International Law Roundtable

Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework

Yesterday the UN Human Rights Council endorsed the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The Principles, while non-binding, are designed to provide a global standard for preventing and addressing breaches of human rights caused by business activities. The press release from the UNHCHR goes on:

“The Council’s endorsement establishes the Guiding Principles as the authoritative global reference point for business and human rights,” said John Ruggie, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Business and Human Rights. “They will also provide civil society, investors and others the tools to measure real progress in the daily lives of people.”

The Guiding Principles are the product of six years of research led by Professor Ruggie from Harvard University, involving governments, companies, business associations, civil society, affected individuals and groups, investors and others around the world. They are based on 47 consultations and site visits in more than 20 countries; an online consultation that attracted thousands of visitors from 120 countries; and voluminous research and submissions from experts from all over the world.

The new standards outline how States and businesses should implement the UN “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework in order to better manage business and human rights challenges.

Under the ‘State Duty to Protect,’ the Guiding Principles recommend how governments should provide greater clarity of expectations and consistency of rule for business in relation to human rights. The ‘Corporate Responsibility to Respect’ principles provide a blueprint for companies on how to know and show that they are respecting human rights. The ‘Access to Remedy’ principles focus on ensuring that where people are harmed by business activities, there is both adequate accountability and effective redress, judicial and non-judicial.

In giving its endorsement, the Human Rights Council commended Professor Ruggie for developing the UN “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework, and recognized the role of the Guiding Principles in providing comprehensive recommendations for its implementation.

A link to the principles in the press release has not been working, but a copy of the Principles may be obtained here. Human Rights Watch has been critical of the Principles for failing to take the opportunity to do more.

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ABA International Human Rights e-Brief, 13 June 2011 / Issue No. 452

ABA International Human Rights e-Brief
13 June 2011 / Issue No. 452

Bulletin Board
Human Rights News
Job, Fellowship and Volunteer Postings
Educations Courses & Conferences

Bulletin Board

WORLD DAY AGAINST CHILD LABOR

Sunday, June 12th was World Day Against Child Labor. The ILO’s most recent global estimate is that 115 million children are involved in hazardous work. This is work that by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm children’s health, safety or morals. Children working in many different industries and occupations can be exposed to such risks and the problem is global, affecting industrialized as well as developing countries.

Learn more: http://www.ilo.org/global/meetings-and-events/events/world-day-against-child-labour/2011/lang–en/index.htm

IN THE DOCK: Defence Rights at the ICC

The International Bar Association (IBA) International Criminal Court (ICC) Programme has released a new film on defence rights at the ICC. Please find more information on the film and its launch by visiting http://www.ibanet.org/Article/Detail.aspx?ArticleUid=4B9CD7F3-9185-4EBC-B40B-D54B8CC8D01E

To watch the film Click here

IMPOWR Volunteers

Posted: 5/25/11

The ABA Section of International Law’s International Models Project on Women’s Rights (IMPOWR) is looking for volunteers to become Contributing Editors and Review Board Members. IMPOWR is a new initiative to establish a global collaborative database on women’s rights under law. It promises to play a unique role in supporting the worldwide implementation of the principles underlying the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). IMPOWR seeks experienced lawyers and law students with a depth of knowledge in foreign legal systems and national laws pertaining to gender equality in one or more of the topic areas covered in the database: CEDAW status; civil life (citizenship, voting rights, etc.); healthcare; marriage and family relations (marital rights, custody, inheritance, etc.); economic and social life (access to education, employment, property ownership, etc.); crimes and violence (trafficking, domestic violence, etc.); and access to justice. Volunteers will serve as “Contributing Editors” to perform research and develop content for the database. Review Board Members will review the database content for relevancy and accuracy.

Those interested in volunteering can complete the volunteer information form online www.impowr.org/volunteer or contact International Projects Director Christina Heid (christina.heid@americanbar.org) for additional information and indicate their substantive interest and background.

NEW RESOURCE: Human Rights in the United States: A Dictionary and Documents

This guide to Human Rights in the United States is a two-volume set offering easy to grasp explanations of the basic concepts and laws in the field, with emphasis on human rights in the historical, political, and legal experience of the United States. This indispensable resource surveys the legal protection of human dignity in the United States, examines the sources of human rights norms, cites key legal cases, explains the role of international governmental and non-governmental organizations, and charts global, regional, and UN human rights measures.

For more information please click on:

http://www.researchandmarkets.com/product/c3b7ca19/human_rights_in_the_united_states_a_dictiona

NEWSLETTER: War Crimes Prosecution Watch, Volume 6, Issue 4 – May 23, 2011

War Crimes Prosecution Watch is a bi-weekly e-newsletter that compiles official documents and articles from major news sources detailing and analyzing salient issues pertaining to the investigation and prosecution of war crimes throughout the world.

To read the newsletter visit: http://publicinternationallawandpolicygroup.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/wcpw_vol06_issue04.html

Human Rights News

SPANISH JUDGE ISSUES HISTORIC INDICTMENT AND ARREST WARRANTS AGAINST

20 DEFENDANTS IN JESUITS MASSACRE CASE

San Francisco, CA — Today, a Spanish judge issued a 77-page indictment and arrest warrants for 20

Salvadoran ex-officers who have been charged with crimes against humanity and state terrorism for their

role in the murders of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper, and her sixteen year old daughter in 1989. The

defendants were all members of the Salvadoran military, including several who were in the High

Command. The highest ranking defendant, Rafael Humberto Larios, was the Minister of Defense at the

time of the massacre. Also indicted is General Rafael Bustillo, Colonel Orlando Zepeda who was also

Vice Minister of Defense and Colonel Inocente Orlando Montano who was Vice Minister of Public

Safety.

In the lengthy charging document, Judge Eloy Velasco describes the far reaching conspiracy to kill the

Jesuit priests and explains how it was conceived as a military operation at the highest levels of the

Salvadoran Army and Military Intelligence. The defendants, the majority of whom are still residents of

El Salvador, have ten days to surrender to authorities before additional steps will be taken to ensure their

arrest. Colonel Orlando Montano is already in custody.

This indictment come almost three years since, the Center for Justice & Accountability (CJA) and the

Spanish Pro Human Rights Association (APDHE) initiated a case before the Spanish National Court for

the murders against members of the Salvadoran military. CJA has been working closely with Spanish and

US authorities to ensure the arrest of the defendants and to expand the case to include six more defendants

who were responsible for the massacre. CJA has presented extensive testimony to the court over the past

few years including expert testimony from Stanford Professor Terry Karl, military expert Colonel Garcia

and Salvadoran Judge Sydney Blanco, among others.

On the morning of November 16, 1989, in the midst of a bloody civil war, El Salvador and the world

woke up to the news that six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and the housekeeper’s daughter had been

brutally murdered. A Truth Commission report revealed that the Salvadoran military planned and

committed the crimes against the priests, who were outspoken critics of the military dictatorship. For the

past 21 years, all efforts to obtain justice in El Salvador have been thwarted. In explaining the basis for

the issuance of the indictment and the arrest warrants, the judge explains that any claim of double

jeopardy should fail because the 1990 trial held in El Salvador was a “sham trial.”

HIGH-PROFILE PANEL URGES NON-CRIMINAL APPROACH TO WORLD DRUG POLICY

The report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy, which includes former U.N. chief Kofi Annan and past presidents of Mexico, Brazil and Colombia, was swiftly dismissed by the U.S. and Mexico.

By Ken Ellingwood and Brian Bennett, Los Angeles Times

June 1, 2011, 6:41 p.m.

Reporting from Mexico City and Washington—

Calling the global war on drugs a costly failure, a group of high-profile world leaders is urging the Obama administration and other governments to end “the criminalization, marginalization and stigmatization of people who use drugs but do no harm to others.”

A report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy, which includes former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and past presidents of Mexico, Brazil and Colombia, recommends that governments try new ways of legalizing and regulating drugs, especially marijuana, as a way to deny profits to drug cartels.

The recommendation was swiftly dismissed by the Obama administration and the government of Mexico, which are allied in a violent 4 1/2 -year-old crackdown on cartels that has killed more than 38,000 people in Mexico.

“The U.S. needs to open a debate,” former Colombian President Cesar Gaviria, a member of the panel, said by telephone from New York, where the report is scheduled to be released Thursday. “When you have 40 years of a policy that is not bringing results, you have to ask if it’s time to change it.”

Editorial

SYED SAKEEN SGAGZAD’S COURAGE

Published: June 1, 2011

The Pakistani journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad knew he was a marked man. Mr. Shahzad, who covered national security and terrorism, had received repeated threats from Pakistan’s powerful spy agency. Yet he courageously kept doing his job — until somebody silenced him. His body, his face horribly beaten, was buried on Wednesday.

Suspicion inevitably falls on Inter-Services Intelligence, Pakistan’s chief intelligence agency. For the sake of justice, and the shredded credibility of Pakistan’s government, his murderers must be found quickly and held accountable.

Mr. Shahzad disappeared from Islamabad on Sunday, two days after he published an article suggesting a militant attack on a naval base in Karachi was retaliation for the navy’s attempt to crack down on Al Qaeda militants in the armed forces. American analysts doubt an Al Qaeda cell infiltrated Pakistani security, but they have long worried about individual sympathizers.

Whatever the case, the attack humiliated the ISI and the armed services. They were already fending off allegations that they sheltered Osama bin Laden and criticism for failing to stop the American raid that killed him.

IT’S TIME TO FOCUS ON TRAFFICKING IN LABOUR, URGES NEW REPORT

10 Jun 2011 06:14

Source: member // World Vision International

Trafficking is typically associated with the sex trade. But it is now clear that the sale of people into slavery in the fishing, food processing, domestic work and other industries is the most common form of trafficking and needs far more public attention if it is to be stopped, according to a new report on trafficking in the Mekong region.

World Vision International’s report ‘10 Things You Need To know About Labour Trafficking in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region’ lays out ten truths about trafficking that most people are unaware of in an effort to broaden debate about trafficking, and just who it is that ends up enslaved and where.

Based on findings from other reports as well as case studies collected by World Vision in the course of its efforts to fight trafficking across the region, the report states that across the Asia Pacific region there are an estimated three people trafficked for every 1,000 inhabitants while globally for every person forced into the sex trade, nine are forced to work.

