New President for Spring Semester

I want to give an early introduction to everyone of our new President for the Spring Semester: Brett Barley. Brett will be taking over the club, and I'm sure he'll do a great job organizing speaking events and getting everyone to go to the excellent IPJ events next semester.

I'll be in Amsterdam next semester, studying intl. human rights law, which is why I'm handing the club over to Brett. If anyone has any questions about human rights study abroad programs, or summer human rights intereships, please feel free to ask me (kgrigsby-09@sandiego.edu).

Lastly, if anyone has any suggestions for events next semester or improvements, please let Brett know (brettbarley@yahoo.com).

Thanks for a great semester and I'm glad we could get such a good showing for the first ever semester of the club!

Kevin Grigsby

IPJ Internships

Just wanted to let everyone know that the Joan B Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice is currently accepting applications for their Spring 2006 internship. Although the internship is unpaid, it offers students the opportunity to conduct research on global conflicts and peaceful strategies. Im sure law students would be allowed to take a legal focus to peacefully ending such conflicts. The internship is a minimum of 15 hours a week, but would be great for a resume of anyone wanting to work in the human rights field. Details are below, or you can email me at kgrigsby-09@sandiego.edu if you want any more information about IPJ. Thanks!

http://peace.sandiego.edu/programs/internship.html

Kevin

Peace in Nepal

Just in case anyone missed it while outlining...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6128062.stm

Walk For Darfur

Hey Everyone!

I'm definitely going to be participating in the Walk for Darfur which is on November 19 in Balboa Park. This is the first event of its kind in San Diego and I think it would be great to have a good showing from the USD School of Law.

Participating in the San Diego Walk For Darfur is a great way to get actively involved in this cause. This is a family oriented event perfect for everyone -- all age groups and fitness levels. You can choose to run, jog, or walk approximately 3 kilometers in the beautiful setting of San Diego's historical Balboa Park. This great event offers a chance to spend a meaningful morning with friends and family, and the extended San Diego Community as we raise funds for an extremely important cause. There will be refreshments and entertainment along the route; at the finish line we will gather for a rally that shall include a keynote address by Rabbi Lee Bycel, humanitarian and International Medical Corps Senior Advisor for Global Strategy. In addition, awards will be given out to honor the individuals and teams with the most funds raised! More details of Local Celebrities and Entertainment to come. Each registered participant receives a colorful, top-quality commemorative T-shirt.

It is sponsored by the American Jewish World Service. If you're interested, you can register or email me at jemnesia@yahoo.com.

IHRLS FALL SEMESTER SCHEDULE (UPDATED)

Here is a tentative schedule of the speaking events we hope to attend as a club. I will reserve a block of tickets for each event, and hopefully we can meet as a club 30 minutes before outside the law school and attend as a group. Theres quite a few events in October, so dont feel compelled to go to all, but try to attend as many as you can!

Thursday, October 5th, 12:00-12:50pm (Warren Hall 2A) Professor William Aceves, "International Human Rights Litigation in the US" Prof. Aceves is a Professor of Law at California Western School of Law and is the Director of the schools International Legal Studies Program. Among other courses, he teaches Human Rights Law at Cal Western. Prof. Aceves has also wrote extensively for both the ACLU and Amnesty International on the use of international law in domestic courts. He has also represented several human rights organizations in federal courts. Prof. Aceves will be the clubs first ever guest speaker, and will be speaking about intl. human rights litigation, particularly in domestic courts. He will also touch upon studying and practicing intl. human rights law. http://www.cwsl.edu/main/default.asp?nav=faculty.asp&header=faculty.gif&body=aceves/home.asp

Tuesday, October 10th, 12:30-2:00pm (IPJ Theatre) Conversation with Woman PeaceMaker Shukrije Gashi, “Transcending history, pursuing reconciliation for a future Kosovo.” ****Since most 1L's have class during the event, if anyone who doesnt have class wants to meet and walk over as a group, post a comment here that you want to attend, and we will meet in front of the main entrance to the law school at Noon and walk over. http://peace.sandiego.edu/programs/WPM/womenpeacemakers2006.html#ShukrijeGashi

Thursday, October 12th, 12:30pm-2:00pm (IPJ Theatre) Conversation with Woman PeaceMaker Palwasha Kakar, “Mobilizing women and defending human rights under and after the Taliban in Afghanistan.” ****Since most 1L's have class during the event, if anyone who doesnt have class wants to meet and walk over as a group, post a comment here that you want to attend, and we will meet in front of the main entrance to the law school at Noon and walk over. http://peace.sandiego.edu/programs/WPM/womenpeacemakers2006.html#PalwashaKakar

Wednesday, October 18th, 7:00pm (IPJ Theatre) Joan B.Kroc Lecture Series. "Women, War, Peace: Politics in Peacebuilding." Elisabeth Rehn, former Minister of Defense of Finland, and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Bosnia and Herzegovina, will be addressing the topic of her book. ****We will be attending as a group, meeting in front of the law school at 6:30pm and walking over as a club

Thursday, October 19th, 7:00pm (IPJ Theatre) Women's inroads and blockades to peace with justice in current conflicts." Women from the frontlines in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Northern Uganda, the Philippines, Somalia, and Sudan discuss their work and gender-specific challenges in current policies in a public panel. ****We will be attending as a group, meeting in front of the law school at 6:30pm and walking over as a club

Thursday, October 26th, 7:00pm (IPJ Theatre) “Building cultures of peace with justice” – Annual Women PeaceMakers Panel. This is a perfect opportunity for the 1L's who couldnt attend the women peacemaker events during the day in October to hear them give their final talks as a panel. ****We will be attending as a group, meeting in front of the law school at 6:30pm and walking over as a club

Thursday, November 2, 7:00pm (IPJ Theatre) IPJ Speaker Series presents “Unifying Cyprus: Are the stakes too high?” Dr. Gerald Monk, Professor at the International Security and Conflict Resolution Program (ISCOR) at San Diego State University, will moderate a panel of experts from both the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities. ****We will be attending as a group, meeting in front of the law school at 6:30pm and walking over as a club

More events will be added for November when we become aware of them.

