years, and to see how closely the U.S. criminal justice system complies with international law.

The other project I’ve worked on is a guide for child rights activists for how they can advocate for the representation of child rights and facilitate the involvement of children in the transitional justice process. This has involved extensive research into children’s participation in transitional justice processes around the world and interviews with various NGOs about what kind of work they are doing now, and how different NGOs can coordinate thier efforts to ensure that children’s stories are told and that thier interests are accounted for in the truth commission, reparations, and institutional reforms.

I am very grateful to have had this opportunity. I have learned an enormous amount in a very short period of time, made wonderful friends, and couldn’t have asked for a better summer after the first year of law school. Thank you to Jim Leitner and everyone at the Leitner Center for making it possible.

Lecture in Quito

2010-08-16T10:36:00.003-05:00

I've been invited to give a lecture in Quito, regarding international investment arbitration from an U. S. perspective. The Ecuadorian Society of Arbitration and the Ecuadorian Chamber of Commerce are organizing the event.

I'm a bit stressed preparing the lecture, but... it will work!!

2010-08-14T12:07:00.002-05:00

I'm already in Ecuador. The flight was long and the "soroche" (acute mountain sickness) was a bit difficult at the beginning, but now I'm feeling great.

The previous weeks have been very busy, working for the internship with lawyers in NY and Washington. This weekend, I'm preparing my work for the next days in Ecuador.

Center for Reproductive Rights

2010-08-13T16:11:00.001-05:00

How the time flies! It is nearly impossible to believe that my time at the Center for Reproductive Rights has already come to a close. The ten weeks I spent working at the Center were absolutely invaluable, as I learned an unimaginable amount about a range of issues relating to reproductive rights and, more generally, international human rights.

The Center for Reproductive Rights’ summer program is organized with the goal of introducing interns to an array of issues. As an intern in the international legal division, I had the opportunity to work on projects addressing issues such as the importance of safe abortion, government accountability in relation to maternal mortality, and access to post-abortion care. I was also able to partake in projects in different regions throughout the world, although I am especially grateful that I was able to put my Spanish skills to work for numerous projects addressing issues in Latin America. Furthermore, I have been able to really delve into the international jurisprudence both at the United Nations level and within the Inter-American legal system.

One day this summer, all of the interns in the international legal program had the great pleasure of spending the day at the UN, watching a meeting between the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the government of Turkey. These meetings serve as a forum for the Committee to determine which parts of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women are being abided by, and which parts of the treaty the government needs to put forth more effort to implement. Generally, NGOs submit “shadow letters” to the different treaty monitoring bodies with information about potential human rights violations that the government may have neglected to inform the Committee about. Having spent a portion of my summer working tirelessly on a shadow letter, it was really meaningful for me to be able to see how these letters are used in practice. It was so interesting to be able to watch as international human rights law unfolded before our eyes. Observing as the members of the Committee inquired into the laws and practices of the Turkish government was truly a remarkable experience. I greatly look forward to reading the Committee’s Concluding Observations when they are issued.

The Center also had a series of weekly brown-bag lunches, wherein a staff member would discuss an issue related to reproductive rights. Each week someone from either the domestic or international legal program would host the lunch, which allowed interns from both departments to be exposed to issues that we may not have a chance to work on this summer. These lunches were extremely intriguing, and piqued my interest into areas that I never thought of exploring before. My favorite brown bag lunch discussed sexual abuse of Native American women on reservations, which delved into the different laws on reservations, the protections that are in place and how the current system is failing to protect women.

I, of course, cannot forget to mention how wonderful New York City is in the summer! Despite the suffocating heat wave, it is so amazing to be here when school is not in session and I actually have some free time to take advantage of all that New York has to offer – Broadway plays, museums, concerts, outdoor movies… I could go on forever! This summer has been absolutely wonderful, and I am so glad that I had the wonderful opportunity to spend it here in New York City at the Center for Reproductive Rights!

HIV/AIDS Legal Centre (HALC)- Sydney, Australia

2010-08-13T11:44:00.022-05:00

Since its my 2nd year at HALC, I thought it would be interesting to focus in a more specific area of law at the center for my blog post, Refugees. Since fellow Leitner Intern Kelly Starcevich has been writing about refugees in New Zealand, hopefully my post will show a little contrast between Aus and NZ since they are often times grouped together.

Currently the topic of Refugees and Immigration are big topics in Australia. An election has been called by Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Aug 21. Australia has constantly wrestled with the topic of immigration from its early days as it is a very large country with a very small population. Illegal immigrants or ‘boat people' as they are often called in Australia are a major topic in current election campaign.

The view of Sydney from "The Gap", the entrance to Sydney Harbor.

Previously, Australia had what was called the "Pacific Solution" under Prime Minister John Howard during the 90's and early 00's. Under this scheme, all illegal immigrants stopped in their boats before reaching Australia were sent to a detention center on the small island nation of Nauru.

In 2007, under Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, the detention center on Nauru was closed due to complaints over bad conditions and the fact that Nauru was not a signer of the UN Refugee Convention. Instead Rudd sent detained immigrants to Christmas Island which is owned by Australia for processing.

The main reason for using these offshore processing centers for refugees is that Australia has two types of protection visas, an onshore and offshore one. The onshore protection visa is far easier to satisfy.

With a new Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, and an election approaching, debate has intensified over what to do about refugees. Both parties have pushed to the right and want to look tough on asylum seekers. The Labor Party under Prime Minister Julia Gillard wants to set up new processing center on East Timor and calls for a ‘sustainable Australia'. Meanwhile the Liberal/National Coalition Party (which is actually more right-leaning) under Tony Abbott wants to reopen the center on Nauru and dramatically lower the number of immigrants to Australia by 'turning the boats around'.

Explore the map below to see exactly where Nauru, East Timor, and Christmas Island are located:

View Boat People in a larger map

A clip from the morning television show Sunrise contrasting the immigration policies of Gillard and Abbot.

During my time at HALC this year, I was able to work on several protection visa applications for asylum seekers who were lucky enough to make it to Australia on a tourist visa and can now apply for an onshore protection visa. Generally, to satisfy the criteria for protection (Please see the UN definition of a Refugee), one needs to show that they belong to an identifiable social group and that they have a very real fear of persecution. This persecution should be at the hands of government but if the government fails to protect the group from societal persecution this persecution can often times be attributed to the government to satisfy the criteria of being a refugee.

At HALC most of our applications for protection are based on sexual orientation or HIV. Specific to HIV protection claims in refugee cases, we would argue that HIV+ people are an identifiable social group of people. We would then have to show that failure to provide proper medical care by government amounts to persecution of people living with HIV. Also many times we are able to show that the government fails to prevent persecution from society, and then argue that it should be attributed to government.

Volunteers at HALC attended Bingay, a weekly fundraiser by ACON (AIDS Council of New South Wales, a major funder of HALC) with crazy antics, risque prizes and hosted by a Drag Queen.

Some real world examples of the 'persecution' we argue involve the different types of HIV meds provided by the country. Sometimes people do not respond to the first set of antiretroviral medications or they begin to respond less to the meds over time and require stronger second line treatment for HIV as the virus becomes drug resistant. Unfortunately second line treatments are still very expensive and rarely available or subsidized in the developing world. Many times protection claims can be asserted if the home country of the refugee cannot provide this medication and the refugee requires it.

Other times, the government may fail to adequately educate the populace to prevent HIV or dispel myths about the virus. In some developing countries which I researched this summer, government officials recommended that HIV+ people not fall in love or have children to stop the spread of the virus. At the same time, these governments did little to educate regarding unprotected sex and sharing needles, two of the top modes of transmission of HIV. Often times these countries did little to eradicate the myth that HIV could be spread through air or touching leading to pervasive discrimination and persecution which often strengthened a refugee’s claim for protection.

The 12 Apostles on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. Just a part of Australia's amazing coastline.

Additional HIV protection claims are often strengthen when adherence is considered. Adherence refers to a patient following dosing instructions from their physician exactly as prescribed. This is particularly important in regards to HIV. If doses are skipped or even late, the virus is able to mutate and become drug resistant faster when the proper levels of medication are not maintained. Physicians recommend that people living with HIV maintain at least 90% adherence. This is particularly difficult because certain medications may need to be taken every 8 hours which would require a patient to set their alarm to wake up in the middle of the night for their dose. In many of the developing countries I researched, proper medical care for HIV was often in far away, more developed areas of their home country which would make adherence even more difficult if they were forced to return home.

Returning to HALC this summer, I was able to see the results of several protection visa applications I worked on last summer. One application was success and granted on the first hearing allowing this client to stay in Australia indefinitely. Another client unfortunately had appealed their denied application and had exhausted all appeals and was forced to leave the country. While disappointing, I try to focus on the success I’ve had while at HALC and know that I put forth my best effort when things don’t turn out right.

Overall, I’ve had another great summer at HALC and have learned even more than last year. Thanks to HALC for providing me with fantastic and rewarding legal work and the Leitner Center for making this opportunity possible.