The report states: “Trafficking for labour exploitation is generally not considered as severe a crime as trafficking for sexual exploitation, and there is a high level of impunity for offenders. Victims of labour trafficking are often not identified as such, and instead are detained and deported from the country where the exploitation took place. As a result, the majority of trafficked persons do not have access to assistance or justice, and the traffickers remain free to exploit others.”

To learn more about the Ten Things, the report recommendations for action and to read the case studies of survivors download ‘The Ten Things You Need to Know About Labour Trafficking’ report.

BASHIR COMMITTING NEW CRIMES IN DARFUR

UNITED NATIONS — Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir is committing new crimes in Darfur and challenging the authority of the UN Security Council, the chief international warcrimes prosecutor said Wednesday.

“Crimes against humanity and genocide continue unabated in Darfur,” International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo told the Security Council.

He said new air attacks on civilians and killings of ethnic minorities had been carried out in the conflict-stricken western region, where the United Nations says at least 300,000 people have died since an uprising started in 2003.

“These millions of victims displaced are still subjected today to rapes, terror and conditions of life aimed at the destruction of their communities, constituting genocide,” Moreno-Ocampo said.

Bashir has already been charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes by the ICC but refuses to recognize its authority, though his travels have been severely restricted.

“President al-Bashir has learned how to continue to commit crimes challenging the authority of the UN

Security Council,” the prosecutor said in his report to the council on Darfur.

“He did not stop the commission of the genocide against the displaced, but he is blocking the dissemination of information about their fate.”

CHIQUITA FAILS TO HALT SUIT OVER COLUMBIA TORTURE, MURDER

By Ann Woolner – Jun 3, 2011

Chiquita Brands International Inc. (CQB), owner of the namesake banana label, failed to halt U.S. lawsuits brought by thousands of Colombians who said they or their relatives were tortured or killed by militias the company paid.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra in West Palm Beach, Florida, today denied Chiquita’s motion to dismiss some of the claims brought under the Alien Tort Statute and the Torture Victim Protection Act. The civil suits, which have been joined into a single case, seek compensation for the victims.

The Cincinnati-based company was fined $25 million by the U.S. after pleading guilty in March 2007 to engaging in transactions with a terrorist group for paying Colombian paramilitary militias $1.7 million from 1997 to 2004. No executives were charged.

The seven complaints consolidated before Marra cover“several thousand” plaintiffs alleging their family members were killed or tortured by Colombian paramilitary groups in banana-growing regions of the country, according to today’s order. The paramilitaries targeted trade unionists and leftist activists, the judge said.

GADDAFI FACES NEW ICC CHARGES FOR USING RAPE AS WEAPON IN CONFLICT

Chief prosecutor investigates evidence of sexual attacks on women as Britain tells Nato: you must do more

The chief prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC) is likely to add rape to the war crimes charges against Muammar Gaddafi on the back of mounting evidence that sexual attacks on women are being used as a weapon in the Libyan conflict.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo told reporters at the UN in New York last night there were strong indications that hundreds of women had been raped in the Libyan government clampdown on the popular uprising and that Gaddafi had ordered the violations as a form of punishment.

The prosecutor said there was even evidence that the government had been handing out doses of Viagra to soldiers to encourage sexual attacks. Moreno-Ocampo said rape was a new tactic for the Libyan regime. “That’s why we had doubts at the beginning, but now we are more convinced. Apparently, [Gaddafi] decided to punish, using rape.”

MLADIC SHUNS ‘MONSTROUS’ CHARGES

Ex-Bosnian Serb army head Ratko Mladic has made his first appearance at The Hague war crimes tribunal, but said he would not enter a plea to the “monstrous” and “obnoxious” charges.

He is charged with crimes in the 1992-95 Bosnian war, including the massacre of about 7,500 people in Srebrenica.

Gen Mladic told the court he had been “defending my people and my country”.

He also said he was “gravely ill”, but a court spokeswoman said health checks had shown he was fit to stand trial.

Nerma Jelacic said a variety of tests had been done on Gen Mladic since he arrived at The Hague, but none had turned up any health issues to cause concern.

Gen Mladic, who was arrested last week in Serbia, is charged with genocide, persecution, extermination, murder, deportation, inhumane acts, terror, deportation and hostage-taking, according to the tribunal indictment.

SESELJ CONTEMPT TRIAL CHAOS

Disputes around protective measures for witnesses disrupts case.

By Rachel Irwin – International Justice – ICTY

TRI Issue 696,

10 Jun 11

The second contempt trial for Serbian nationalist politician Vojislav Seselj ended abruptly at the Hague tribunal this week when one defence witness refused to testify with protective measures and the accused would not call the rest of his witnesses unless their identities were revealed publicly.

When the judges informed Seselj that they could not rescind the protective measures and that he would have to submit this request to the judges hearing his criminal trial, the accused said this was a “brutal violation” of his rights.

“I am a very thorough and patient,” Seselj said. “Once one [contempt trial] is completed, I will prepare myself for the next one, and the next one…your problem is how you are going to get away from that.”

Detained at the tribunal since 2003, Seselj is charged with nine counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity – including murder, torture and forcible transfer – for atrocities carried out in an effort to expel the non-Serb population from parts of Croatia and Bosnia between August 1991 and September 1993. He represents himself in court and remains leader of the Serbian Radical Party, SRS, based in Belgrade.

Seselj’s criminal trial has endured repeated delays since it officially began in November 2007, a full year after the original trial date was postponed due to the defendant’s hunger strike. The defence phase of the case has yet to begin.

IRISH CHURCH’S FORGOTTEN VICTIMS TAKE CASE TO U.N.

By CAROL RYAN

DUBLIN — For years, it was Ireland’s hidden scandal: an estimated 30,000 women were sent to church-run laundries, where they were abused and worked for years with no pay. Their offense, in the eyes of society, was to break the strict sexual rules of Catholic Ireland, having children outside wedlock.

Although it has been over a decade since their story came to light, the women are still waiting for an apology, and possibly compensation.

Now, an advocacy group, Justice for Magdalenes, which has spent the last two years lobbying the Irish government to investigate the history of the laundries, is taking the case to the United Nations, alleging the abuse amounted to human rights violations, and hoping that an official rebuke from the international body will shame the government into action.

“We don’t take any pleasure in embarrassing the government in this way but we have worked the domestic structure as far as we can and still the government has done nothing,” said James Smith of Boston College, a spokesman for Justice for Magdalenes.

The United Nations is examining Ireland’s human rights record this week as part of the Universal Periodic Review, a review of the human rights records of all 192 member states. The U.N. Committee Against Torture invited Justice for Magdalenes to make a statement in Geneva after reading their submission about the alleged abuses in the laundries.

Maeve O’Rourke, a Harvard Law School human rights fellow, presented the Magdalenes’ case last Friday. She told the committee that the Irish government’s failure to deal with the abuse amounted to continuing degrading treatment in violation of the Convention Against Torture. She also said the state had failed to promptly investigate “a more than 70-year system of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of women and girls in Ireland’s Magdalene laundries.”

The story of the Magdalene women was uncovered in 1993 when a religious order in Dublin cashed in on the booming Irish property market and sold a portion of its land to a developer. The bodies of 155 women who had died in the laundry were exhumed from unmarked graves and the media began to ask questions. The story went made international headlines with the release of Peter Mullan’s 2002 film “The Magdalene Sisters.”

Job, Fellowship, and Volunteer Postings

ABA-SIL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE JOB BOARD

The ABA-SIL Human Rights Committee is pleased to announce a comprehensive new Job Board consisting of web pages for potential employment opportunities from dozens of international human rights NGOs. The job board was developed by ABA member Ellen J. Tabachnick. It can be accessed from the Committee Resource module in the lower right column of our committee’s home page at http://www.abanet.org/dch/committee.cfm?com=IC950000.

THE ARIEL F. SALLOWS CHAIR OF HUMAN RIGHTS

University of Saskatchewan – College of Law

The Sallows Chair will be of interest to outstanding candidates who have made distinguished contributions to research and/or practice in human rights; the candidate must have the academic qualifications required for an academic appointment. Past holders include Penelope Andrews, Marilou McPhedran, Virginia Leary, Paul Mahoney, Shelley Wright, the late Martin Ennals, Rebecca Wallace, Abdullah An-Na’im, Nihal Jayawickrama, Francisco Forrest Martin and Roy Adams.

Successful candidates for the Chair will be in residence in the College of Law, and it is normally expected that the candidate will pursue a research program, teach a course or seminar, give a public lecture and oversee the planning for a conference. Tenure will normally be for one year, but in any event no longer than two years. Salary will be commensurate with the experience and standing of the holders. The date for appointment is flexible, and may be as early as January 1, 2012.

Letters of application, accompanied by a current curriculum vitae and an outline of the research plans of the candidate, should be sent to:

Beth Bilson, Acting Dean
College of Law
University of Saskatchewan
15 Campus Drive
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
S7N 5A6

Deadline: December 31, 2011

http://www.usask.ca/law/faculty_sessionals/employment_opportunities.php

INTERNATIONAL JOBS

Program Director Anti Corruption
DynCorp International (Casals and Associates)
Location: Falls Church, VA, USA
Last Date: June 15, 2011
http://devnetjobs.tripod.com/11may2011-dyncorp-anti-corruption-director.html

Outreach Manager, Judicial Training Project
Management Systems International (MSI)
Location: Sri Lanka
Last Date: June 18, 2011
http://216.197.119.113/jobman/publish/article_75976.shtml

Senior Child Protection Advisor, Children and Women Protection Project
Management Systems International (MSI)
Location: Haiti
Last Date: June 25, 2011
http://216.197.119.113/jobman/publish/article_76144.shtml

Fundraiser
Friends of the Earth Europe
Location: Brussels, Belgium
Last Date: June 26, 2011
http://devnetjobs.tripod.com/fundraiser-foe-26may2011.html

Legal Education and Training Advisor
International Development Law Organization
Location: Juba, Southern Sudan
Last Date: June 30, 2011
http://216.197.119.113/jobman/publish/article_76230.shtml

SOURCE: See more jobs at: http://www.DevNetJobs.org or by sending a blank email to:
developmentjobs-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Educational Courses & Conferences

THE FLETCHER SUMMER INSTITUTE FOR THE ADVANCED STUDY OF NONVIOLENT CONFLICT

Tufts University / Medford, Massachusetts

June 19-25, 2011

Visit the FSI 2011 Webpage

Download Flyer

Download Application

The International Center on Nonviolent Conflict is pleased to announce a call for applications to participate in an advanced, interdisciplinary program on nonviolent conflict taught by leading scholars and practitioners of strategic nonviolent action and authorities from related fields.