Enforced Detainment

I thought this was an interesting article that highlights the clandestine nature of this "war on terror." It seems that Pakistan has joined the frey, and who knows how many other countries have detained, interrogated and possibly executed human beings dubbed as "terrorists."

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-09-28T235250Z_01_L28760021_RTRUKOC_0_US-RIGHTS-PAKISTAN.xml&WTmodLoc=IntNewsHome_C1_%5bFeed%5d-2

"Ambassador" Film/ Monday Night

I just wanted to post this message and let everyone know about the film "Ambassador" that was shown at the IPJ last night.

The film was well done, and it documented the possible human rights violations intelligence czar John Negroponte may be guilty of from his ambassadorship in Honduras and Nicaragua in the 1980's.

The film was powerful, and illustrated the current struggle that is going on worldwide to end official impunity and shed light on the criminal activity military and political leaders have engaged in over the years.

The film is not available on DVD yet because they are looking for a publisher, but I would recommend anyone who is interested in international human rights and increasing accountability to those responsible for carrying out these violations to check out this film on the web or go to peace.sandiego.edu and read about the film there.

Peter

ALSO, Solar Energy Week and Conference

I also want to pass on a message to everyone from Scott Anders, director of the law schools Energy Policy Initiatives Center. EPIC will be hosting a Solar Energy Conference this Thursday the 27th as part of Solar Energy Week here on campus.

The conference is all day, from 8-5, so feel free to show up when you can, or just for a few hours and learn about solar energy developments in California. Registration is required (info about registration at the web address below) but it is free and includes meals.

<http://www.sdenergy.org/ContentPage.asp?ContentID=292&SectionID=288&Section

Hope some of you can attend. Also, if you are interested in energy law or alternative energy, feel free to stop by EPIC (in the back of the LRC) and talk to Scott Anders (scottanders@sandiego.edu) . He may even have work study positions avaliable.

Ogaden Conference

I would like to echo the previous bloggers comments on the Ogaden conference.

I thought the conference was fantastic. The first panel was very enlightening in terms of the history of the Ogaden people, their plight and what the government of Ethiopia and the warlords of Somalia have neglected to do over the years to help them.

The second panel was also very interesting, highlighting the problems Somali refugees have in staying active with their problems back in the native land along with wrestling the common day problems here in the United States.

I really thought the evening was topped off perfectly when the former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Mr. Cohen, spoke about the reasoning behind American policy in the Horn of Africa.

If this is any sign of conferences to come at the IPJ, I am very excited to attend each one. I know of a couple coming up in October on gender roles in conflict resolution which I am going to be a student delegate to and also some conferences on Mexican economic issues and speeches given by high level justices in Mexico, Spain and Chile on reforming the Latin American judicial system.

I'll try and keep everyone posted on what I hear on this message board.

Peter S.

Darfur

Artice in the New York Times today about the impending African Union pull out from Sudan.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/10/world/africa/10darfur.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5094&en=de6591ccdb144071&hp&ex=1157860800&partner=homepage

Good Books?

In between reading law cases I have been trying to slide in some interesting books regarding to human rights. I was wondering if any of you had some recommendations? A list books I have gone through recently are:

The Culture of Make Believe (a book about what makes America such a destructive society)

Mountains Beyond Mountains (up lifting book about a doctor in Haiti)

First World Ha Ha Ha! The Zapatista Movement

Problem From Hell: America in the Age of Genocide (chronicles of genocide since WWII and reasoning behind the lack of American involvement)

A Little Matter of Genocide (evaluation of US relations with indigenous Americans)

Overthrow (History of American Foreign Policy that resulted in overthow of foreign government)

Ogaden

The conference on Ogaden was great. It was an enlightening experience to share a room with 100+ refugees. I learned a lot about the history of the conflict with Ethiopia and the ongoing conflict in the region now. The speakers were knowledgeable, well spoken, and most importantly, passionate about seeking a peaceful resolution to what is happening there. A transcendent event!

speaker suggestion: William Aceves

William is a professor of international human rights law at Cal Western. He's very involved with Amnesty International USA and the local Amnesty group has organized several speaking events with him (e.g., Guantanamo detensions, torture, extraordinary renditions, universal jurisdiction). I believe he's also been invovled in lawsuits against torturers under the Alien Tort Claims Act.
waceves@cwsl.edu
http://www.cwsl.edu/main/default.asp?body=aceves/home.asp

LRA demand ICC charges be dropped in Ugandan Peace Talks

Hey everyone. I know its tough in the hustle and bustle of law school to keep abreast on event around the world, but heres an important one. This is a fascinating article about the LRA -Ugandan cease fire, and the LRA's current tactic of attempting to avoid international liability by threatening the end of the cease fire:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5320254.stm

Enjoy and feel free to post similar human rights articles you find interesting.

Kevin

Welcome to the IHRLS website!

Hi everyone,

This is the club website which will include the following things: schedule of club events (including speaking events at the IPJ), international human rights job postings/internships/study abroad opportunities, and relevant news articles on human rights issues abroad.

So EVERYONE can post relevant information and articles they come across for all to see, here is the username and password for the blog. You can log in at www.blogger.com

username: usdhumanrights
password: usdhumanrights

Hope to see some posts soon!

Kevin