Proof that the US is not the only country where politicians abuse colloquialisms for votes, this clip highlights the humorous use of Aussie slang 'fair dinkum' when discussing 'the boats' in the election debate. (Fair dinkum means true or genuine)

Retrospect

2010-08-08T14:08:00.010-05:00

My summer in Nicaragua has just come to an end. Ten weeks go by faster than the mind can imagine. I arrived yesterday evening to LAX to news that my stepfather died of a heart attack literally an hour before I landed. It’s funny how I could spend a summer away trying to help those so far removed from my immediate life and yet neglect those who surround me daily. To say the least, this summer was an eye-opener. While I accomplished many things, I can never forget that sometimes, the help we do for others is never enough and that no matter how much I desire to help those in desperate need, I can’t forget about those dearest to me.

Looking back on my time in Nicaragua, the small villages where I spent many a night, the impoverished communities, the starving children, and the smiles I received just by visiting the rural peoples immediately bring joy to my heart. However, and in all attempt to sound the least pessimistic as possible, I can’t help but feel that pain and suffering exist everywhere, is inevitable.

Towards the last few weeks of my stay, Stephanie, John and I got to visit and stay with a few families in some very rural communities, where even water was scarce. Our last few working days were spent visiting houses asking set questions regarding the typical conflicts encountered in day-to-day life. We were to report back on the frequency of animal theft, border and land disputes, and toughest of all, domestic violence. While at first the task seemed intriguing, which in fact it was, it shortly became similar, as trite as this may sound, to pulling teeth. Imagine walking into a rural home, built of plywood and covered by a large piece of sheet-metal, where the best of amenity is a wood burning oven with constant harmful fumes permeating the small house, and where everyone, sometimes two or three, sleep in a single hammock, and then, more or less barraging them with questions. While few families were responsive, for the larger part, the community was shy, evasive, and most of all scared to answer such intrusive questions by foreigners. I know in my heart that the work of Nitlapan only has but the best of intentions, but I cant help but feel the route taken, this sort of PR done by “gringos,” hurt more then helped. Despite this however, we were at least able to get the word out that mediators would be in place within their small communities so that when future conflicts arise, they will have local community members to turn to. (Pictured left, the shy nature of residents we encountered).

In the end, just being surrounded by purity of life that Nicaraguans enjoy, the simplicity, the love for one another’s family, living on open land, and using only the most basic of necessities is to say the least enlightening. Now that I’ve returned home, to Orange County, California, to expensive cars, expensive homes, expensive everything, more and more I feel that with all the things I’m surrounded with, I actually have less than I did in living in rural Nicaragua. (Pictured right, another family I visited, both suprised to see a camera but yet also content with life.)

This summer has definitely changed me. For the better, I’m sure. I recently finished reading a book entitled Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures detailing the work of three United Nations human rights workers: a Harvard Law graduate, a doctor, and another UN official, working in Cambodia, Rwanda, Liberia and Haiti. While this collection of stories has encouraged me greatly, the ending reverberates with me now more than ever. At the end, the three reflect on their journeys, the life lost, the people saved, the naïve dream of saving the world, and come to a resolution that I am currently finding myself at: “So that’s the easy answer: foreswear idealism; resign myself to a sad maturity; put away the things of youth; be thankful I survived and move on. But that’s horseshit too, a craven capitulation. I’m not ready to let the youthful part of myself go yet. If maturity means becoming a cynic, if you have to kill the part of yourself that is naïve and romantic and idealistic—the part of yourself you treasure most—to claim maturity, is it not to better die young but with your humanity intact? If everyone resigns themselves to cynicism, isn’t that exactly how vulnerable millions end up dead?” With this ending note, and with the current moment I am in, having to console my crying mother, the old adage really does ring true; death is a gift, a gift of life, and gift to fight harder to save more, and more than anything else, a reminder to not forget about those around you while on a mission to save those so far away.

Above, the local school teacher and his children.

Slum Aid Project - Kampala

2010-08-04T11:34:00.000-05:00

I'm nearly finished with my time here in Uganda and although it has been extremely frustrating at times overall my experience has been extremely positive. When I arrived at Slum Aid Project it became obvious that they didn't really know what to have me do and that the project description we had agreed on wouldn't work. Eventually, we decided that I would create a workshop for community leaders from the slums in Kampala that SAP operates in.

Developing the workshop was a great experience. I went into the slums and met with community members and volunteers. I was very surprised at how willing they were to discuss sensitive issues with a foreigner. As part of the process I asked them to collect legal questions from the community. I suggested that they should focus on issues that people had faced in the past or were currently involved. The questions I received ranged from how to handle a rape to who should have a will. Once I'd interviewed people from each area and received the questions I spent several days at the main law school in Uganda doing research. I was also able to work with several legal aid organizations and other NGOs to create a list of resources that will be distributed to the community members so that they know who to contact for assistance. One of the biggest hurdles I faced was that very few people here trust the legal system both because bribery and corruption are rampant and because they don't understand how it should work. The expense of using the legal system is also problematic, for example, many cases of rape or domestic violence are resolved outside of the court system because the victims cannot afford to pay for the medical tests needed for a police investigation.

I made my presentation yesterday at SAPs monthly meeting. There were around fourty community volunteers in attendance and hopefully they will disseminate my responses to their questions to the community at large. We are making my presentation available to anyone in the slums who wants it so that should help in getting the information distributed. The feedback was extremely positive and I am hopeful that the information will help. One of the things I emphasized most was the importance of documentation. Many of the cases that come to the local NGOs, including SAP, are not coming directly from the victim but rather from the community volunteer who has heard about the case from someone else. This makes figuring out the details very difficult because often we won't meet the victim until going to court or mediation and at that point some fact comes to light that changes everything. The cost of transportation makes it difficult for the victims to come to us and the size of the slums makes it impossible for us to travel to each victim individually so SAP relies heavily on the community volunteers to collect and report on any potential cases. I've created a questionaire that will be distributed and should help resolve this issue as it will help ensure that everyone has the same information and the victims are getting the best advice possible.

My hope is that the community leaders will be able to build on the advice that I've given them and that having a greater understanding of how the legal system functions and how to access it will lead to more trust. I'm very happy that I was able to come to Uganda and think that in a small way my project here has made a difference.

Politics and the Bill of Rights

2010-08-04T10:54:00.010-05:00

Well I'm still in Belfast and it's still raining here.

Work at the Committee on the Administration of Justice is going very well. I continue to feel very welcome here and am pleased to be given interesting projects.

Here's a bit on my work:

As I think many people are aware, there is a new coaltition government between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats which has created a bit of an ideological mess in that the two parties have very different views on very many topics. Human rights work is intimately tied-up in politics and so we've begun to feel the effects of changing political times. There was a suggestion in the recent Northern Ireland Office consultation on a Bill of Rights that the Bill could transform into a chapter in a wider UK/British Bill of Rights and Responsibilities being discussed now in Britain. Turns out this suggestion has become a much stronger possibility with the new government now in place. Due to this, my job and the focus of my work has shifted a bit in the past week or so to focus on countering any push to consolidate the Bill of RIghts for Northern Ireland to supplement the implementation of the ECHR (through the Human Rights Act). The Bill of Rights should be predicated on the particular circumstances of Northern Ireland. It was meant to be a Bill to address the past conflict and provide for a safe and secure future for those in Northern Irelnad. The discussion and process of building a Bill of Rights has been going on for ten years in NI with high levels of civic participation, especially in the last few yerars. The special genesis of the Bill of RIghts in the peace agreement and the work of those who have particpated in repeated efforts to draft the Bill would all be lost if it came down to a chapter in a UK Bill. This is the current state of affairs and the tinge that my work has and will, for the next week and a half that I'll be here, take on.

Additionally, in the next few days I'll resume assisting in writing an article about what lessons learned from the Trouble's for Britain's policy of internment in the War on Terror. Really exciting topic!

On a lighter note- It's still awesome living here in Belfast. Belfast is known for its summer festivals and teh first big one started last week called 'Feile an Phobail' (Festival of the People). It has music, movies, storytelling, tours, exhibitions and much more. I've already been to a wonderful concert (Damien Dempsey) and I won't say much about it other than you don't get the kind of personal space at a sold-out concert in NYC as you do here! So great to have music AND room to dance! I'll be attending a political panel tonight which may have some heated discussions and tomorrow I'll attend a lunch seminar on Bloody Sunday and the Saville report (which I mentioned in an earlier post). Ill be heading down to Newcastle this weekend for a small trip if the wheather holds out (knock on wood).

hings are great here- I'm including some pictures of Belfast, Derry, and a bit up the coast.

The Bill Passed!!!

2010-08-03T01:42:00.003-05:00

If you haven't read it yet, check out the NY Times article exactly about what we're doing these days: here

Our office is filled with children and their parents hoping to get help applying for this naturalization process which grants children citizenship if A) they were born here and are entering first grade, or if they have been here 5 years or more, B) they speak Hebrew fluently, C) they attend Israeli schools, D) they came to Israel legally and overstayed their visa and now lack legal status, and E) can prove all of the above with documentation even though schools are closed and there is only a 3-week window in which to apply.