We also invite you to pass along this announcement to others who share our passion for achieving human rights and justice through nonviolent strategies.

If you have any questions, or would like for us to send you an application directly, please do not hesitate to contact us at fsi@nonviolent-conflict.org or visit our website at www.nonviolent-conflict.org.

JUSTICE SECTOR REFORM: APPLYING HUMAN RIGHTS BASED APPROACHES

IHRN

Announcing details of the International Human Rights Network 2011 justice sector training programme Justice Sector Reform: Applying Human Rights Based Approaches (OJIR11)
Dates: Monday 20th – Friday 24th June 2011 Venue: National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Ireland

This annual IHRN training programme aims at enhancing the skills of justice sector personnel, consultants, managers etc, in applying Human Rights Based Approaches to Justice Sector Reform. The programme is designed for people working in the justice sector (with state or non state institutions) or undertaking Rule of law/Governance assignments as well as justice sector personnel wishing to adapt their expertise for international consultancy work (eg for bi-lateral donors, EC Framework Contract Lot 7 – Governance and Home Affairs etc).

Knowledge and skills enhanced include:
*The legal principles, policies & practice underpinning human rights based approaches to justice sector reform
*The inter-linkages between justice sector roles (law enforcement, judiciary, corrections/rehabilitation, etc)
*The relationship between the justice sector and related terms; ‘security sector’, ‘rule of law’, ‘good governance’
*Human Rights Based needs assessment, programme design, implementation, as well as monitoring & evaluation
*Programming tools & checklists (including benchmarks & indicators of human rights change)
*Case studies from national contexts as well as international field missions (including conflict and post-conflict)
*Teamwork, advocacy, strategic partnerships and consulting opportunities

Past participant testimonials, Application forms and further details available at
http://www.ihrnetwork.org/justice-sector-reform_202.htm

LLM HUMAN RIGHTS LAW AND TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE
Transitional Justice Institute
University of Ulster
(Jordanstown and Magee campuses, Northern Ireland)

This LLM programme based at the Transitional Justice Institute, with staff expertise across a range of areas, offers an LL.M. degree which is designed to give students a unique lens on the study of human rights in the contemporary international moment. Using the local Northern Ireland political and legal context as a starting point the course will imbue students with a working knowledge of international norms and principles, while at the same time encouraging students to move beyond the local to reflect critically on present international law norms and their application to other situations and contexts. Students are encouraged to develop and transfer knowledge, experience and expertise of the transformative possibilities of human rights law both in respect of societies emerging from violent conflict and in relation to the local and global management of other particular societal problems. This dual focus – from the local to the global and back – is a core part of the course’s aim to equip you with the knowledge and skills base to contribute internationally as well as locally.

This programme has been developed to enable students to:
* Gain an in-depth knowledge of the theoretical and practical application of human rights law.
* Understand the particular human rights issues in conflicted and transitional societies.
* Gain knowledge and skills in carrying out research projects from design to write-up.
* Enhance skills in critically appraising published and commissioned research.
* Develop skills highly relevant to legal practice, and to policy, research and advocacy roles in the voluntary, public and private sectors in the UK, Ireland and beyond. Successful completion may also open up a range of further study and research options.

Further Information
Download Information Leaflet
TJI website: www.transitionaljustice.ulster.ac.uk , or
Applications should ordinarily be received before the last Friday in June, although consideration may be given to applications received after this date.
Contact
Ms Emer Carlin
Secretary
Transitional Justice Institute
Magee campus
Tel: + 44 (0) 28 71675146
Email:LLM@ulster.ac.uk

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RIGHTS IN A TIME OF AUSTERITY

Durham Law School and the Faculty of Laws, Oxford, will host a one-day workshop on ‘Economic and Social Rights in a Time of Austerity’ on 30 June.

Date: 30 June 2011

Venue; Oxford Faculty of Laws

The workshop aims to explore the role of human rights, and particularly ESR, in the context of austerity policies fashioned in the wake of the global financial crisis. It does so though focussing on four main

themes: Monitoring, Mainstreaming, Legal Processes and Equality. It features leading ESR experts working in law, academia, the public sector and civil society.

Details of the event, including speakers and a draft programme are available at:

www.esrinatimeofausterity.com

Places are limited. To register, please contact Arghya Sengupta (Arghya.sengupta@balliol.ox.ac.uk).

HUMAN RIGHTS COURSES

Intervention Training. Join the Law Society’s International Action Team (IAT)

Date: 28th June 2011

Time: 16.00-15.30

Location: The Law Society, Chancery Lane

To book online, click here: http://services.lawsociety.org.uk/events/node/53460

Common Law and Convention Law: The Limits to Interpretation

The Law Society is hosting a lecture by Baroness Hale of Richmond on the common law and human rights. Lord Lester of Herne Hill will be chairing.

Date: 28th June 2011

Time: 18.00-19.30

Location: The Law Society, Chancery Lane

For more information: http://www.hrla.org.uk/HRLA%20Event%2028th%20June%202011.pdf

The Ruggie Guidelines on Business and Human Rights – What Do They Mean for Lawyers?

The event explores how these new guidelines affect the advice lawyers give business clients.

Date: 5th July 2011

Time: 18.00-19.30

Location: The Law Society, Chancery Lane

For more information and to book a place: http://services.lawsociety.org.uk/events/node/53386

Reminder

The materials and information included in this listserv are provided as a service to you and do not necessarily reflect endorsement by the American Bar Association or the Section of International Law. We encourage subscribers to pass the information along to colleagues and other interested parties and to contribute press releases, news items, event listings, job vacancies and other appropriate information. To post a message email INTHUMRIGHTS@mail.abanet.org. For questions, suggestions or problems, contact Russell Kerr, russell@kerrlawfirm.com.

Thank you again for your interest and participation!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This weekly digest contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material in this digest is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to:

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Chevron v. Donziger – Amicus Brief of International Law Professors

Posted in Human Rights, International Environmental Law, International Law, International Law and Municipal Law with tags Chevron v. Donziger on June 10, 2011 by Don Anton

UPDATE: By letter to the Court, dated June 14, 2011, Chevron has consented to the filing of the brief.

Yesterday a number of my International Law colleagues and I filed a Motion for Leave to File an Amici Curiae Brief in support of the appeal by Ecuadorian defendants in Chevron v. Donziger (which includes a copy of the Brief) in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. For those unfamiliar with the facts surrounding the case, below is a summary of a detailed synopsis provided by a colleague.

The case goes back to 1964, when Texaco, Chevron’s predecessor operated a large oil concession in the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest. Between 1964 and 1990, Texaco dumped about 16 billion gallons of toxic substances into the surface water of the Amazon, relied upon by indigenous Amazon and remote farmers for all domestic and agricultural uses. Texaco also created hundreds of unlined pits in the jungle floor and filled them with toxic sludge. Internal Texaco Memos document that Texaco had a policy of avoiding the documentation of oil spills and of destroying records of previous spills. The Memos also reveal that Texaco decided against adopting the environmental practices used in the United States because it would hurt profits.

In 1993, the Amazon indigenous communities and remote farmers sued Texaco in the United States, its home jurisdiction, seeking redress for damages caused by Texaco’s operations. From 1993 to 2002 Texaco and later Chevron, when it acquired Texaco, fought to have the case dismissed and moved to Ecuador as the more appropriate forum to try the case. During this time Chevron removed all assets from Ecuador. Ultimately, the U.S. action was dismissed in exchange for promises by Chevron to accept jurisdiction in Ecuador and satisfy any judgment rendered by an Ecuadorian court.

The case was refiled in Ecuador and on valentine’s day this year, February 14, Judge Lozada fo the Provincial Court fo Sucumbios delivered a 188 page judgment against Chevron awarding the indigenous communities and remote farmers $8.6 billion in damages, with $5.6 billion going toward environmental remediation.

Anticipating the worst, Chevron took preemptive action back in the United States. With the judgment not even final and no possibility for enforcement in the U.S., Chevron filed a complaint against the Ecuadorians seeking declaratory relief for non-recognition of the Ecuadorian judgment and a preliminary injunction enjoining the Ecuadorians for seeking to have the Ecuadorian judgment recognized or enforced anywhere in the world. On March 7, 2011, the U.S. Federal District Court in the Southern District of New York granted the preliminary injunction in this Opinion.

This is where my colleagues and I came in. As you will see from our Brief, we believe that the District Court erred in granting the injunction and that international legal obligations of the United States requires that the injunction be dissolved and the case dismissed.

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ABA International Human Rights e-Brief, 9 MAY 2011 / Issue No. 449

Posted in ABA Human Rights e-Brief, Human Rights on May 9, 2011 by Don Anton

ABA International Human Rights e-Brief
9 MAY 2011 / Issue No. 449

Bulletin Board
Human Rights News
Job, Fellowship and Volunteer Postings
Educations Courses & Conferences

Bulletin Board

ABA HUMAN RIGHTS SUMMIT

The American Bar Association Center for Human Rights convened an ABA Human Rights Summit on April 5 in Washington, DC, to survey the ABA’s various human rights-related activities and explore the legal profession’s (and thus the ABA’s) unique potential to advance human rights globally. The Summit welcomed more than 40 participants from across the ABA and interested external organizations for a full-day’s discussion of relevant topics. The ABA Media Relations Office covered the Summit and posted a brief summary to the ABANow website:

Successful Human Rights Summit Lays Foundation for Future Work

http://www.abanow.org/2011/04/successful-human-rights-summit-lays-foundation-for-future-work/

As distilled at theSummit, theABA’s unique human rights potential was identified as including the following influential roles, among others:

A respected convener to create a constructive “neutral space” for competing human rights interests;
A legitimizer of human rights law as law to be observed and respected, taking such advocacy “to a whole new level,” including in theUnited States; and
A dynamic bridge between policy or project efforts that otherwise may tend to be ‘siloed’ by institutional or other constraints.

