Brown bag lunch and presentation with David Phillips, Director of the Program on Peace-building and Rights at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights. Mr. Phillips is a former Foreign Affairs Expert and Senior Adviser to the Near Eastern Affairs Bureau of the U.S. Department of State. He is author of many articles and books on political developments in the Middle East, including Losing Iraq: Inside the Postwar Reconstruction Fiasco and from Bullets to Ballots: Violent Muslim Movements in Transition.

Curated by author and professor, Guy Sorman, the exhibition features photographs of life-like dolls in a series of sets devised by the artist. The dolls, called "ugly babies" by Liu, are positioned between large stacks of books, wrapped in plastic, and lying on planks against a bright sky, among other tableaux. Born in 1959 in Beijing, Liu Xia is a poet, painter and photographer, and the wife of 2010 Nobel Peace Prize Winner Liu Xiaobo. She has been a noteworthy figure on the contemporary Chinese art scene for more than three decades. Her work in various media focuses on freedom of expression rooted in traditional values and styles

Danielle Goldberg, Program Coordinator for ISHR’s Peace-building and Rights Program, contributed to the development of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) Peacebuilding Toolkit for Educators (a complete curriculum guide for middle school and high school classrooms). The curriculum is available for download on USIP’s new Global Peacebuilding Center website.

Dr. Hamid Ali,  Assistant Professor of Public Policy at the American University of Cairo, presented on the costs of war in Darfur to members of the Sudanese Diaspora, Sudan advocacy groups, faculty and students of Columbia University on January 11, 2012.  Dr. Hamid Ali’s research on the severe economic impact of war is the first attempt to quantify the economic cost of the conflict in Darfur. The war costs in Darfur include the destruction of infrastructure, direct military spending attributable to the war effort, and the impact of the latter on the export sector and capital formation.

Introductory remarks by Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo and Prof. Yasmine Ergas were followed by a screening of The Reckoning, a documentary film that explored the history of the establishment of the International Criminal Court. Film director Pamela Yates led a post-screening discussion.

ISHR bid farewell to its Human Rights Advocates, who returned to their home countries at the end of the semester. Pictured here (left to right) are advocates Hasina Khan and Salima Namusobya.

What rights do people have to claim against social and economic inequality? Is inequality unjust? Who can be held accountable? This debate engaged Occupy Wall Street protesters and Columbia faculty from the Economics, Business, Law, Human Rights and Political Science worlds. Panelists included Elazar Barkan, Professor of International and Public Affairs, Director of SIPA’s Human Rights Concentration, and Director of Columbia’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights; Bruce Kogut, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Professor of Leadership and Ethics, Columbia Business School; Peter Rosenblum, Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein Clinical Professor of Human Rights Law, Columbia Law School; Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute and Special Advisor to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki‐Moon; Dorian T Warren, Assistant Professor of Political Science, SIPA; Yesenia Barragan, OWS Protester and Ph.D. Candidate, Columbia University; Alicia White: OWS Protester and M.A. Candidate, Columbia University. Professor Anya Schiffrin moderated the discussion.

Lazihno vs. Brazil was brought to the InterAmerican Commission in 2005 in response to a summary execution at a juvenile center in Brazil. Daniela Ikawa, a human rights attorney from Brazil, and Program Officer at ESCR-net, discussed her experiences bringing this case before the commission and the broader impacts of the Inter-American Commission recommendations on human rights protection in Brazil.

Lydia Cacho Ribeiro, one of Mexico's most well-known investigative journalists, authored The Demons of Eden (2005), which implicated influential businessmen and politicians in a child pornography network, and founded the Women's Assistance Center in Cancún, which helps victims of domestic and sexual violence and trafficking. Triveni Acharya is president of the Rescue Foundation, an organization that focuses on the rescue, rehabilitation and repatriation of women and children who have been victims of kidnapping, sex trafficking, forced labor or forced marriage. Pictured here, Triveni Acharya speaks with a student.

In a recent press release, the Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission detailed its sixth mission to Bangladesh from November 22nd to 29th, 2011, reporting allegations of human rights violations. The commission held meetings with government officials, along with non-governmental organizations, representatives from the international community and from local indigenous groups. They also gathered testimonies from victims of human rights abuses.

While the Commission acknowledges and lauded the commitment of some government officials and institutions to improving human rights conditions in the region, it generally found insufficient progress toward the goals set forth by the 1997 CHT Accord. The Commission reported continued human rights violation, most notably acts of violence and subjugation toward indigenous communities, but also including violent crimes against Bengalis. One of the most striking issues, according to the Commission, is that of land disputes, which have taken on a character of violence and intimidation. The Commission notes a "culture of impunity," and recommends thorough and impartial investigations into all allegations of human rights violations in the CHT.