It is CRAZY here.

Grameen America

2010-07-30T10:44:00.001-05:00

In my last post I described my legal internship at Grameen America, an organization dedicated to combating poverty by providing micro-loans to low-income entrepreneurs.

This morning I woke up before the sun rose to attend a borrower meeting in the far off land of Jackson Heights, Queens. The borrower meeting was at 6AM, necessitating waking up around 4AM. Seeing Midtown nearly empty is a strange sight. It had a certain I Am Legend-style feel to it.

The borrower meeting was located in one of the borrower’s homes. About twenty borrowers meet at the woman’s apartment each week to make repayments to a loan officer who visits several borrower groups around the city each day.

Unfortunately, the branch manager had given me the wrong address. I quickly realized this after the family whose doorbell I rung at 6AM was not too pleased to see me. After that fun conversation, and waking up my supervisor to get accurate directions, I discovered the meeting was in the building next door.

I’d seen the set up before, just not in a room with electricity. I was surprised to see the borrower meeting in Queens was strikingly similar to one I’d seen before in the Dominican Republic. The borrowers sat together in a small room, chatting with each other about their businesses, waiting to make their repayments to the loan officer, trying to keep their bored children entertained. One by one they gave their repayments to a loan officer sitting at a table, a large ledger in front of her. The officer would count the money three times, sign off on the ledger, make small talk with the borrower about her business’s progress, and call up the next borrower. Borrowers who made their repayments stood in the hall of the apartment building, waiting for their group-mates to finish business.

I was shocked to see the similarities with microfinance borrower meetings I had witnessed in the Dominican Republic. I imagined cultural differences or at the very least the microfinance institution’s borrower meeting organization would have made the meetings dissimilar, but the meeting ran as I had seen it before.

The only noticeable difference in borrower meetings was the lack of singing at the Queens meeting. The microfinance institution I worked with last summer in the DR was a Christian NGO, so each borrower meeting included a prayer and a song. While Grameen America is not affiliated with any religious organization, I doubt very much the neighbors would have tolerated a chorus so early in the morning.

“Why 6AM?” I asked the loan officer.

“They have no excuse not to be here,” she replied bluntly. “After the meeting the borrowers go off to run their businesses for the day.”

Microfinance in New York vs. Dominican Republic:

Summer is Speeding By

2010-07-28T07:25:00.004-05:00

Such busy weeks, I can hardly believe another one has passed. This week at the Hotline for Migrant Workers we're saying a lot of goodbyes: to Abigail, my fellow legal intern, who is returning to Vancouver; to the head of the organization, who is stepping down after several years; and to two of the teenagers who conducted their national service as volunteers here instead of participating in the Israeli army. Usually you need more than the desire to choose this alternative route – some national service volunteers get out of the army by proving that they are pacifists or too religious to serve. The three volunteers in the office this summer have been amazing help, and it will definitely be sad to see everyone go.

In order to make sure that we were in the office for a goodbye party yesterday, Abigail and I went to the prison at 7 am instead of the afternoon as usual. Unfortunately, the guards were not happy with our early arrival, and almost refused to let us enter. Eventually we found one department where the guards were more laid back, and were willing to let one or two prisoners out to talk to us as long as we requested them by name. One of the prisoners wanted to apply for asylum to Australia, and had a copy of the form but didn't know how to fill it out because it was in complicated English, so I was glad that I was able to help. (It definitely made me think of the work Kelly's doing in New Zealand).

Usually when we get to the prison, all the detainees are out in the yard, a small area with four picnic tables, a fridge and a sink. In one of the departments, the yard also has a ping-pong table. It isn't really “outside,” more like an enclosed space with sunlight streaming down, although it is cooler and breezier than the stuffy cells. Each cell has anywhere from six to sixteen people in bunk beds, with very little extra room to move around. What we've learned so far from conducting interviews is that during the day the only thing to do is lie in bed and watch television. There are no books, no educational materials or classes, no music, and no events of any kind. Prisoners can hold onto their cell phones as long as they are basic, with no internet or camera, and no mp3 capabilities. They're “outside” for about 5 or 6 hours each day. This time, most of the prisoners were still in their cells, and it was a much different experience sitting in the deserted, dusty yard, with just one other prisoner.

Next week, I'm planning to visit the detention center in the South of Israel, close to the border with Egypt. This is where most refugees who are discovered crossing the border are brought, while their identities are checked. There is not enough space in the building for prisoners, so there is a tent city set up outside. I'll write more about this once I see it, but I'm anticipating a very long and difficult day.

In the meantime, after last week's post, I've been trying to see the nicer side of Israel. On Friday, two of the other interns and I visited Bethlehem for a day of letting ourselves be normal tourists. We were in the city during Friday noon prayers and heard the sermon (although only one of us understands any Arabic) and then visited the Church of the Nativity. Then I spent shabbat (the sabbath) in Jerusalem, which was beautiful and very relaxing. On Sunday, I participated in a photography competition in the Old City of Jerusalem, and tomorrow, I'm going to see the opera, Carmen, being performed for free in a park in North Tel Aviv. I've also been noticing the simple day-to-day things about Israel that I admire, such as the fact that every building has a solar water-heater on its roof, and several main streets have bike lanes packed with bicycles. Israel is also the only country that had more trees in 2000 than in 1900. The whole country is very conscious of conserving water, as well, since water leads to so many of the region's conflicts. Every toilet even has two handles – one handle only flushes a little bit, to save water.

Another positive development is that the Knesset (Israel's parliament) is expected to pass a bill in the near future that would give citizenship – actual, full citizenship – to the children of migrant workers who have grown up here and attended Israeli schools, as long as they entered Israel legally. It's similar to the DREAM act in the USA that Obama mentioned in his July 1 speech about immigration, that still hasn't passed after many years in Congress. One problem with Israel's version is that it doesn't extend citizenship to older siblings who came after finishing schooling, only to small children, and their guardians receive residency, not full citizenship. And the ministers of the Knesset (MKs) have thus far refused to say exactly what will happen to the children of migrant workers who don't get citizenship – until now, they have never detained these children (unlike, for example, the USA and Canada, which I'm learning about). We're hoping that the government doesn't start to detain children once this chance for becoming legal passes. The bill doesn't automatically give the eligible families citizenship – they must apply, and because of this, we are going to be VERY busy. I'm glad that I'll still be around to help, because the Hotline for Migrant Workers is going to be packed. We're already seeing many more small children around the office than usual. More updates on this soon!

Kia Ora Week 8: "Because Living in Fear, Isn't Living"

2010-07-25T05:26:00.008-05:00

This week the family violence support group, Women's Refuge (www.womensrefuge.org.nz) hosted its annual appeal for awareness and donations. I attended the group's official launch complete with screenings of their new ad campaign entitled, "Because Living in Fear, Isn't Living", speeches by attending members of New Zealand Parliament including the Minister of Justice, the Honorable Simon Power, and a live performance by New Zealand singer songwriter Anika Moa all in the name of garnering community support and enhancing community awareness of just how real the problem of domestic violence in New Zealand is. Women's Refuge estimates that one in three women in New Zealand experience domestic violence. It is also estimated that the rate is substantially higher among the indigenous Maori population, though underreporting complicates the figures. A great emphasis of the campaign is that domestic violence means far more than just physical abuse; it includes verbal, psychological, financial, emotional and many other types of abuse.

The idea that domestic violence compels a constant feeling of living in fear is truly encapsulated through the ad campaigns. Television ads show a kitchen with an infinite number of eggshells and a mother stopped in fear when her child steps on one of them and she hears the father slam down the remote control from the other room and the viewer hears his footsteps inching towards them. Radio ads voice over a stream of consciousness as a woman counts down the five minutes sweating through all of the things she needed to have done to perfection to prepare for her husband coming home from work and then the listener hears the door slam. Posters depict a woman in public places where each person's face appears that of her abusive spouse.

The appeal followed substantial changes effective 1 July 2010 to the Domestic Violence Act of 1995. These changes were significant in that they allowed for the creation of Police Safety Orders ("PSO") which allow police to remove an individual from the home for up to five days and are applicable in cases where there may not be enough evidence to charge the individual with a domestic violence offense but there is still nonetheless strong reason to believe that the individual poses a real threat. This is a step forward for domestic violence law in New Zealand, while at the same time it potentially raises real issues as to what will happen when that individual returns to the home after the five days expire if no further steps are taken to issue protection orders and evidence still lacking for charging the individual with an offense. There are real risks to consider as to whether the violence may escalate as a result of the PSO being issued so it is an area in which police need to exercise great caution and one in which groups like Women's Refuge need to remain active and available to people vulnerable in these situations. Another real issue to consider from the removed person's perspective is where exactly that person is to go if the person is "removed" from the home, because this means that the person cannot return to the home, but this provides no option of where that person should go. For this purpose, the first "men's refuge" was created in Gisborne, New Zealand. Gisborne remains an exception as these services are not widely available or accessible around New Zealand.