The Center’s Executive Board, at its business meeting following theSummit, unanimously approved specific recommendations made at the close of theSummitby those in attendance. In particular, the Center will make immediate efforts to establish regular communication and coordination among and betweenABAentities that address human rights issues. These efforts include:

Revamping the Center’s website to highlight and link to participating human rights entities, under appropriate subject headings, for ease of reference by website visitors;

Establishing a listserv among participating human rights entities to facilitate regular communication about their respective activities, stimulate ideas, and maximize resources;

Establishing, by agreement among interested ABA human rights entities, a method by which the ABA entities can better coordinate and support each other’s efforts; and

Producing an electronic newsletter, to be disseminated regularly and widely within theABAand beyond, providing in-depth reports on cutting-edge human rights issues and the collective efforts of theABAand its partners in the human rights community to address them.

The Center’s Board also appointed a planning committee to begin now the planning process for convening the second ABA Human Rights Summit next year. ABA Human Rights Summit II will build on the foundation put in place at Summit I and will focus on creative approaches to realizing the legal profession’s unique potential to promote and protect the human dignity of all people.

Human Rights News

FEARS IN CHINA AS ANOTHER HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER DISAPPEARS

Li Fangping went missing on Friday, the day that Chinese authorities released fellow lawyer Teng Biao

Tania Branigan in Beijing

guardian.co.uk, Sunday 1 May 2011 13.45 BST

Campaigners have warned that Chinese human rights lawyers remain under intense pressure, following the disappearance of another high-profile legal figure.

Li Fangping went missing on Friday after ringing his wife to say state security agents were waiting for him – just as lawyer Teng Biao returned home after a two-month disappearance. The US had singled out Teng’s treatment and that of other missing lawyers in human rights talks the previous day. “The Chinese authorities are resorting to an old trick, the revolving-door approach – one in, one out – to create the impression that things are improving,” said Renee Xia of the Chinese Human Rights’ Defenders network.

“The crackdown on lawyers has not stopped,” added Patrick Poon of the China Human Rights Lawyers’ Concern Group.

He said he found this case particularly incomprehensible because while Li acted in high-profile cases he was careful not to discuss sensitive political issues.

Li’s clients have included Zhao Lianhai, who founded a website about tainted baby milk after his son became sick, and activist and dissident Hu Jia.

Phelim Kine, Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch, said Li’s disappearance suggested “a calculated effort to eviscerate China’s besieged rights defence movement”.

SPANISH CIVIL WAR VICTIMS’ BODIES FINALLY REMOVED FROM MASS GRAVE

Spain’s government publishes first country-wide map of locations of more than 2,000 mass graves from the civil war

Giles Tremlett in Madrid

guardian.co.uk, Thursday 5 May 2011 20.01 BST

The bones of 62-year-old Severina Gómez and 23 others whose remains had lain together for 75 years, surrounded by bullet cases and with hands tied behind backs, have finally been removed from their mass grave in countryside near the central Spanish village of Loma de Montija.

Anxious family members watched last week as forensic archaeologists and volunteers scraped through layers of mud to uncover evidence of a crime committed in the heat of a civil war that still haunts parts of Spain – and that served as a curtain raiser to the bloodshed of the second world war.

After a decade of bitter debate over how to heal the wounds left by conflict and dictatorship without stoking ancient hatreds, Spain’s government on Thursday published on the internet the first countrywide map showing the location of more than 2,000 mass graves from the civil war.

The map is part of a series of measures, including a searchable database of victims and graves, designed to satisfy the demands of people such as Gómez’s grandson, Agustín Fernández, who led a local campaign to dig up the Loma de Montija grave.

“We used to go and lay flowers there on All Saints’ Day, but the police would try to stop us and others would take them away. Even now the village is split,” said Fernández, 64, who is waiting for DNA tests to identify his grandmother.

Severina Gómez was one of some 120,000 leftwing sympathisers killed away from the frontline by the nationalist forces of the rightwing dictator General Francisco Franco after he rebelled against Spain’s elected government in 1936. “My father died with the pain of never having recovered his mother’s corpse,” Fernández said.

GADDAFI ARREST LIKELY TO GET GO-AHEAD AS UN LOOKS TO WAR CRIMES TRIAL

International community faces difficult task bringing Libyan leader to court but targeting Gaddafi may force defections

Julian Borger and Ed Pilkington in New York

guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 4 May 2011 21.44 BST

The next step along the road to war crimes prosecutions in Libya will come in about a fortnight’s time, when prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo will submit his request for three arrest warrants to one of the international criminal court‘s two pre-trial chambers for approval.

The Libyan case is being handled by Chamber I, made up of three judges, from Brazil, Italy and Botswana. In March 2009 the three approved an arrest warrant against President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan for crimes against humanity and war crimes; the chamber originally rejected the prosecutor’s call for an additional charge of genocide, but that was overturned on appeal.

Legal observers said that in the Gaddafi case they expected the judges to uphold the central charges outlined in Moreno-Ocampo’s report.

The question then arises as to which organisation should carry out the arrest. Under the 1998 Rome Statute on which the court was built, that duty falls first to the national government in question, and there is at least a faint hope among western governments that the issuing of ICC arrest warrants would provide a trigger and a legal justification for any remaining waverers in the Gaddafi camp to move against him.

If not, the UN security council has to decide what to do. The job could be passed to Nato, but that would require a resolution, which Russia and China could well object to. They already believe that the February resolution allowing “all necessary measures” to protect Libyan civilians has been exploited by Nato to wage war on the side of the rebels.

To further complicate the situation, the Obama administration might also object, as it would involve sending troops into Tripoli, something that Washington has sworn not to do.

COURT RULING A MAJOR STEP FORWARD FOR CASE AGAINST CANADIAN MINING COMPANY

28th April 2011

Montreal. The Superior Court of Quebec has ruled today that the case against Canadian corporation Anvil Mining Limited in relation to alleged involvement in a 2004 massacre in the Democratic Republic of Congo can proceed to the next stage.

The class action against Anvil Mining was filed in the District of Montreal on 8 November 2010 by The Canadian Association against Impunity, an organization representing survivors and families of victims of the Kilwa massacre. Anvil Mining is accused of providing logistical support to the Congolese army who raped, murdered and brutalised the people of Kilwa in a massacre in 2004. According to the United Nations, over 70 civilians died as a direct result of the military action, including some who were executed and thrown in mass graves

In his decision, Judge Benoît Emery dismissed Anvil Mining’s attempt to have the case thrown out and concluded that there were sufficient links to Quebec to found the Quebec court’s jurisdiction over the case. Judge Emery also dismissed Anvil Mining’s argument that Quebec was not the appropriate forum and that the case should rather be brought in the DRC or Australia. Judge Emery stated:

(translation) “In fact, at this stage of the proceedings, everything indicates that if the Tribunal dismissed the action on the basis of article 3135 C.C.Q.[which allows the court to decline jurisdiction if another forum is more appropriate], there would exist no other possibility for the victims to be heard by civil justice”

Patricia Feeney, President of The Canadian Association against Impunity, said “We strongly welcome this decision. It represents a significant step forward in the process of trying to hold Anvil Mining to account and to bring some justice to the victims of the massacre and their families”.

The court will now consider whether the case should be certified as a class action, allowing all those who suffered in Kilwa to bring claims against Anvil Mining. A hearing on the class certification is scheduled for June.

UN ENVOY WELCOMES START OF TRIAL OF TWO MEN ACCUSED OF MASS RAPES IN DR CONGO

The official spearheading United Nations efforts to combat the scourge of sexual violence committed during war has welcomed today’s start of a trial in Germany of two Rwandans accused of ordering massacres and mass rape in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Ignace Murwanashyaka and Straton Musoni each face 39 charges of war crimes and 26 counts of crimes against humanity over their alleged actions in the eastern DRC in 2008-09.

Prosecutors in the German city of Stuttgart say the two men served as leaders in the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (known by its French acronym of FDLR), a notorious militia accused of numerous atrocities in the eastern DRC in recent years.

Margot Wallström, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, issued a statement in which she applauded German authorities for “having apprehended these alleged perpetrators and for bringing them to justice.”

German law allows the prosecution of foreigners for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed elsewhere.

Ms. Wallström said the trial is “a clear sign that there is no safe haven for suspected criminals and that impunity for conflict-related sexual violence is not an option.”

She said her office would continue to monitor the trial and all incidents of conflict-related sexual violence closely.

The envoy has spoken out repeatedly about the widespread sexual violence taking place in the DRC, particularly in the far east, where many militia groups still clash with Congolese armed forces and attack civilians.

SOURCE: UN DAILY NEWS DIGEST – 4 May 2011

CôTE D’IVOIRE: UN HUMAN RIGHTS TEAM HEADS TO ALLEGED MASS GRAVE SITE

A United Nations human rights team is investigating the reported killing earlier this week of at least 40 people in the Yopougon district of Côte d’Ivoire’s commercial capital, Abidjan, and is due to visit an alleged mass grave there today, according to a spokesperson.

At the same time, the independent international commission of inquiry set up by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate the alleged abuses and rights violations committed in Côte d’Ivoire following the 28 November 2010 presidential elections has arrived in the country.

Nearly 500 people are confirmed to have died and up to 1 million have been displaced as a result of the post-election violence that was precipitated by Laurent Gbagbo’s refusal to step aside following his defeat to Alassane Ouattara in the UN-certified polls – a crisis that finally ended last month with Mr. Gbagbo’s surrender.

“The Human Rights Division of UNOCI [UN peacekeeping mission in Côte d’Ivoire] has received allegations on the existence of a mass grave as well as the possible killing of civilians in Yopougon by both sides,” Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told reporters in Geneva.

He added that a human rights special investigation team from UNOCI is due to visit the site of the alleged mass grave today.

In addition to the killings in Yopougon, staff from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) will also be looking into an attack against a Baptist church allegedly carried out by the pro-Ouattara Forces Républicaines de Côte d’Ivoire (FRCI) during the post-electoral violence, Mr. Colville said.

The International Commission of Inquiry on Côte d’Ivoire, led by Vitit Muntabhorn, Suliman Baldo and Reine Alapini Gansou, arrived on Wednesday and is currently holding meetings in Abidjan. It will travel to other parts of the country next week.

The team’s mandate is to investigate the facts surrounding allegations of serious human rights abuses committed in Côte d’Ivoire following the November elections, to identify those responsible for such acts and bring them to justice.

Meanwhile, UNOCI personnel are continuing to provide security in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) throughout the country, as well as regular medical assistance, including through ensuring the availability of potable water and installing sanitary facilities to help prevent disease outbreaks.