Columbia professor Elsa Stamatopoulou serves as co-chairperson for the CHT Commission.

“We want to be forward-looking, rather than focusing on just the present moment,” Magda El Sanousi prefaced her presentation on Arab Women’s Rights. Magda M. El Sanousi Omer is the Oxfam Great Britain Country Director for Lebanon, where she also directs Oxfam’s Middle East Regional Gender Equality Program. Speaking from her wealth of experience working for gender justice, El Sanousi highlighted the efforts as well as the challenges to advancing women’s rights in Arab countries. While she recognized the progressive work facilitated by women’s organizations, including reforms in labor laws and nationality laws, she points out their limitations: often comprised of constituencies of middle- and upper-class, well-educated women living in urban centers, they are not well linked to the most marginalized women in society.

Viewing women’s rights issues in light of the recent revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests known as the “Arab Spring,” El Sanousi emphasized the importance of integrating women’s political participation and representation in transitions towards democracy. She cited the extensive participation of Egyptian women during the country’s massive revolution as evidence of women’s desire for increased involvement in political and public life. El Sanousi noted that many women are experiencing a shift from an acceptance of their social position, to considering other possibilities such as democracy. Yet democracy, as El Sanousi notes, does not carry the same connotations in many Arab cultures as it does in the West: it mainly pertains to voting and elections, rather than the observance of international human rights law or equality among groups.

El Sanousi expressed her view that the democratic spaces that emerge from the revolutions taking place across the Arab world should include the voices of marginalized women. The immense challenges to gender equality still stand in many countries in the region experiencing transitions—among them patriarchy, culture, and what El Sanousi calls the misinterpretation of religion. Yet the public’s acknowledgment of the flaws of traditional power structures provides an important opportunity for the status of women in society to be reassessed.

This talk was sponsored by SIPA’s Gender Policy Working Group, the Middle East Institute, the Institute for the Study of Human Rights, and SIPA’s Economic and Political Development Concentration.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

The Institute for the Study of Human Rights, International Federation for Human Rights, and Weatherhead East Asian Institute co-sponsored an event on peace and justice in Burma. Ms. Debbie Stothard, Coordinator of the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma (ALTSEAN-Burma) and Deputy Secretary-General of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), along with a guest speaker, presented on the situation of Burma’s newest war while visiting the United States. Professor Yasmine Ergas, co-Director of the Institute for the Study of Human Rights, moderated the discussion.

This summer, ISHR sponsored three undergraduate internships in the human rights field. The three students, Crystal Lovelady, Amanda Matos, and Natalie Zerwekh, received first-hand field experience with The Washington Heights Corner Project (WHCP), the NGO Committee on the Status of Women NY (NGO/CSW/NY), and the Lutheran Family Services Refugee and Asylee Programs in Denver, respectively.

“I now end my internship with WHCP a smarter and tougher advocate for human rights,” Crystal Lovelady asserted.

Crystal Lovelady received training in Harm Reduction and worked on the passage of the 911 Good Samaritan Bill. She attended various press conferences and rallies, and collaborated with Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) and Voices of Community Activists and Leaders (VOCAL) throughout the summer on harm reduction and drug policy reform issues. “WHCP allowed me to step out of my comfort zone, which is normally confined to the 10th floor of the Butler stacks surrounded by a pile of books, and taught me that the best way to advocate for human rights is to work with the populations you hope to help instead of just advocating for policy changes through research. In order to truly understand the daily lives and battles fought by Manhattan’s homeless, addicted, sex workers, and HIV and HCV-positive populations, I needed to see them, speak to them, and, most importantly, listen to them on a regular basis; I needed to form relationships with them and meet them where they are instead of try to push them towards a life they may or may not want, and I needed to completely rethink how I viewed law enforcement professionals and health care facilities. WHCP gave me the opportunity to not just learn more about these populations, but also taught me the basics of how a non-profit is managed and financed.”

George Andreopoulos provides an analysis of the controversial execution of Troy Davis this September in the Columbia Spectator. In the piece, entitled "Living an International Lie: Keeping the Death Penalty in our domestic policy calls into question our commitment to democratic principles," professor Andreopoulos identifies the Troy Davis execution as an opportunity to revitalize discussion on the role of the death penalty in American culture and politics. Read "Living an International Lie"

George Andreopolos was one of several contributors asked by Brittanica to share a short reflection on the attacks of September 11 in light of the event's ten-year anniversary. Professor Andreopoulos reflects on that day and its legacy on the Brittanica blog.