Last Week

2010-07-23T07:59:00.003-05:00

It was nearly nine when we arrived and the heat, as always, filled the air like an oppressive tyrant. There is a small ante-room for the clerk, who still writes on an antiquated typewriter; a small court room, where there rests the judges bench, the stenographer’s bench, and the witnesses bench; towards the back of the building, the public defenders office lies, where slated windows, which are always open during mediation, provide little privacy; and the quaintest of entrances, oddly enough located at what seems to be the back of the building façade, is lined with rocking chairs indicative of the speed at which the law in Nicaragua moves. This is the courthouse.

Last week, John, Stephanie and I visited the local courthouse where we spoke with both the Municipal judge and the public defender. We spent the majority of the early morning listening to the Judge speak about her role and that of the types of cases she deals with and the later part of the afternoon watching the public defender mediate.

The judge, who is the only judge within the municipality of Matiguas, which is a very large area, presides over issues that would arise in an American small claims courts. She hears disputes regarding domestic violence, border disputes, minor and sometimes severe instances of threats of physical violence, and issues dealing with child support. In doing so, she informed us that since the municipality is so large she has 24 mediators that work under her, whom she herself has trained and who’s expenses she pays out of her pocket. There are four urban mediators and 20 others spread throughout the rural communities, however the judge herself travels roughly once a week to deal with the rural conflicts herself. The 24 mediators, we are told, are respected members of the community, so that when they address a conflict, their decisions carry just as much weight and thereby have a binding effect. The mediators play a large part however; as the costs of travel are very high and often the injured party cannot afford to bring their case before the courthouse. In such instances, the mediators travel out to the farms and address the conflict on the injured parties premises. However, the mediators don’t deal with issues too serious, as those require a higher court.

In the latter part of the morning, I was able to sit in a watch the public defender mediate a conflict between two women. Before the two women arrived, a report had been filed with the alleged facts and upon the beginning of the mediation process, the public defender went over the facts again in order to establish a background. It turned out the woman 1 was formerly married to man 1, with whom they share a child. At one time or another, woman 1 and man 1 separated and woman 1 was given 40 manzanas of land (the Nicaraguan measure of land, similar to an acre). Later, man 1 married woman 2 and had a child with her as well. Ensuing, man 1 took back some of the land he gave to woman 1 for him and woman 2 to live on with their new child. Later, it turns out that woman 1 saw woman 2 early one morning waiting for the bus and physically attacked her and threatened to kill woman 2 with a machete. Following the attack, woman 2 filed a report and thus came to the courthouse to resolve the issue.

The mediation process was filled with shouting and yelling, and many times the public defender had to ask one of the parties to leave so that the other could address her side of the story. At one point, the husband came in and told his side of the story as well. Finally, the mediator gave the ultimatum to the fighting women that they could either solve the matter right there or involve the judge, which would result in more severe resolutions. In the end, the two women agreed to stay away from each other and to not provoke the other. One large issue that seems to present itself however, is whether the signed agreement is all that influential; after all, what is to stop woman 1 from reigniting the issue once far away from the court house. This may be a large limit in the judicial process, but it seems that morally once this sort of document is signed, the signing parties remain true to their word.

Even more interesting, the judge has invited the three of us with her when she travels to the small fincas (farms) to mediate the issues so that we can see her in action and watch the people’s reactions. Later on this week we are going to visit the local jail, where we learned today that until the most recent constitutional draft, alleged perpetrators we jailed until proven innocent; only most recently has Nicaragua adopted an adversarial system where an alleged injurer is only jailed after proven guilty. Until later.

Hotline for MIgrant Workers, mid-summer thoughts.

2010-07-21T04:13:00.009-05:00

מה המצב, אחי?

(translation: what's up, bro?)

I'm learning a lot these days, from Hebrew slang to Israeli politics to Jewish history. My Hebrew keeps improving, although my Israeli friends find it strange that I know the words for police, arrest, passport and refugee, etc, but I still can't remember the words for fork or t-shirt. Yesterday was Tisha B'Av, a fast day when religious Jews spend the day mourning for the loss of the Temple in Jerusalem, which was destroyed by the Romans in the year 70 AD. Although I don't personally feel a terrible sense of loss for the Temple, and I actually am glad that Judaism no longer is centered around animal sacrifice, it's still a day that engenders deep thought about Israel and Jewish history. For me, this meant some serious reflection on what I'm doing here this summer and how it fits in with my view of Israel.

I have visited the detention center where people with immigration problems are held 8 or 9 times now and it only seems to be getting more difficult. We're trying to do a basic interview with everyone who speaks English, Hebrew or French (since these are the languages that the volunteers know) about the conditions of their arrest and detainment so that we can eventually write up a report on the prison conditions and lobby for changes. But while we do this, the prisoners also want to tell us about how they got here, life in their home country, and where their families are. Mostly, they want us to be like lawyers and help get them out of there, and every time I have to say, “I'm so sorry but I can't do that,” it is so painful. The Hotline for Migrant Workers only has two lawyers though, so they pick cases carefully, usually only taking ones that can set precedent for many other future cases, or particularly egregious ones where the judge is most likely to side with us.

This summer is definitely testing my love for Israel. I decided to work in Tel Aviv, specifically, because I was thinking about possibly living here one day. But every day here I get exposed to the more difficult and darker side of the state. On the one hand, during my time off I get to see the country as a tourist would see it – visiting beaches, the old city of Yafo, the markets and religious sites, which are beautiful. But I'm also seeing what it's like for non-Jewish people coming here, not as tourists. There is literally no system in place for them. Would I really want to take advantage of a system that is designed to benefit people just like me at the expense of so many others? It would be easy for me to move here, as a Jew, and I would be welcomed by everyone right down to the woman who sells cheese in the shuk who is always asking if I made aliyah yet (which literally means to go up, but figuratively means to move to Israel). Meanwhile, people who really need Israel to act as a haven for them are imprisoned for years. However, there is another side of Zionism – seeing a vision of what I want Israel to be, and working to make it match this vision. In that way, this summer has made me more Zionistic. I see the problems, but I am not going to give up on the state and move on. I want to help in whatever way I can.

One really interesting and fun thing that I did last week was visit the Palestinian village of Beit Sahour, just outside of Bethlehem, with a group called Encounter. Encounter leads organized trips for Jews to visit the West Bank and meet with Palestinian peace activists, but this was different. Two women who had been involved with Encounter for the last couple years were returning to the USA and wanted to have a goodbye party in a place where their Palestinian friends would be free to go too. So we met at this park that used to be a Jordanian and then Israeli military outpost, but now is a community center with a restaurant, climbing walls, and a really beautiful view. One of the Jewish guests brought a bassoon and performed a duet with a Palestinian girl who played flute and is planning to study in a music conservatory next year in France. It was amazing, and I met some fascinating people, including an elderly Maltese nun who had worked in Bethlehem for 25 years, and a Palestinian woman who, as a teenager, had disguised herself as a boy to go along with her brother and his friends to hang Palestinian flags and spray-paint walls. Now she and her brother work for peace organizations in the West Bank and are regular speakers on Encounter trips.

Above: View of the Old City of Yafo (Jaffo) from the beach in Tel Aviv

Below: A cross-cultural duet!

Streets of Kathmandu

2010-07-19T07:46:00.008-05:00

The streets of Kathmandu are dirty. The brown stew smooshed under foot and hoof and tire stinks of rot and feces. In Nepal it is illegal to harm a cow in any way, so they roam the streets, mooing cranky moos, staring blankly into the careening stream of motorbikes, taxis, motorbikes, buses, cars, bikes, students in uniforms, ladies in saris, motorbikes, whole families on motorbikes, taxis, me; covered in soot and smut from diesel exhaust. Both sides of almost every street are confined by tall brick walls, topped with even higher spikes or bars or shards of glass. When I first arrived the uncared-for chaos of public life felt oppressive and unwelcoming. It still does. But in the weeks since it’s become clear that the real life of Kathmandu happens off the lawless roads, down any winding path, around any corner, inside any gate. It often goes from the worst place ever to the best and most beautiful in under five minutes.

Almost everyone I have encountered in their personal spaces and communities are proud and gracious, and often take better care of me than anyone outside my family. The spaces outside and in between are left to the dirty dogs, skinny cows, and marauding mini-mobs of the camouflaged Armed Police Force swinging their weapons with familiar ease, seeming like an alien, invading force on the streets of their own country.

Kathmandu is far from being a war zone, but there are machine gun turrets about every 100 meters, guarding banks, houses, barracks, embassies, the old royal palace, the new politicians, the old politicians, and many other things, who knows what. Vicious looking razor wire, barbed wire, broken glass, and other means of slicing flesh uncoil across the tops of walls that line the spaces between the turrets, and armed men stand watch throughout the day and night.