UNOCI spokesperson Hamadoun Touré told a news conference in Abidjan yesterday that a UN assessment team is currently in the country to prepare the future role of the mission.

SOURCE: UN DAILY NEWS DIGEST – 6 May 2011

4 May 2011 Last updated at 08:43 ET

VOJISLAV SESELJ: UN TRIBUNAL DISMISSES ACQUITAL BID

The UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague has dismissed a motion for the acquittal of Serbian ultra-nationalist Vojislav Seselj.

Mr Seselj, leader of the Serbian Radical Party, is charged with nine counts relating to the Croatian and Bosnian wars of the 1990s.

He has pleaded not guilty and filed a motion for acquittal and compensation.

While he does not deny making nationalist speeches, he says they did not constitute war crimes.

The BBC’s Balkans correspondent Mark Lowen says that in the 18 years of proceedings at the tribunal, no defendant has ever been acquitted under the rule Mr Seselj has invoked.

Mr Seselj surrendered to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in 2003.

He is accused of forming a joint criminal enterprise with the late Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic to “ethnically cleanse” large parts of Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia’s northern Vojvodina region.

The charges against him include murder, torture, sexual assault, forced transportation and destruction of property.

But earlier this year he filed a motion under the court’s “Rule 98 bis”, arguing that the prosecution’s evidence was insufficient to support a conviction.

Job, Fellowship, and Volunteer Postings

ABA-SIL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE JOB BOARD

ADVOCACY COUNSEL

Human Rights First

Human Rights First seeks an Advocacy Counsel for the Law and Security Program. The Law and Security Program Advocacy Counsel is responsible for devising, planning, coordinating, and executing strategies for influencing U.S. human rights policy on the range of issues covered by Human Rights First’s Law and Security Program. He/She will work as part of the Law and Security team, reporting to the Director of Law & Security, and working in close collaboration with the program’s team members in Washington, D.C. and New York, the International Legal Director, as well as colleagues in the Communications Department.

The Law and Security Program works to promote a greater understanding of and respect for human rights in national security and counterterrorism policies. Our work and reputation are defined by rigorous original research and reporting, strategic advocacy and litigation, and a commitment to communicating sophisticated and pragmatic legal and policy analysis to high-level decision makers and the general public alike.
START DATE: September 2011

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: May 13, 2011

This position is based in our Washington DC office. For more information or to apply, please visit: http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/Jobs/apply_staff.aspx?qs=EO

Ph.D. RESEARCHER

Media Law Section of the Department of Communication Studies, Center for Journalism Studies and at the Law Faculty, the Human Rights Centre, Ghent University

The Media Law Section of the Department for Communication Studies of Ghent University together with the Human Rights Centre at the Law Faculty of Ghent University are looking for a Ph.D. researcher to work during 4 years on the topic of “Interferences with freedom of expression and ‘chilling effect’ ”.

The goal of the research project is to analyse the impact of the notion of the ‘chilling effect’ on freedom of expression as referred to by the European Court of Human Rights and within other international, regional or national human rights systems. The research projects includes the analysis of applications of laws and interferences with freedom of expression relating to political speech, defamation, protection of journalistic sources, newsgathering, media reporting, investigative journalism, ngos reporting on matters of public interest or contributing to public debate, freedom of artistic expression and freedom of academic speech. The research project will develop and apply a methodology in order to identify and describe different kinds and consequences of chilling effect in the domain of public debate, media, journalism, art and academic research. The project will also specifically focus on the issue of minor offences, investigative journalism and chilling effect.

The researcher will work under the supervision of Prof. Dirk Voorhoof (www.psw.ugent.be/dv). Co-supervisor is Prof. Eva Brems.
Starting date: 1 September 2010
Ph.D. grant ca.1570-1750 Euro net/month (tax free)

Profile

law degree obtained with good (preferably excellent) grades
fluency in written and spoken English
good research and writing skills
good social skills
knowledge of and insight in human rights law, preferably with special interest regarding media law, information law, journalism studies or free speech issues.

More information can be obtained from prof. Dirk Voorhoof, dirk.voorhoof@ugent.be
More information about Ghent and Ghent University, see www.ugent.be

Please e-mail your CV with the contact details of two references, a letter of motivation and a sample of your writing skills (preferably in English) to prof. Dirk Voorhoof, dirk.voorhoof@ugent.be by 1 June 2010.

THE ARIEL F. SALLOWS CHAIR OF HUMAN RIGHTS

University of Saskatchewan – College of Law

Letters of application, accompanied by a current curriculum vitae and an outline of the research plans of the candidate, should be sent to:

Beth Bilson, Acting Dean
College of Law
University of Saskatchewan
15 Campus Drive
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
S7N 5A6

Deadline: December 31, 2011

http://www.usask.ca/law/faculty_sessionals/employment_opportunities.php

INTERNATIONAL JOBS

Director, Central America Program
Trickle Up
Location: New York, NY
Last Date: May 9, 2011
http://devnetjobs.tripod.com/26april2011-trickleup-centralamerica.html

Country Director
Helen Keller International
Location: Dar el Salaam, Tanzania
Last Date: May 13, 2011
http://devnetjobs.tripod.com/26april2011-hki-tanzania.html

Ecuador Interim Director
Free The Children
Location: Ecuador
Last Date: May 13, 2011
http://devnetjobs.tripod.com/freethechildren-13april2011.html

Senior Judicial Reform Specialist, Judicial Strengthening Program
Management Systems International (MSI)
Location: Kyrgyzstan
Last Date: May 22, 2011
http://216.197.119.113/jobman/publish/article_75346.shtml

Director – Middle East and North Africa Programme
Amnesty International (AI)
Location: London, UK
Last Date: May 22, 2011
http://216.197.119.113/jobman/publish/article_75215.shtml

Communications & Reporting Consultant, Rule of Law Stabilization Program
Management Systems International (MSI)
Location: Afghanistan
Last Date: May 25, 2011
http://216.197.119.113/jobman/publish/article_75408.shtml

Programme Director – Gender, Sexuality & Identity
Amnesty International
Location: London, UK
Last Date: June 1, 2011
http://216.197.119.113/jobman/publish/article_75606.shtml

SOURCE: See more jobs at: http://www.DevNetJobs.org or by sending a blank email to:
developmentjobs-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Educational Courses & Conferences

4th ANNUAL ADVANCED TRAINING COURSE ON MONITORING ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS

The Project on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights organizes annually professional training courses on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Project has extensive experience in organizing two types of training aimed at providing professionals with tailored knowledge on the protection of ESC rights according to their level of experience. The “Training Course on Understanding Economic, Social and Cultural Rights” is designed to introduce participants to ESC rights, while the “Advanced Training Course on Monitoring Economic, Social and Cultural Rights” is aimed at providing more practical tools to advanced professionals in this area.

On this occasion, the Project proudly announces the organization of the 4th annual Advanced Training Course on Monitoring Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The Training Course will take place in Geneva, Switzerland from 9-13 May 2011.

The course is designed for professionals with advanced experience in working on ESC rights. The course will most benefit representatives from NGOs, national human rights institutions, governmental authorities, academia, international organizations, and United Nations bodies.

The course aims to enhance the work of professionals by training them on specific aspects related to monitoring ESC rights. The course will also instruct participants on how advocacy tools, including, for example, human rights indicators, budget analysis or litigation activities can be effectively used to build monitoring policies that would be addressed not only to domestic institutions, but also to international mechanisms mandated to protect and promote ESC rights.

For more information about the course, please see http://www.adh-geneva.ch/professional-training/professional-training-in-escr/at, where you can also register on-line. Or write us at escrtraining@adh-geneve.ch.

“HOWEVER LONG THE NIGHT”
Global Perspectives on the Impact of CEDAW (Convention to Eliminate all Forms of
Discrimination Against Women) on Legal Reform Efforts Regarding the Rights of Women

Join Us In Person or by Telephone for this FREE Teleconference

Proudly Presented by
ABA Section of International Law
International Human Rights Committee

Co-sponsored by
ABA SIL Africa Committee
ABA SIL NGO and Not-for-Profit Organizations Committee
ABA SIL Women’s Issues Network (WIN)
ABA IMPOWR (International Models Project on Women’s Rights)

In Cooperation with
ABA Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities – Women’s Rights Committee
District of Columbia Women’s Bar Association: International Law Forum
Amnesty International USA
TransAfrica Forum

Wednesday, May 18, 2011
11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. EDT
Doors Open at 10:30 a.m. Please arrive before 11:00 a.m.

The United States remains one of the few nations in the world that has not ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). This 90-minute non-CLE program will provide a concise overview of the history, development and implementation of CEDAW, including the status of CEDAW ratification in the United States. Afterwards, our panel of women’s rights advocates and lawyers from around the world will deliver short presentations on the advocacy strategies for eradicating discriminatory laws and fostering gender-equality law reform efforts that have been effective (or unsuccessful) in their countries.

Join Us In Person:
Crowell & Moring LLP
1001 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20004
Map

THEY FIGHT LIKE SOLDIERS, THEY DIE LIKE CHILDREN

The New York City Bar Council on International Affairs and the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice cordially invite you to a presentation by Lt. General (Ret.) ROMÉO DALLAIRE, Former commander of the U.N. Assistance Mission for Rwanda and author of the award-winning book, Shake Hands with the Devil.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011 at 7:00 P.M.

At Fordham University, Lowenstein Building, 12th Floor Lounge
113 West 60th St., New York, NY (at Columbus Ave.)

Roméo Dallaire was the Force Commander of the U.N. Mission for Rwanda during the 1994 genocide and urgently requested support from the U.N. that, if heeded, could have halted the genocide. Now a Senator in the Canadian Parliament, Dallaire founded a project called the Child Soldiers Initiative and its youth advocacy campaign – Zero Force – which work to end the use of child soldiers.

General Dallaire will discuss child soldiers, including during his time in Rwanda, and will offer solutions to eradicate their use. His new book on child soldiers will be available for purchase.

Ishmael Beah, a former child soldier and author of A Long Way Gone, will introduce Dallaire.

