Tag Archives: HLS Advocates for Human Rights

Event 3/26: A Decade of War

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For Us, The Wars Aren’t Over: The Right to Heal Initiative
Tuesday, March 26
7:00 – 9:00 pm
Harvard Law School, Wasserstein Hall, Room 2012

Ten years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the Harvard Law School Human Rights Program joins organizations from across the Harvard and Boston communities to mark the anniversary with speakers from two groups still living the consequences of the last decade of U.S.-led wars: Iraqis and U.S. veterans and service members.  Members of the Organisation of Women’s Freedom in Iraq (OWFI) and Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) will speak about the costs of war they share.  Together with attorneys from the Center for Constitutional Rights and Harvard Law School, they will discuss the Right to Heal Initiative, the partnership they have formed to fight for redress.

Speakers:
Yanar Mohammed, President, Organisation of Women’s Freedom in Iraq
Ms. Mohammed is the founder of OWFI, a nongovernmental organization that promotes women’s rights and interests in Iraq.  She will speak about OWFI’s work in an Iraqi town near a U.S. military base that has seen dramatic increases in the incidence of birth defects, cancers, and other severe health ailments.

Matt Howard, Member, Iraq Veterans Against the War
Mr. Howard served two tours in Iraq with the Marine Corps.  He will discuss the costs of war for U.S. service members and veterans, particularly the obstacles that prevent too many from receiving proper medical and mental health care.  IVAW and its subcommittee, Afghan Veterans Against the War, have advocated for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, and for reparations to Iraqis for the costs of war.

Pamela Spees, Senior Staff Attorney, Center for Constitutional Rights
Ms. Spees will discuss CCR’s role as a support player in the Right to Heal’s collaborative project to ensure the U.S. takes concrete steps for health care, accountability, and reparations.

Moderator:
Deborah Alejandra Popowski, Lecturer on Law, Harvard Law School

Dinner will be served.

Co-Sponsored By: HLS Advocates for Human Rights, Harvard National Security and Law Association, Islamic Society of Boston, National Lawyers Guild (Mass. Chapter), Veterans for Peace (Ch. 9, Smedley D. Butler Brigade), BC Law Holocaust/Human Rights Project, HKS Human Rights Professional Interest Council, HLS American Constitution Society, HLS Democrats, HLS Human Rights Journal, Harvard International Law Journal, HLS Muslim Law Students Association, Harvard Women’s Law Association, HSPH Muslim Student Group, MIT Amnesty International, MIT Center for International Studies, MIT Muslim Student Association, Northeastern Univ. Arab Student Association, Human Rights Caucus at Northeastern Univ. School of Law, Tufts Univ. New Initiative for Middle East Peace, Tufts Univ. Fletcher School Human Rights Project

Clinical Events: Feb 20-24

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As many of you know, there’s always an event (or two or three) to attend at HLS. A few clinical events are highlighted below but for a complete listing of HLS events, please visit the HLS calendar.

A Year after David Kato: The State of Ugandan Gay Rights Today
Tue, Feb 21, 12–1pm
WCC B015

HLS Advocates for Human Rights hosts a commemorative event in honor of the Ugandan gay rights activist David Kato, who was found murdered last January. Val Kalende, a fellow Ugandan and gay rights activist, and Mindy Roseman, Academic Director of the Human Rights Program, will will speak about Kato’s work and the current state of gay rights in Uganda today. From 1:30-2:30pm, Kalende will lead a discussion based on issues raised during the talk.

The Promises of Web-based Social Experiments
Tue, Feb 21, 12:30–1:45pm
Berkman Center for Internet & Society, 23 Everett St, 2nd Floor

The advent of the internet provides social scientists with a fantastic tool for conducting behavioral experiments online at a very large-scale and at an affordable cost. It is surprising, however, how little research has leveraged the affordances of the internet to set up such social experiments so far. In this talk, Jerome Hergueux will introduce the audience to one of the first online platforms specifically designed for conducting interactive social experiments over the internet to date.

Prosecuting the Recruitment of Child Soldiers as a War Crime before the International Criminal Court. A Critical Reading of the Lubanga Case
Thu, Feb 23, 12–1pm
WCC Suite 4133

As part of the Child Advocacy Program (CAP) Working Paper Lunch Series, visiting researcher and Fulbright grantee Mahyad Hassanzadeh-Tavakoli will discuss how the International Criminal Court’s Rome Statute – which stipulates that the recruitment and enlisting of children under the age of fifteen years into the national armed forces, or using them to participate actively in hostilities, is to be regarded as a war crime – has been handled by the Court in the Lubanga Case.