Kathmandu is coming off 10 years of the ‘People’s War’ between the Maoists and the state security forces. The Maoists waged this war in the countryside, appealing to the discrimination suffered in the caste system and the material and social disparity that has plagued Nepal for generations. Both sides committed atrocities, with the Maoists abducting thousands of children to become child soldiers, and the army disappearing, torturing, raping and killing thousands more. The first phase of this fight was won by the Maoist party, and after landslide elections in 2006 the stars of that battle are now legitimately in power, negotiating deals with their former enemies inside the razor wire, outside of public view.

The war ended in November 2006 with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). The government, an unaccountable autocratic monarchy for many decades, officially became a republic. But other than cosmetic changes like the removal of “Royal” from the names of the army and police, those in power, with the addition of their Maoist counterparts, remain pretty much the same. Many of the Maoists’ demands were incorporated into the CPA, including provisions for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) within four weeks, to account for the disappeared and bring the country back together.

Unfortunately for the victims of the conflict, the Maoists acquired a great deal of patience for justice and revolution once power was won. Any talk of the still-nonexistent TRC revolves around amnesty for war-time offenses. Both sides say that any attempt to hold those in power accountable will throw the peace process into jeopardy. Since they are the ones in charge of keeping the peace and also the ones in control of their still-separate armies, professed ‘fears’ of the peace process derailing are just blatant threats: amnesty or we unleash the hounds.

Apart from the amnesty provision, the draft bill is superficial and incomplete. One important group missing from the mandate is children, who have been raped, killed, abducted, tortured, taken from school, forced to fight and kill, deprived of opportunities for development and learning of livelihoods, displaced, and otherwise abused with impunity. I am working on a project relating to the representation of young people in the transitional justice process, and how child rights activists and young people themselves can advocate for their interests in the fluid and fragile peace process. Hopefully the manual I make will be repackaged into a series of stories and plays to educate and inform young people about their rights and roles in rebuilding the country.

Hopefully this will become available and useful to people before they fade into the background of the negotiations for the future of the country. Most people lived out the People’s War as faceless nonentities, to be used by either party as they pleased. A common story from the conflict goes that members of one or the other party impose themselves into a family’s home by force and intimidation, and the next day some thugs from the other party come to punish them through the torture, abduction, beating, rape, or killing of one or more family members. The interests of the people were irrelevant then, and without quick and concerted action, will remain irrelevant as the battle moves into the back room.

The government is making overtures in the general direction of Truth and Reconciliation, but as of now it amounts to little more than lip service to the national and international legal community and a handy excuse to delay investigations and prosecutions. The battle for power is still ongoing, impunity still reigns, and both sides pose a serious risk to those who deign to seek the justice promised. (See for example the story of Sita Tamang)

The people who have been living here know this; they recognize the familiar faces in power; they can see the local goons still patrolling their streets. One line tossed about by well-meaning organizations over the years is that the truth itself has power, and that may be true, but where actual armies are involved, the truth tellers need to be backed up by actual power, meaning economic and material protection.

Perhaps it is part of the culture, that people take care of their own and leave what’s left to its fate. Government convoys speed through the dirty, pot-holed, death-dealing streets. No mind is paid to make them better. No law is made to make them safe. If the government doesn’t see its role as looking out for the interests of the people who live here on such a basic level, its hard to imagine from where the will to address the causes of the conflict will come, and hard to imagine that Nepal is really so far out of the woods.

While it is very exciting to be here at this time in history where there is an apparent opening for real change, it is a bit discouraging to be working on a post-conflict project while the war continues, for now, behind the razor wires, and the people themselves remain outside.

Human Rights Watch

2010-07-18T12:22:00.003-05:00

Well – it will be a tough act to follow all these great updates! New York City just seems somehow less exciting in comparison – something I bet doesn’t get said too often! This summer I’m interning in the New York City offices of Human Rights Watch. I decided to stay in the city for the summer because I spent the year before starting at Fordham in Zambia working with an organization that provided direct services to clients, and so I wanted to see what human rights work looked like from another side.

I’m working on disability rights (see www.hrw.org/en/disability-rights), which is currently housed under the Health and Human Rights Division. Since I’m guessing many of you don’t know too much about disability rights (I certainly didn’t when I started!), I’ll start with a little bit of background. The human rights community as a whole, and Human Rights Watch itself, has only recently become more engaged in disability rights and there is a lot of research and advocacy that needs to happen to address discrimination and human rights violations against persons with disabilities worldwide.

Much of my work draws on the new UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which reflects a paradigm shift in thinking about disability. Historically, a disability has been seen as something to cure or fix, and a person with a disability seen as an object deserving of charity and welfare. The CRPD instead uses a rights-based approach: persons with disabilities have equal rights and it is society that needs to adapt to remove barriers faced by persons with disabilities. The US signed the CRPD last year, the first international human rights treaty it has signed in nearly a decade!

One interesting thing about the CRPD is that the negotiations featured unprecedented participation from civil society, particularly disabled peoples’ organizations and persons with disabilities themselves, which reflects the motto of the global disability rights movement: “Nothing about us, without us.”

The CRPD doesn’t define disability, but it does describe a person with a disability as someone who has an impairment (physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory) that may limit their full participation in society. Looking at this description, it is clear that while many people think of disability as something that only happens to other people, in reality everyone probably knows someone with a disability. It could be something like a broken leg that requires crutches, or a loss of mobility or agility due to aging, or a learning disability like dyslexia. Even bad eyesight could be a disability, except that we have adapted with glasses and contacts so that it is no longer a barrier. Indeed, the UN estimates that at least 10% of the world’s population lives with a disability (more than 660 million people), with this figure increasing through population growth, medical advances and the natural aging process of large numbers of people. Food for thought!

Human Rights Watch’s current research includes investigations of human rights violations against women and girls with disabilities in northern Uganda and deinstitutionalization in Croatia. In addition to helping out on these reports, I’ve written about HIV/AIDS and persons with disabilities, inclusive education, forced psychiatric treatment and forced sterilizations, making written works accessible to persons with visual disabilities, and specific situations affecting persons with disabilities in Macedonia, Malaysia, Nepal, China, Hungary, and Tanzania.

Interning at Human Rights Watch has been really amazing so far – the people are fabulous, the work has been challenging and interesting, and I am learning new things every day. The office culture is very relaxed and collegial (there has even been hula-hooping!), but everyone is extremely dedicated and passionate about what they are doing. One great thing about Human Rights Watch is that they have a well-developed internship program, so interns get up to speed quickly and are encouraged to get to know what people in different divisions are doing. For example, there is a weekly event where staff members come and speak to the interns about their work (held in the conference room where HRW's Nobel Prize is displayed!), and I have also volunteered at the HRW Film Festival and an awareness event on political prisoners in Burma (see www.hrw.org/en/free-burmas-prisoners).

My challenges have been: 1) writing advocacy documents for the general public instead of for lawyers (legalese has apparently become my default language ... thanks law school!); and 2) that, as mentioned, I came in without knowing much about disability rights so I am learning as I go. I’ve had more than one day where I read for 4 or 5 hours about a specific topic so I could write a page or two about it. (I’m getting quicker though, I hope!)

As a final thought, I’d encourage all of you awesome Leitner interns to look around and consider how your organization is serving persons with disabilities and what you can to improve things – it can be as simple as making your office more physically accessible, printing a version of any materials you produce in a larger font size, or including persons with disabilities in statistics and research projects. It’s pretty simple: including persons with disabilities means including everyone.

Kia Ora Weeks 6 & 7: Community Outreach and Connections

2010-07-18T04:47:00.003-05:00

It seems I got a little behind with blogging, so I figure I'll combine my thoughts on weeks 6 and 7. Speaking of which, I'm finding it hard to believe that I have only a few weeks of work left. With that in mind, it has got me thinking what I want to accomplish in the next few weeks.

Last week, our Centre put on a training session for a government agency, New Zealand Qualification Authority, (http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/) that focuses on establishing equivalencies between qualifications that individuals receive abroad and the comparable certification in New Zealand. While they do not focus directly on questions of immigration, related topics do come up in their work. I felt like it was really a neat opportunity to inform on immigration law in way that the attendants at the session could really take something away that could inform their work in a real way. I surprised by the depth that some of the attendants had into certain areas of immigration law while completely lacking knowledge in other areas of the law. I hope that what we were able to provide by the end of the seminar the big picture of immigration law in New Zealand rather than just into particular areas of interest.

I also was able to attend a discussion on a paper by the Human Rights Commission ("HRC") (http://www.hrc.co.nz/home/default.php) on the right to asylum . The paper was an analysis of the current state of how New Zealand upholds the right to asylum and what direction NZ policy should go in the future to meet its obligations with respect to the right to asylum. There were about fifteen people at the forum in Wellington with a couple of others video conferenced in from Christchurch and Auckland. The discussion was especially unique because it was not just a bunch of native New Zealanders sitting around trying to think about how to help individuals from other countries exercise their right to asylum in NZ. Instead, there were a number of former refugees and local refugee community leaders at the meeting. We heard from real voices telling of the struggles that people in this position face. I think that there is a general assumption that once a NZ accepts a refugee that everything is fine from there because that person is not in the dangerous environment from which they were freed. But this is only the tip of the iceberg. Allowing a refugee legal status to be in NZ is not enough. There are excellent services and benefit programs available to certain refugees that come under the UNHCR quota for NZ which amounts to about 750 annually, but other refugees who came under regular NZ immigration policy are left entirely without guarantees to these services.