Sponsored by the NY City Bar Council on International Affairs (Chair, Mark R. Shulman) and the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law School (Executive Director, Elisabeth Wickeri) and co-sponsored by the City Bar’s Committees on International Human Rights (Chair, Stephen Kass) and African Affairs (Chair, Megan Maloney)

The program is open to the public. Please R.S.V.P. to elizabethbarad@gmail.com

THE FLETCHER SUMMER INSTITUTE FOR THE ADVANCED STUDY OF NONVIOLENT CONFLICT

Tufts University / Medford, Massachusetts

June 19-25, 2011

Visit the FSI 2011 Webpage

Download Flyer

Download Application

We also invite you to pass along this announcement to others who share our passion for achieving human rights and justice through nonviolent strategies.

JUSTICE SECTOR REFORM: APPLYING HUMAN RIGHTS BASED APPROACHES

IHRN

Past participant testimonials, Application forms and further details available at
http://www.ihrnetwork.org/justice-sector-reform_202.htm

LLM HUMAN RIGHTS LAW AND TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE
Transitional Justice Institute
University of Ulster
(Jordanstown and Magee campuses, Northern Ireland)

This programme has been developed to enable students to:

* Gain an in-depth knowledge of the theoretical and practical application of human rights law.
* Understand the particular human rights issues in conflicted and transitional societies.
* Gain knowledge and skills in carrying out research projects from design to write-up.
* Enhance skills in critically appraising published and commissioned research.
* Develop skills highly relevant to legal practice, and to policy, research and advocacy roles in the voluntary, public and private sectors in the UK, Ireland and beyond. Successful completion may also open up a range of further study and research options.

Reminder

The materials and information included in this listserv are provided as a service to you and do not necessarily reflect endorsement by the American Bar Association or the Section of International Law. We encourage subscribers to pass the information along to colleagues and other interestedparties and to contribute press releases, news items, event listings, job vacancies and other appropriate information. To post a message email INTHUMRIGHTS@mail.abanet.org. For questions, suggestions or problems, contact Russell Kerr, russell@kerrlawfirm.com.

Thank you again for your interest and participation!

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.

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Case Concerning Jurisdiction and Enforcement of Judgments (Belgium v. Switzerland) is Removed from ICJ List

Posted in Uncategorized on April 12, 2011 by Don Anton

The following notice comes via press release from the ICJ earlier today:

Jurisdiction and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (Belgium v. Switzerland)

Case removed from the Court’s List at the request of Belgium

THE HAGUE, 12 April 2011. Further to a request to such effect from the Kingdom of Belgium, by Order dated 5 April 2011, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, has removed from its General List the case concerning Jurisdiction and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (Belgium v. Switzerland).

It is recalled that on 21 December 2009, the Kingdom of Belgium instituted proceedings against the Swiss Confederation in respect of a dispute concerning

“the interpretation and application of the Lugano Convention of 16 September 1988 on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters . . ., as well as the application of the rules of general international law governing the exercise of State authority, in particular in judicial matters[, and] relat[ing] to the decision by Swiss courts not to recognize a judgment of the Belgian courts and not to stay proceedings which were later initiated in Switzerland on the subject of the same dispute”.

By letter dated 21 March 2011 and received in the Registry the same day by facsimile, the Agent of Belgium, referring to Article 89 of the Rules of Court, informed the Court that his Government “in concert with the Commission of the European Union, considers that it can discontinue the proceedings instituted [by Belgium] against Switzerland” and requested the Court “to make an order recording Belgium’s discontinuance of the proceedings and directing that the case be removed” from the Court’s General List.

In his letter, the Agent cited as the reason for the Belgian Government’s request to discontinue the proceedings the Preliminary Objections raised in the case by Switzerland on 18 February 2011, following the filing of Belgium’s Memorial on 23 November 2010. In the letter, the Belgian Government explains in particular that it has taken note of the fact that in paragraph 85 of its Preliminary Objections, “Switzerland states . . . that the reference by the [Swiss] Federal Supreme Court in its 30 September 2008 judgment to the ‘non-recognizability’ of a future Belgian judgment does not have the force of res judicata and does not bind either the lower cantonal courts or the Federal Supreme Court itself, and that there is therefore nothing to prevent a Belgian judgment, once handed down, from being recognized in Switzerland in accordance with the applicable treaty provision”.

A copy of the letter from the Agent of Belgium was immediately communicated to the Agent of the Swiss Confederation, who was informed that the time-limit provided for in Article 89, paragraph 2, of the Rules of Court, within which Switzerland might state whether it opposed the discontinuance of the proceedings, had been fixed as Monday 28 March 2011.

Since, within the time-limit thus fixed, the Swiss Confederation did not oppose the said discontinuance, the Court, placing on record the discontinuance by the Kingdom of Belgium of the proceedings, ordered that the case be removed from the List on 5 April 2011.

The full text of the Order will be available shortly on the Court’s website (www.icj-cij.org).

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Indian Journal of International Economic Law (IJIEL) – New Complimentary Issue

Posted in International Economic Law with tags Indian Journal of International Economic Law on April 11, 2011 by Don Anton

Over on the IntLawProfessors listserv today, Abhimanyu George Jain, Chief Editor of the IJIEL gave notice that Vol. 3(2) is now available and included a pdf attachment of the entire issue (see below).

I’m writing on behalf of the Indian Journal of International Economic Law (IJIEL), a student-run, peer-reviewed journal produced by the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore.

IJIEL is proud to announce the release of Issue # 3(2), a special issue on the interface between space law and international economic law. This volume has tried to examine some of the many fascinating international economic and financial law issues emerging from man’s foray into space. This includes the role of WTO law in regulating private and public space activity, choice of law issues for international agreements, including financing agreements, anti-competitive behaviour, application of the intellectual property regime to space, etc.

In an effort to maximise visibility and reputation, we’re distributing this issue free on the internet. I’ve attached a copy of the issue.

Queries regarding submissions and subscriptions to IJIEL may be directed to ijiel@nls.ac.in, or tasneemdeo@gmail.com.

Warm Regards,

Abhimanyu George Jain

Chief-Editor, IJIEL

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ABA International Human Rights e-Brief, Issue No. 445 (11 April 2011)

Posted in ABA Human Rights e-Brief with tags American Bar Association, Human Rights on April 11, 2011 by Don Anton

ABA International Human Rights e-Brief
11 April 2011 / Issue No. 445

Bulletin Board
Human Rights News
Job, Fellowship and Volunteer Postings
Educations Courses & Conferences

Bulletin Board

ICJ DISMISSES GEORGIA’S CASE AGAINST RUSSIA UNDER RACIAL DISCRIMINATION CONVENTION

FYI, a split ICJ today dismissed Georgia’s case against Russia. The Court’s judgment and press release are at the links below:

http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/140/16398.pdf

http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/140/16396.pdf

For those of you interested, the dissenting opinions, separate opinions and declarations of the judges are now posted on the Court’s website at <http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?p1=3&k=4d&case=140&code=GR&p3=4>.

Compliments of Ronald J. Bettauer ron.bettauer@verizon.net

Human Rights News

KHALID SHEIKH MOHAMMED FACES GUANTANAMO TRIAL FOR 9/11

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, and four alleged co-conspirators will be tried in a military commission at Guantanamo Bay, not a civilian court

“We simply cannot allow a trial to be delayed any longer,” Attorney General Eric Holder said, in a sharp U-turn.

The Obama administration abandoned plans to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a US court, amid fierce opposition.

President Obama recently lifted a freeze on new military terror trials.

He accused the US Congress of harming national security by opposing his plan to close the controversial Cuban prison and try some terror suspects in US civilian courts.

Death penalty

Mr Holder vigorously defended his earlier decision to use US federal courts to try the accused men during a news conference announcing the reversal on Monday.

He said that the US prison system had successfully held hundreds of convicted terrorists, and that the Obama administration would continue to prosecute terror cases in US courts.

Mr Holder blamed Congress for the high profile policy reversal, saying his hands “were tied” by “unwise and narrow” restrictions they had placed on the administration.

But, he said, the Justice Department had been prepared to “bring a powerful case” against Mohammed and his four co-conspirators.

Mr Holder noted though that the death penalty could be still sought in the case.

‘Waterboarding’

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has been held by the US since being captured in Pakistan in 2003.

In a 2007 hearing, he alleged that he had been tortured at Guantanamo Bay. CIA documents confirmed that he had been subjected to the waterboard technique 183 times.

US prosecutors say that Mohammed has confessed to a host of terrorist activities in addition to 9/11.

These include the 2002 nightclub bombing in Bali, Indonesia, the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl and a failed 2001 attempt to blow up an airliner using a shoe bomb.

The four other suspected terrorists to face military trials at Guantanamo Bay are Walid bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Mustafa Ahmed al Hawsawi.

GOLDSTONE’S GAZA REPORT STANDS, UN INSISTS

Judge’s informal remarks ‘do not invalidate findings’, says colleague on fact-finding mission into Israeli attack on Gaza

The UN has roundly rebuffed remarks by the South African judge Richard Goldstone that cast doubt on the report into the Gaza war that bears his name, causing rifts within the UN and furious debate across the Middle East.

In the first public sign of a split within the four-person committee that compiled the report into the Israeli attack on Gaza in December 2008, the Pakistani human rights lawyer Hina Jilani has openly contradicted Goldstone’s comments. In an interview with the Middle East Monitor, she said that the UN report still stood.

“No process or acceptable procedure would invalidate the UN report; if it does happen, it would be seen as a suspect move. The UN cannot allow impunity to remain, and will have to act if it wants to remain a credible international governing body,” she said.

Jilani sat with Goldstone on the fact-finding mission that looked into allegations of war crimes committed by both Israel and Hamas during the three-week war. The other two members of the committee, Christine Chinkin and Desmond Travers, could not be reached for comment.

Goldstone made his remarks in an article in the Washington Post in which he said that he regretted aspects of the report that he chaired, including the suggestion that Israel had intentionally targeted civilians. Had he been aware of evidence that had since come to light, he wrote, “the Goldstone report would have been a different document”.

In a further indication of his U-turn, the Israeli paper, Yediot Ahronot, said the judge planned to press for his report to be nullified.

The report, published in September 2009, found that Israelis involved in the Gaza war should face “individual criminal responsibility” for potential war crimes. Some 1,400 Palestinians died, at least 50% of whom were civilians, and 13 Israelis.

But the inquiry was carried out without Israeli co-operation, and information uncovered by Israel’s own investigations since then had changed his understanding of events, Goldstone said.

Though the judge’s comments have rekindled the heated debate that followed the Gaza war, they are unlikely to lead to any immediate action on the part of the UN. Cedric Sapey, spokesman for the UN human rights council that commissioned the report, said: “The UN will not revoke a report on the basis of an article in a newspaper. The views Mr Goldstone expressed are his own personal views.”

A move to change or withdraw the report would either require a formal written complaint from Goldstone, backed unanimously by his three fellow authors, or a vote by the UN general assembly or the human rights council, Sapey said.

KENYANS AT THE HAGUE ON ‘CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY’ CHARGES

By the CNN Wire Staff

Nairobi, Kenya (CNN) — Three Kenyan political leaders accused of crimes against humanity following the country’s disputed 2007 elections had their first appearance Thursday before the International Criminal Court at The Hague.

Another three are scheduled to appear Friday.

The court’s top prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, named the six as suspects in December, claiming they organized violence that left more than 1,000 people dead and displaced hundreds of thousands more.

Former Agriculture Minister William Ruto, opposition leader Henry Kosgey and radio journalist Joshua Arap Sang appeared Thursday. Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Cabinet Secretary Francis Muthaura, and former national police chief Hussein Ali are set to appear Friday.

The two groups of three come from opposite sides of the political dispute in Kenya.

Ruto, Kosgey, and Sang face four counts of crimes against humanity: murder; deportation or forcible transfer of the population; torture and persecution.

The judge set a date for them of September 1 to hear arguments as to whether they should go to trial.

JAILED IRANIAN REPORTER HONORED BY U.N.

PARIS, April 7 (UPI) — An Iranian journalist jailed since his country’s disputed 2009 presidential election has won a United Nations award dedicated to press freedom.

An independent jury of 12 global media professionals chose Ahmad Zeidabadi as the laureate of this year’s Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization said Thursday in a release.

The selection of Zeidabadi “pays a tribute to his exceptional courage, resistance and commitment to freedom of expression, democracy, human rights, tolerance, and humanity,” jury president Diana Senghor said from UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris.
Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/04/07/Jailed-Iranian-reporter-honored-by-UN/UPI-70781302204721/

UN REFUGEE CHIEF VOICES DEEP SHOCK AFTER MORE THAN 200 MIGRANTS DROWN OFF ITALY

The head of the United Nations refugee agency expressed deep shock today at the apparent drowning of more than 200 migrants attempting to make their way to Italy from conflict and unrest in North Africa.

Media reports indicate that 213 people, including many Somalis, Eritreans and Ivorians, died this morning after the boat in which they were travelling experienced difficulties in rough seas near the Italian island of Lampedusa. The boat had left Libya three days ago.

Italy’s coastguard has rescued 47 people, including a pregnant woman, but the other passengers are all feared to have drowned.

António Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), issued a statement lamenting the disaster and noting that many of the passengers had been refugees twice over.

“They fled war and persecution in their own countries and now, in their attempt to seek safety in Italy, they tragically lost their lives,” he said.

Mr. Guterres urged all countries patrolling the waters of the Mediterranean Sea to do everything possible to help boats in distress.

Since pro-freedom protests erupted across North Africa and the Middle East earlier this year, large numbers of people – notably including people fleeing unrest in Tunisia and Libya – have taken to boats to try to reach Europe. Lampedusa has experienced a particularly high influx of arrivals.

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie, who just wrapped up a visit to Tunisia to see the agency’s work there, expressed her sorrow at the news of the drownings.

“It is all the more devastating knowing that children were on board,” Ms. Jolie said, calling for urgent solutions to help civilians caught in the crossfire of fighting in Libya.

Until the recent fighting Libya has served as transit and destination country for refugees, with UNHCR recognizing at least 8,000 refugees inside the country and another 3,000 people seeking asylum.

SOURCE: UN DAILY NEWS DIGEST – 6 April 2011

AI WEIWEI’S DETENTION IN CHINA CAUSES GROWING CONCERN

Leading figures in the art world have joined the international outcry over Beijing’s crackdown on dissidents

Britain, the United States and the European Union, as well as leading figures in the art world, have joined the growing international outcry over the detention of the outspoken Chinese artist Ai Weiwei and Beijing’s wider crackdown on dissidents and activists.

Police have summoned more of Ai’s assistants for questioning, according to a US filmmaker who has been making a documentary on the 53-year-old. Alison Klayman said officers had told some staff and volunteers – several of whom are foreign – to leave the studio or leave the country, adding that one aide had already left Beijing.

Officials detained Ai on Sunday morning as he attempted to board a plane for Hong Kong. No one has been able to contact him or his friend Wen Tao, who was detained on the same day.

Ai’s installation of 100m sunflower seeds is still on show in Tate Modern‘s Turbine Hall and arts leaders and artists in the UK have added their voices of concern.

The Tate director, Sir Nicholas Serota, said the whereabouts of the artist remained unknown. “We are dismayed by developments that again threaten Ai’s right to speak freely as an artist and hope that he will be released immediately,” he said.

Gregor Muir, director of the ICA which last week auctioned an Ai work for £50,000, said: “The ICA is deeply troubled to learn of recent events concerning Ai Weiwei. Our thoughts are with his family, studio staff and friends. Only last week, Ai donated a brilliant artwork to our fundraising auction and we are indebted to his generosity. To then hear news that Ai had been detained by his own government is deeply shocking.”

Tracey Emin called Ai’s predicament “a nightmare”, adding, “I hope he is safe.” He is an artist, she said, who “raises world awareness”. Antony Gormley, currently in St Petersburg, said: “I would call on all cultural institutions globally to voice their protest against all kinds of behaviour which we haven’t seen since the days of Stalin.” Bob and Roberta Smith, who makes slogan paintings, added his concerns in his own unique way .

Ai is China‘s best known artist and designed the Olympic Bird’s Nest stadium, but he has been an outspoken critic of the government. Last year he was placed under house arrest after announcing a party to mark the forced demolition of his studio in Shanghai.

ZAMBIA DROPS CASE OF SHOOTING BY CHINESE MINE BOSSES

By BARRY BEARAK

Published: April 4, 2011

JOHANNESBURG — In what could be a politically explosive decision, prosecutors in Zambia have decided not to pursue a case against two Chinese supervisors who shot 13 coal miners last year during a wage protest, the managers’ lawyer said Monday.

The episode, which occurred at the Chinese-owned Collum Coal Mine on Oct. 15, was viewed as an outrage by many Zambians who resent the enormous economic influence China has over their country.

At the time, the government said the shootings, none of which were fatal, would be vigorously investigated. Prosecutors arrested the two Chinese supervisors — Xiao Lishan and Wu Jiuhua — and charged them with attempted murder, but many civic leaders predicted a whitewash.

Chinese investment in Zambia amounts to more than $1 billion a year, according to the government of the impoverished but mineral-rich country in southern Africa. Most new construction involves Chinese-run companies.

Job, Fellowship, and Volunteer Postings

ABA-SIL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE JOB BOARD

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT/CEO of Human Rights First

Posted: 3/30/11

Based in Washington, DC the EA will provide administrative and organizational support to the President/CEO. S/He must be proactive as well as manage a complex schedule. The EA will work closely with the Chief of Staff to coordinate daily priorities and long-term schedule and will play a crucial role in maximizing the President/CEO’s time to achieve the organization’s goals in development, communications, operations, and program areas. The applicant should have 2 to 3 years of administrative experience in a face-paced environment.

For more detailed information please go to: http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/Jobs/apply_staff.aspx?qs=EO

SENIOR ASSOCIATE, Refugee Protection Program – Human Rights First

Posted: 3/30/11

Based in Washington, DC, the Senior Associate in the Refugee Protection Program will work with the program’s director to develop advocacy objectives to advance the protection of refugees, as well as strategies and activities to achieve those objectives. The Senior Associate will advance Human Rights First’s advocacy objectives through a range of advocacy strategies, working with the program’s Director, other staff and other key advocacy allies and actors. Applicants should have at least five years of post-graduate work experience relating to refugee protection.

For more detailed information and to apply visit:

http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/Jobs/apply_staff.aspx?qs=EO

SENIOR PROGRAM OFFICER

Law and Health Initiative – Public Health Program
Open Society Institute–New York

Application Deadline: April 8, 2011

The Open Society Foundations’ Public Health Program (PHP) aims to promote health policies based on scientific evidence, social inclusion, human rights, and justice. Broadly, the program works with civil society organizations within two fields: promoting the participation of socially marginalized groups in public health policy and fostering greater government accountability and transparency through civil society monitoring efforts. Program areas focus on addressing the human rights and health needs of marginalized groups, facilitating citizen access to health information, and advocating for a strong civil society role in public health policy and practice.

PHP’s Law and Health Initiative (LAHI) promotes legal action to advance public health goals worldwide. LAHI supports legal assistance, litigation, and law reform efforts on a range of health issues, including patient care, HIV and AIDS, harm reduction, palliative care, sexual health, mental health, and Roma health. LAHI’s priorities include integrating legal services into health programs, strengthening human rights protections within health settings, and developing training and education programs in law and health. By bringing together legal, public health, and human rights organizations, LAHI seeks to build a broad movement for law-based approaches to health and for the human rights of society’s most marginalized groups.

LAHI seeks a full-time senior program officer.

Qualifications

At least ten years of professional experience in four or more of the following six relevant fields: (1) legal advocacy and litigation; (2) international human rights; (3) health and human rights; (4) global health (specifically related to marginalized groups); (5) grant-making; (6) capacity development.
Management experience, including personnel management, project management and strategic management.
Law degree.
Experience working in one or more of the following regions: East and Southern Africa; Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the former Soviet Union (fSU); Southeast Asia (SEA).
Excellent written and oral communication skills in English.
Demonstrated commitment to using law progressively to advance public health and human rights objectives.

To Apply

Please email resume and cover letter with salary requirements before to: humanresources@sorosny.org. Include job code in subject line: SPO-LAHI

Open Society Foundations
Human Resources – Code SPO-LAHI
400 West 59th Street
New York, New York 10019

FAX: 212.548.4675

For more information visit: http://www.soros.org/about/locations/new-york/spo-plahi-20110310

FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR PROGRAM

The 2012-2013 Fulbright Scholar Program competition is open.

Posted: 3/31/11

The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program offers 124 teaching, research or combined teaching/research awards in law. Faculty and professionals in law also can apply for “All Discipline” awards open to all fields.

For more information on 2012-13 opportunities, please visit www.iie.org/cies.