One of the attendants at the discussion shared his story of how hopeful he was coming to NZ as a refugee from Kenya, but then of the devastation and helplessness he felt in NZ as he was compelled to eat out of dumpsters and sleep on the streets with no support. He was not a quota refugee, and so he did not have access to any of the resettlement benefit programs that quota refugees would have. I hope that the discussion paper highlights these inequalities in the treatment of refugees here. It should be commended that NZ accepts refugees, but the right to asylum entails far more support than merely allowing the person to be physically present in NZ legally.

Advocating for Burma at the Global Justice Center

2010-07-14T14:25:00.009-05:00

On June 18th, we and our Global Justice Center (GJC) colleagues attended a protest in honor on of Aung San Suu Kyi (there is a slideshow of the event at http://burmapoint.com/index.php). The protest was organized by Amnesty International and Burma Point, and it denounced the military junta in Burma and advocated for Nobel Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's freedom from house arrest. She is a political and human rights leader who has challenged the regime with peaceful means, and who has been under house arrest for 14 of the past 20 years. As candidate for the National League for Democracy (NLD), which won the Burmese general election in 1990, she should technically have become Prime Minister, but was kept imprisoned by the junta instead.

After the protest, we attended a panel discussion on Aung San Suu Kyi and the situation in Burma. The President of the GJC, Janet Benshoof, spoke along with Jared Genser of Freedom Now (which "seeks to represent and secure the release of...'prisoners of conscience.'" See http://www.freedom-now.org/over.php), Moe Chan of Burma Point (which advocates for human rights and democracy in Burma. See http://burmapoint.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5&Itemid=12), and T. Kumar of Amnesty International. The moderator, Mr. Kumar, said that Amnesty International has been working on Aung San Suu Kyi's case for 20 years, and that there are also over 2,000 other political prisoners in Burma. This group was gathered, Mr. Kumar said, to send a message not only to the military junta but to its allies, particularly those in the region, without whom the junta could not survive.

Jared Genser agreed that there should be unanimous multi-lateral pressure placed on the junta and added that the UN Security Council should impose an arms embargo on the country and create a commission of inquiry into crimes against humanity and war crimes. The US, UK, Australia, Japan, China, India, among others, should also pressure the junta to hold new and fair elections. Though he is counsel for Aung San Suu Kyi, Mr. Genser emphasized that he was not authorized to speak on her behalf. He reminded the audience of her words, however, to "please use your freedom to promote ours." As to her situation, Mr. Genser notified us that the UN has just issued its sixth judgment that she is being held in contravention of international law. He spoke of the upcoming election in Burma - set to be held towards the end of 2010 - which Aung San Suu Kyi's party (the NLD) will be boycotting. Per Mr. Genser, this election will likely be a repeat of the systematic corruption of the constitution ratification vote that the junta held immediately after Cyclone Nargis in 2008, while the country was in a state of complete crisis. The constitution which was "ratified" in 2008 is severely flawed -- it reserves power almost absolutely to the military, it legalizes military coups, it leaves ethnic groups little to no autonomy over their areas, and it received no input from the NLD or ethnic minorities. Mr. Genser said that the results of the upcoming elections are pre-ordained.

Janet Benshoof said that the upcoming elections are an "important turning point for the global community to end the law-free zone in Burma." She shared her view that there is impunity in Burma unlike in any other country. The Burmese judges who have imprisoned prisoners of conscience have committed crimes against humanity. These judges may use the same excuse as Nazi judges and others used - that they are just following orders - but they are "wielding court orders like weapons of mass destruction," Ms. Benshoof said. There should be no immunity for such judges - they must be arrested if they step foot into the U.S, she also said. In line with this view, Ms. Benshoof said current and past prisoners of conscience are entitled to immediate reparations. The UN should set up a fund so that they can receive reparations without the need for a criminal trial.

The GJC thinks there is a basis to argue that certain parts of common Article 3 have crystallized into peremptory norms (norms from which no country may derogate), established through customary international law. In line with this, the GJC is looking at the gross and systematic violations of common Article 3 by the Burmese constitution. The GJC argues that the international community must treat the constitution, and the upcoming elections with which the regime seeks to validate that constitution, as null and void. Ms. Benshoof likened this move to the Security Council Resolution which declared the South African elections in 1984 null and void due to apartheid. The Security Council must take action on Burma in this respect, per Ms. Benshoof, and it also must be pushed to refer Burma to the International Criminal Court. Since Burma is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, which created the ICC, Burma can likely only be subject to the ICC's jurisdiction as a result of a Security Council referral. To this end, members of the Security Council - especially China - must be convinced of the need for such a resolution. This is the objective of the Global Justice Center's main project.

Moe Chan spoke of the precarious nature of Aung San Suu Kyi's situation. The junta has killed many citizens and it might assassinate her at any time, he said. Even if she is freed, her life will be in danger. Mr. Chan told the audience about an attack on Aung San Suu Kyi's convoy, in which 100 NLD members and supporters were killed, as one piece of evidence of the junta's criminal behavior. He explained that Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested under the Burmese criminal code for "subversive acts," when all she did was "talk to people" and run for office. She was last sentenced to 18 months of house arrest, which would be over in November 2010. Mr. Chan urge the U.S., UN, China and other Asian nations to keep up the pressure on the junta to release her according to this time line that the junta itself expressly set.

- Maria-Elena and Jocy

2010-07-14T14:06:00.014-05:00

Global Justice from the heart of NYC
Greetings from Jocy and Maria-Elena in New York City, New York, United States. This steel and brick jungle is keeping us quite busy during what reportedly will likely be the warmest year on record: http://climateprogress.org/2010/07/10/nasa-hottest-year-solar-minimum/ . If you're thinking about cooling off in Central Park, think again. (The graph is courtesy of Brett Winton.)

We are legal interns at the Global Justice Center (GJC), a non-profit legal group that works towards legal and effective enforcement of international equality guarantees.

We mainly work on GJC's project on U.S. engagement with international law. In March 2010, the GJC submitted a report to the U.N. Human Rights Council in preparation for the Council's first Universal Periodic Review of the United States, which will take place on November 5, 2010. (To read the submission, go to http://www.globaljusticecenter.net/news-events/news/2010/UPR-press-release.html.) The GJC submission challenges the censorship of all abortion related speech imposed on U.S. foreign aid. The restrictions originated in the 1973 Helms Amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act, and have expanded to all foreign appropriations. The submission highlights the gruesome impact such censorship has on impregnated rape victims in conflict areas, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan. The victims are often young girls who are incapable of carrying to term without severe risk to their health or lives.

The GJC is urging the Human Rights Council to find that the U.S. policy of deliberately denying critical abortion care to civilian women who are raped during armed conflict violates erga omnes international humanitarian law mandates, including Common Article 3 and Common Article 1 of the Geneva Conventions. The principle of non-discrimination is central to the GJC's argument: Men who are targeted for rape during armed conflict presumably may receive all medical care necessary for their injury. Women victims of rape do not. This violates the non-discrimination principles of the Geneva Conventions.

Moreover, the UPR submission is a first step towards a bigger strategy: seeking an Executive Order by President Obama to immediately lift the censorship on humanitarian aid and end the discriminatory treatment now provided to women and girls in conflict areas.

As the U.S. project interns, we have been building the legal arguments supporting this strategy. We drafted a memorandum outlining domestic implementation of international humanitarian law, specifically the Geneva Conventions, via national legislation, agency directives, executive orders, and court decisions. We also outlined the basis for the president's authority in matters of humanitarian law. Another aspect of building the legal arguments is defining the standard by which third party states must provide humanitarian assistance. To this end, we have collected and summarized medical care standards established by the International Committee of the Red Cross and other humanitarian organizations.

We are also assisting GJC lawyers on several other projects. The GJC is a member of the United Nations NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security (NGOWG). NGOWG is working to achieve full implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 (SCR 1325), the Beijing Platform on Women, and CEDAW. SCR 1325, passed in 2000, calls for states to address the different impacts of conflict on women and men, and to engage women fully in conflict resolution and peace-building. The GJC, with the NGOWG, has worked on creating specific indicators to guide SCR 1325 implementation. Presently, the GJC's task is to develop a model Security Council "mechanism" of accountability for these indicators.

We drafted a memorandum discussing if and how sanctions might apply for each indicator. It is interesting to think that this research may inform the final shape of an accountability mechanism within the United Nations. We'll keep you updated.

Jocy & Maria-Elena

The Twelfth- it's not over yet

2010-07-14T10:45:00.003-05:00

The Parades:

In the past few weeks it seems like the Unionists have left their stamp on every street, every corner. I typically jog past a roundabout every afternoon on my way to the park and for the past few weeks I've ssen it slowly become a center of Unionist pride- even the pavement and light poles are painted red white and blue. In the park I'd run past a field which slowly filled with wooden pallets and discarded furniture- young men in hoodies building the sight of what would become an enormous bonfire. Even as I returned to my own street, the UK/British and Orange flags flew, even outside the children's school. Though these signs are normal for this time of year and there was a miniscule change of violence in my part of the city- it was unmistakeable that Belfast was alert and revving its engine for the events that transpired this past Monday. What is known simply as 'The Twelfth' (referring to the date) erupted right well this year in some sections of Belfast. The Twelfth is the annual time for political/cultural parades (marches) in Northern Ireland. The main focus is on the Orange Order; it is an overtly sectarian group whose march is an outright display of Protestantism guranteed to make waves. The parades tend to bring the sectarian tension to a fever pitch and result in a reaffirmation of territorial control over some sections of the city. This year's marches resulted in more violences than usual and tensions are still high now (Wednesday). The main amount of violence has been focused around West Belfast and the Ardoyne region. These are areas where the line between Catholic controlled and Protestant controlled (insert nationalist or unionist or any division you like) are explict. I expect things will settle soon but it is yet to be seen what the response will be in the next few weeks.

There seems to be an ongoing discussion here about whether or not NI is a post-conflict region. The Good Friday Agreement of 1998 marked an end to hostilities but not to hostility. There is a distinct intensity of division here which refuses to fade. I heard a joke on the radio the other day that the one thing Unionists and Nationalists can agree on is coming together in the common cause of hating gay people and immigrants. Haha? The violence is one aspect of what is happening here but it part of a larger conversation about what a post-conflict society would actually look like in Belfast. In this vein, here are two articles I found particularly interesting: Poverty is the backdrop to the riots in Northern Ireland and Belfast peace will come when a shared future is forgedhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/14/belfast-peace-shared-future.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, my work focuses on the ongoing process of creating a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland. How does one deal with the past and form a shared future through human rights law? I have no doubt that Belfast will be just fine- but it has the potential and the opportunity to be more than fine. I believe a Bill of Rights is part of the process of healing- it can be part of the post-conflict peace that everyone deserves.

Here are some more articles of interest:
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/in-pictures-shots-fired-at-police-in-third-night-of-violence-in-belfast-14875566.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0714/breaking3.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10624559

I tried to add some pictures into this post but for some reason it isn't working- pictures can be found here.

Akwaaba (Welcome) to Ghana and HRAC

2010-07-13T10:44:00.004-05:00

Like many things in Ghana my internship took a while to get straightened out, but now everything is in order. After arriving in Ghana and going to the orientation for my original internship I realized that the organization, the Centre for Popular Education and Human Rights Ghana, was not exactly how they made it seem via email; they intended me to work with school children. Luckily they put me in contact with one of their partner organizations, the Human Rights Advocacy Centre and I was able to switch placements within a week.

HRAC is a human rights advocacy and research center headed by Nana Oye Lithur, a prominent human rights lawyer in Ghana. The main objectives of the office are research into various areas of human rights and client advocacy. Clients come into the office daily when they have some sort of legal problem, someone does an intake interview with them and then Nana reviews the case to determine the next step. Because Nana is the only lawyer in the office and there are limited resources (each client is only charged 5 Ghana Cedis (about $3.50) ) she can only take on a few cases and the rest must be referred to other legal services or the government is urged to take on the case. Although clients are often referred, HRAC maintains contact with the client and monitors the case as it moves through the court. Yesterday I was given my first case (I was assigned one last week but the client ended up changing her mind); a woman who needed a paternity test from the court and was requesting maintenance (child support) from the baby’s father who refused to acknowledge his daughter. I interviewed the woman and created a budget of her monthly expenses to take care of the child. Next, a co-worker and I took her to the juvenile court to file her case. Because the system is slightly different here, the client does not need a lawyer to argue for her requests, it is a decision involving only the two parties and the judge. Although we are not providing her with legal representation I will be following the case and going to court with the client on the day or her hearing.

My main project thus far has been working on a legal audit of laws protecting those living with HIV/AIDS in Ghana for submission to UNAIDS. Thus far my group and I have done the necessary background research and completed questionnaires for interviews; we will be doing interviews with people living with HIV to assess their knowledge of their legal rights. We are also interviewing the groups most vulnerable to HIV (men who have sex with men, commercial sex workers and IV drug users) to assess their knowledge of their rights and get a picture of the discrimination they face and if they are able to seek adequate representation. We have just begun to organize the groups.

Although HIV prevalence is relatively low in Ghana (about 1.9% as of 2009) there is an incredibly high stigma attached to having HIV. Ghana is an extremely religious country (with the majority of the country being Christian, some Muslims and others practicing traditional religion) where HIV can be viewed by some a problem brought on by improper behavior. Compounded with the fact that the most vulnerable groups are also those that are not looked upon favorably by society (being a MSM in Ghana is a crime) people often fear seeking treatment or using the legal system to fight any discrimination they have faced. Although people cannot be removed from their homes for being HIV positive, they cannot be forced to take an HIV test, and a person’s HIV status is supposed to remain confidential these are often not maintained in practice. Part of our research was supposed to include case law, but when we spoke to the Court’s librarian when we traveled to the court to do research (I never thought I would miss our West Law and Lexis databases so much) we were told that he had never seen a case in the court where a person was suing another party because discrimination due to their HIV status. Although our budget is low, (we must pay the participants and can only afford about 4 people from each group) we are hoping to get a better picture of these type of situations.

This is a village court in the Eastern Region where HRAC's Executive Director, Nana Oye Lithur, argued in the defense of a man who allegedly stole three fish from a Tilapia farming company. The company is currently claiming property rights over a much larger portion of the Volta Lake than they actually own and committing various human rights abuses to the community members including preventing their access to the lake and having security guards beat up anyone who breaks their rules.

My first month here has been fairly slow but hopefully things will pick up soon. My posting has been delayed mainly because I use the little time the internet functions at work to research and by the time I get home at night (the traffic in Accra is horrendous) I don’t have the energy to go to an internet café.

While I haven’t developed much of an attachment to Accra, I’ve met so many wonderful people. The best parts of Ghana I’ve seen so far are away from the tourist attractions and in the small villages where the people are eager to share their culture. I’ve been fortunate enough to have several weekends where my friends and I are the only Obrunis (which literally means white skin, but its generally used to refer to any foreigner) around. We even had the opportunity to go to a festival and (tried to) learn the Borborbor, the traditional dance of the Volta region (see picture on the right). Everyday here there is some new adventure, whether it is getting a tro-tro home or celebrating a world cup game (sadly the Black Stars didn’t get as far as they should have, but Ghanaians are still proud of their team) and I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next.

Medasi (Thanks) for reading!

Working in NY. Preparing my trip to Ecuador

2010-07-12T13:05:00.004-05:00

I'm working on several legal aspects of the case. Besides my collaboration with the lawyers in New York, I'm also beginning to prepare my trip to Ecuador, that is going to begin in the next weeks. I'm very happy!

Girls Protection Act

2010-07-09T09:52:00.001-05:00

Equality Now (my current internship placement) and Sanctuary for Families (my internship placement from last summer) have partnered together in support of the creation of The Girls Protection Act (H.R. 5137). This important bill is co-sponsored by Congressman Joseph Crowley (D-NY) and Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack (R-CA) and aims to combat the practice of sending girls out of the United States to undergo female genital mutilation.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is considered by the United States (where it is banned) and international human rights organizations as a harmful traditional practice that includes the removal of part or all of the female genitalia. It has severe physical, emotional, and psychological consequences including life-long pain, infection, hemorrhage, anxiety, stress disorders, sexual dysfunction, difficulties in childbirth, and death, among a multitude of other consequences. It affects an estimated 140 million women and girls throughout the world, with an estimated 3 million girls at risk a year.

In 1997, the United States Department of Health and Human Services estimated that over 168,000 girls and women living in the United States have been, or are at risk of being, subjected to FGM. Oftentimes, girls are sent on their school vacations out of the United States to undergo FGM, and this bill is aimed to combat just such a practice. In 1996, the United States passed a law banning the performance of FGM within the United States, but it did not cover instances where girls were taken outside of the United States in order to undergo FGM, and this bill hopes to fill this gap.

In my second week at Equality Now, I had the opportunity to attend a press conference at the New York Women’s Foundation jointly held by Equality Now and Sanctuary for Families featuring Congressman Crowley and testimony of survivors of FGM from West Africa. This press conference was attended by members of the media, and was aimed to inform the public on the practice of FGM, its health consequences and dangers, its prevalence, and the proposed bill. Equality Now’s Executor Director Taina Bien-Aimé spoke, as well as Senior Staff Attorney of Sanctuary for Families, Archana Pyati. Questions were asked by the media, inquiring into the practice of FGM, which countries it is currently practiced, the reasons and tradition behind it, as well questions surrounding the bill.