The application deadline for the Core Fulbright Scholar Program is August 1, 2011. U.S. citizenship is required. For more information, visit our website at www.iie.org/cies or contact us at scholars@iie.org.

Faculty and professionals are also encouraged to participate in one of our weekly webinars. For more information, visit our website at www.iie.org/cies/webinar.

PROGRAM OFFICER

MENTAL HEALTH INITIATIVE

OPEN SOCIETY institute, BUDAPEST

Application Deadline: April 22, 2011

The Open Society Mental Health Initiative (MHI) is part of the Public Health Program at the Open Society Foundations and is based in Budapest, Hungary. MHI seeks to ensure that people with mental disabilities (mental health problems and/or intellectual disabilities) are able to live as equal citizens in the community and to participate in society with full respect for their human rights. MHI promotes the social inclusion of people with mental disabilities by supporting the development of community-based alternatives to institutionalization and by actively engaging in policy-based advocacy. MHI is both a grant making and an operational program, providing training and technical assistance to its partner organizations.

MHI seeks a full-time program officer to contribute to the development and implementation of its media strategy. The program officer will closely coordinate this work with the Health Media Initiative (HMI), part of the Public Health Program. HMI seeks to strengthen the capacity of civil society leaders and organizations to effectively advocate for health and human rights policies through successfully engaging with and utilizing media. The geographic focus of the work will be Central and Eastern Europe and East Africa.

The Program Officer is involved with program development and implementation and reports to the MHI Program Director.

TO APPLY: Send curriculum vitae, cover letter, salary requirements, and a maximum 2 page writing sample in English about how using media can play an important role in advancing the advocacy goals of grass root organizations to:

Email: applications@admingroup.hu

Subject line: MHI Program Officer

For more information visit: http://www.soros.org/about/locations/budapest/mhi-pgoff-20110324 and http://www.soros.org/initiatives/health/focus/mhi

Ph.D. RESEARCHER

Media Law Section of the Department of Communication Studies, Center for Journalism Studies and at the Law Faculty, the Human Rights Centre, Ghent University

The researcher will work under the supervision of Prof. Dirk Voorhoof (www.psw.ugent.be/dv). Co-supervisor is Prof. Eva Brems.

Starting date: 1 September 2010
Ph.D. grant ca.1570-1750 Euro net/month (tax free)

Profile

law degree obtained with good (preferably excellent) grades
fluency in written and spoken English
good research and writing skills
good social skills
knowledge of and insight in human rights law, preferably with special interest regarding media law, information law, journalism studies or free speech issues.

More information can be obtained from prof. Dirk Voorhoof, dirk.voorhoof@ugent.be
More information about Ghent and Ghent University, see www.ugent.be

THE ARIEL F. SALLOWS CHAIR OF HUMAN RIGHTS

University of Saskatchewan – College of Law

Letters of application, accompanied by a current curriculum vitae and an outline of the research plans of the candidate, should be sent to:

Beth Bilson, Acting Dean
College of Law
University of Saskatchewan
15 Campus Drive
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
S7N 5A6

Deadline: December 31, 2011

http://www.usask.ca/law/faculty_sessionals/employment_opportunities.php

INTERNATIONAL JOBS

Attorney/Legal Advisor
ACDI/VOCA
Location: Worldwide
Last Date: April 11, 2011
http://216.197.119.113/jobman/publish/article_74360.shtml

Justice Advisor
Civilian Police International, LLC
Location: Multiple Locations
Last Date: April 11, 2011
http://devnetjobs.tripod.com/cpi-11march2011.html

Human Rights Attorney/Lawyer
Open Society Justice Initiative
Location: London or New York
Last Date: April 19, 2011
http://devnetjobs.tripod.com/osji-18march2011.html

Head of Operations
Canadian Red Cross Society (CRCS)
Location: Port au Prince, Haiti
Last Date: April 23, 2011
http://devnetjobs.tripod.com/crcs-23march2011.html

Country Director – Nepal
Marie Stopes International (MSI)
Location: Kathmandu, Nepal
Last Date: April 24, 2011
http://216.197.119.113/jobman/publish/article_74614.shtml

Senior Project Manager/Senior Attorney – Justice Initiative
Open Society Foundations
Location: London, UK or Budapest, Hungary
Last Date: April 27, 2011
http://devnetjobs.tripod.com/osf-29march2011.html

Vice President
International Center for Transitional Justice
Location: New York, USA
Last Date: April 30, 2011
http://devnetjobs.tripod.com/ictj-23march2011.html

Executive Officer
AIDS-Free World
Location: in or around New York
Last Date: April 30, 2011
http://devnetjobs.tripod.com/4april2011-aidsfreeworld.html

Research Coordinator
The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD)
Location: Geneva, Switzerland
Last Date: May 4, 2011
http://216.197.119.113/jobman/publish/article_74876.shtml

SOURCE: See more jobs at: http://www.DevNetJobs.org or by sending a blank email to:
developmentjobs-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Educational Courses & Conferences

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: HREA distance learning courses

Short certificate courses [application deadline: 15 April 2011]:

- Business and Human Rights (11 May-21 June 2011) NEW!
- Human Rights and Transitional Justice (18 May-28 June 2011)
- International Trade and Human Rights: Balancing the Act (16 May-26 June 2011)
- Minority Rights, Indigenous Peoples and International Law (18 May-28 June 2011)
- The European System of Human Rights Protection and Promotion (16 May-26 June 2011)
- The United Nations Human Rights System (11 May-21 June 2011)
Applications can be submitted online. For further information about each course please click on the course link above. For a listing of all upcoming courses, please visit www.hrea.org/courses

HUMAN RIGHTS AND TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE
Organizer: University of California, Berkeley
Date: April 26-27, 2011
Location: David Brower Center, 2150 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA

The Human Rights Center at the University of California, Berkeley is hosting a conference entitled “The New Machine: Human Rights and Technology” to address the application of technology to human rights work. The conference aims to engage leading human rights practitioners and technologists to discuss the progress, successes, and challenges that have emerged in the use of technology to advance human rights. The conference also includes the opportunity to submit via video innovative ideas about how to use technologies to advance human rights.

The conference is intended to serve as a meeting ground for the tech-world and the human rights community. While the conference is dedicated to share lessons learned, it is also open to participants with no or little experience in the applications of technologies to human rights, and socially-minded techies who are interested in exploring how their skills can be valuable for the protection of human rights.

Additional information on the conference can be found here ( http://www.law.berkeley.edu/HRCweb/events/TechConference2011/index.html ), and online registration ( https://berkeleylaw.wufoo.com/forms/advancing-the-new-machine/ ) is currently open. Questions may be directed to Melissa Carney, Conference Manager at mcarney@berkeley.edu.

HUMAN RIGHTS LITIGATION e-learning course

There are still some places available in the upcoming e-learning course on Human Rights Litigation, which will be offered from 27 April-12 July 2011. This distance learning course provides participants with knowledge of the concept, types, venues and strategies of human rights litigation. It focuses on strategic litigation and legal aid both internationally and domestically, and explores a variety of strategies: issue or group oriented litigation, community based services, legal clinics, NGO or law firm resourced actions and others. Participants are familiarised with court ordered structural relief, as well as with conventional victim-centered legal remedies. Non-litigation strategies to maximise the chances of winning cases and to ensure the effective enforcement of decisions too are considered. The course places impact litigation in its social and institutional context exploring issues of its legitimacy, as well as the ethics and accountability of human rights lawyering. In the last part it highlights litigation for the vindication of several groups of substantive rights, including economic and social rights, freedom from torture, equality and asylum. Participants will be provided with examples from various jurisdictions in the world illustrating strategic human rights litigation in practice.

For more detailed information and to register online, please go to: www.hrea.org/human-rights-litigation

4th ANNUAL ADVANCED TRAINING COURSE ON MONITORING ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS

On this occasion, the Project proudly announces the organization of the 4th annual Advanced Training Course on Monitoring Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The Training Course will take place in Geneva, Switzerland from 9-13 May 2011.

THEY FIGHT LIKE SOLDIERS, THEY DIE LIKE CHILDREN

Tuesday, May 24, 2011 at 7:00 P.M.

At Fordham University, Lowenstein Building, 12th Floor Lounge
113 West 60th St., New York, NY (at Columbus Ave.)

General Dallaire will discuss child soldiers, including during his time in Rwanda, and will offer solutions to eradicate their use. His new book on child soldiers will be available for purchase.

Ishmael Beah, a former child soldier and author of A Long Way Gone, will introduce Dallaire.

The program is open to the public. Please R.S.V.P. to elizabethbarad@gmail.com

THE FLETCHER SUMMER INSTITUTE FOR THE ADVANCED STUDY OF NONVIOLENT CONFLICT

Tufts University / Medford, Massachusetts

June 19-25, 2011

Visit the FSI 2011 Webpage

Download Flyer

Download Application

We also invite you to pass along this announcement to others who share our passion for achieving human rights and justice through nonviolent strategies.

JUSTICE SECTOR REFORM: APPLYING HUMAN RIGHTS BASED APPROACHES

IHRN

Past participant testimonials, Application forms and further details available at
http://www.ihrnetwork.org/justice-sector-reform_202.htm

LLM HUMAN RIGHTS LAW AND TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE
Transitional Justice Institute
University of Ulster
(Jordanstown and Magee campuses, Northern Ireland)

This programme has been developed to enable students to:

Contact
Ms Emer Carlin
Secretary
Transitional Justice Institute
Magee campus
Tel: + 44 (0) 28 71675146
Email:LLM@ulster.ac.uk

Reminder

Thank you again for your interest and participation!

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.

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International Law Roundtable

Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework

ABA International Human Rights e-Brief, 13 June 2011 / Issue No. 452

Human Rights News

Job, Fellowship, and Volunteer Postings

Educational Courses & Conferences

Reminder

Chevron v. Donziger – Amicus Brief of International Law Professors

ABA International Human Rights e-Brief, 9 MAY 2011 / Issue No. 449

Human Rights News

Job, Fellowship, and Volunteer Postings

Educational Courses & Conferences

Reminder

Case Concerning Jurisdiction and Enforcement of Judgments (Belgium v. Switzerland) is Removed from ICJ List

Indian Journal of International Economic Law (IJIEL) – New Complimentary Issue

ABA International Human Rights e-Brief, Issue No. 445 (11 April 2011)

Human Rights News

Job, Fellowship, and Volunteer Postings

Educational Courses & Conferences

Reminder

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