The Girls Protection Act of 2010 was introduced on April 26, 2010 and amends the federal criminal code to impose a fine or a five-year prison term, or both, to any citizen or permanent resident who knowingly transport a girl out of the United States under the age of 18 years to undergo FGM. Equality Now is tracking the progress of this bill and is continuing to support the passing of it. As of June 15th, this bill was referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. On June 30th, The New York Times wrote an editorial entitled “Not Anyone’s Daughter” in support of the bill and the quick passing of it. The op-ed may be found at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/01/opinion/01thu4.html?scp=1&sq=daughter&st=cse. Links to Equality Now’s press releases on the bill may be found at: http://www.equalitynow.org/english/pressroom/press_releases/usfgmlaw_20100427_en.html and http://www.equalitynow.org/english/pressroom/media_advisory/usfgmlaw_20100603_en.html.

I look forward to writing more on this bill and hopefully will be able to cover the passing of it.

A Better FInish

2010-07-09T04:06:00.002-05:00

After a rough start at my internship, the last few weeks have gotten to be considerably better. I had the opportunity to meet with the head and co-founder of the organization and now have substantive assignments to work on. A lot of my works involves researching major cases that are likely to go to the Supreme Court of Sierra Leone, such as a case about a girl who was suspended from school because of allegations of witchcraft. Sierra Leone's legal system was designed using the British system as a prototype, so I find myself learning a lot about British law as well as Sierra Leonean law. All of the frustration that I felt before has gone and now I feel as though I am accomplishing something with my time. Though my time here is short and I will be unable to see the case through until the end, it feels great to know that I am playing a role in what might turn out to be landmark cases.

Grameen America

2010-07-08T15:36:00.001-05:00

This summer I’m working for Grameen America, a non-profit microfinance institution based in the United States. Grameen America provides small loans to low-income entrepreneurs (mostly women) to operate small businesses with the goal of helping them lift themselves out of poverty. Grameen provides loans to the people banks won’t lend to, either because they don’t have collateral or because they are “uncreditworthy” from the bank’s perspective. Yet, our 3,500 borrowers have proven their creditworthiness, with an average repayment rate of over 97% since our founding (significantly higher than traditional bank repayment rates).

Our model is based on that of our sister organization, the Grameen Bank. The Grameen Bank was started in the 1970s by Professor Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh. After seeing villagers perpetually indebted to local moneylenders, Yunus lent them $27 from his own pocket. Thirty years later, with an astonishing repayment rate of 97%, Yunus has demonstrated that the poor, when given the opportunity, do pay back. For his efforts to combat global poverty, Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.

While New York City is not Bangladesh, it is still ripe for microfinance. As in Bangladesh, there are poor people with no job opportunities and no access to credit, especially given the economic climate. The local moneylenders of Bangladesh have been replaced by check cashers, payday lenders, and pawn shops. So far, with 3,500 borrowers and ever-increasing demand, we’re just getting started.

In my capacity, I am helping Grameen America in its statewide expansion. While many developing countries implementing microfinance programs have very vague or informal banking regulations, each state/territory has its own idiosyncratic regulations to comply with. So, how we can start lending in D.C., for example, if D.C. requires special lending licenses and surety bonds? Or, how do we deal with usury laws? Each state has usury laws designed to prevent lenders from charging excessive interest rates and preying on borrowers. However, our organization needs to charge 15% to achieve sustainability and cover its costs. This is because it’s a lot more expensive to administer one-hundred $1,500 loans than a single $150,000 loan, which is generally why banks don’t provide these kinds of loans. So, I have to address these issues, looking at the nuances of state banking law.

Not entirely legally-related, I found that my video-editing skills from my past life have served me well. If you’re interested in learning more about our borrowers, see our YouTube page (http://bit.ly/9TwIFA) where I’ve posted some borrower interviews. My favorite project thus far has been creating a video birthday card for Professor Yunus, who recently turned 70.

Last week, Grameen America held a borrowers market in TriBeCa where dozens of our borrowers showed up to sell their wares to the community. Borrowers sold everything from empanadas to jewelry. It’s really impressive what some of these borrowers have done with $1,500 loans. One borrower, Nicole Gates, started Soul Sister Quisine, a catering business specializing in soul food and really tasty red velvet cupcakes. She used her $1,500 Grameen loan to purchase equipment for a cart so she could sell her food at street fairs. Currently, she’s doing extremely well, having fully repaid her last loan, and is now using a second loan to expand her business.

Kia Ora, Week 5: Multilingual Connections

2010-07-08T04:17:00.007-05:00

(Split Apple Rock, Abel Tasman Nat'l Park)

I've been thinking a lot about languages lately. When I was first deciding where I wanted to apply to work this summer, one of my main considerations was that I be in an English-speaking country because I did not want not knowing the local language to limit my ability to assist in legal work. As it turns out, though English is the most widely spoken language here, I have had a most direct exposure to the widest array of languages. It's not just that I pass people on the street speaking something I don't understand as I walk by. I deal with clients, face-to-face every day who do not speak English at all, let alone conversationally.

Most of my work is with refugee clients. They have been fleeing violence, risking their lives to get to refugee camps across borders, starving, homeless and abused. Still, some have managed to learn English through it all. Most of the time though, even if the client can speak rough English, having an interpreter is better because they can be clearer to give full effect to how they are feeling and what the details of their legal issues are in their own language. The beauty of it all is that at the Centre where I work, we have the luxury of calling an interpreting line. We dial the number, request the language our client speaks fluently, set a conference phone on the center of the table, and have any language we want translated on the spot during our interviews.

Even when the client speaks in her own language of which I cannot understand a word, I am sitting there with her and can see by her facial expressions and voice inflection and tears what she is feeling even before the interpreter translates. The languages are beautiful to listen to almost like a song. It's not an awkward, rigid conversation just because there is a phone to relate what is actually happening in the conversation. Instead, we maintain direct eye contact with each other, gesture and explain as if we are understanding the words coming out of each other's mouths. The experience is beautiful.

All of this exposure to foreign language has made me realize just how important it is that I keep improving my own language skills in Spanish. In the States and especially in New York, so many people speak Spanish as their native tongue which means that so many clients will be most comfortable speaking Spanish rather than English, or will not be able to fully express the extent of their issue and feelings about it without being able to communicate in Spanish. It is so important to me that I am able to connect with clients in the most direct, open way possible. I can already tell when I work with some of our Colombian clients how they connect with me in a special way because I can speak Spanish with them and understand their words describing what they have been through and how they want us to help.

(Te Waikoropupu Springs, Takaka, NZ)

Prison visits and court hearings

2010-07-07T02:52:00.004-05:00

It's been one month now since I started volunteering with the Hotline for Migrant Workers (hotline.org.il) and Monday I visited the detention center for migrant workers and refugees for the third time. So far, I've spoken to African refugees from Sudan, Eritrea, Chad, Guinea, the Ivory Coast, Senegal, Nigeria and more. After all those years of convincing myself that Spanish was the most practical language to study in school, I'm seriously regretting not having taken some French. But with some cobbled-together version of simplified English and French, I've been conducting interviews about the circumstances of their arrests and the conditions in the prison. Monday, I actually did three interviews in Hebrew which (in my opinion) was super impressive considering that there's no way I could have done that a month ago. We're hoping to get some people out on technicalities (such as being held for more than 3 days before seeing a judge) and to gather information on the arrest and prison conditions in general in order to petition for their improvement.

There have been heartbreaking stories, like 21-year-old boy from Guinea-Bissau who has been in jail since before his 18th birthday and just wants to go back to his mother's family and finish high school, and uncomfortable moments, like, what do you say to an African refugee who tells you that you've touched his feelings and can he just get your phone number to stay in touch? (The male volunteers who come with us never have problems like this!) The worst feeling for me is when the only reason that someone is still in prison is because of bureaucratic red tape – they want to go back home and the Israeli government wants them to as well – but they haven't been released yet and no one at the Hotline or at the prison can explain why.

The other volunteers and I are currently trying to find a way to bring French language books to the prison, which is one of the most commonly requested items. Apparently there is a library somewhere, and once a week a guard is supposed to bring a cart full of books that the prisoners can borrow from, but it has only happened once in anyone's memory. This is especially frustrating considering that volunteers from the Hotline in the past have brought books only to be stashed away in a library that no one has access to.

Leaving the prison each day that I go (and now we are going 2-3 times a week) leaves me feeling drained but still ready to go back again. Yesterday, for a total change of pace, I went to another court hearing, this time, at the District Court in Jerusalem. I always find it kind of hilarious when security guards say, “Neshek???” asking if I'm carrying a weapon. Me?? But once we were in it was very interesting. The case was about whether the Ministry of the Interior would release the protocols for deciding whether a refugee gets asylum. Thus far, they've only approved or denied the case and we were hoping that they would tell us why and what factors they weigh. Unfortunately we only partially won, but the lawyer from the Hotline is going to try again on a slightly different issue now that we have more information.

This week an article came out in the NY Times about Israel and migrant labor that is EXACTLY what the Hotline deals with. In fact, the organization quoted, Kav LaOved, shares a building with us and collaborates with us on many of our campaigns. At least five people sent it to me asking if I'd seen it - but if you haven't read it yet, check it out here.