Past events

Please join the Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute, Columbia Law Students Human Rights Association, and the Middle Eastern Law Students Association for a film screening of "Neighbours." During this screening, we will observe the absurdity of war through the innocent lens of a six-year-old boy living in a village on the Turkish-Syrian border. 

This film screening will be followed by a 30-minute Q&A discussion with Film Director, Mano Khalil and moderation from Rêz Gardî, International Human Rights Lawyer and Board Member, New York Kurdish Cultural Center

When: Monday, February 17, 2025 | 5:00PM-8:00PM

Where: Columbia Law School | Jerome Greene Hall | Room 107 

Dinner will be provided. 

Please register to help prevent food waste.

 The Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute, Human Rights Clinic, Columbia Law School Human Rights Association, Columbia Human Rights Law Review, and the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law are pleased to announce the Ninth Annual Columbia Law School Human Rights Student Paper Symposium to be held Friday, April 04, 2024 at Jerome Greene Hall. 

Current Columbia Law School J.D., LL.M., & J.S.D. students are invited to submit papers. 

The Symposium is intended to foster the development of student scholarship and to stimulate debate on human rights challenges and opportunities. We welcome submissions that critically engage with and advance knowledge and debate about any human rights issue, whether related to the law, policy, advocacy, theory, methods, and/or practice of human rights. The student authors of papers selected for the Symposium will be invited to briefly present their work to a panel of faculty, practitioners, and students for feedback and commentary. Commentators, which will be members of the human rights faculty and practitioners within the Columbia community, will be paired with each individual paper based on the topic. The feedback will be designed to assist students in further developing their papers for publication. Following student presentations, the floor will open to the audience for continued collaborative discussion. 

PAPER SUBMISSION: 

Students are invited to submit draft outlines or papers using the following form by February 16, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. Submissions received after this deadline will not be considered. Students may submit unpublished journal notes, papers written for prior or current classes, or other works. Each submission should include a 250–300 word abstract, along with the student’s name and email address. Students whose papers are selected for presentation at the Symposium will be notified by March 03, 2025. Selected students may re-submit a revised draft by March 21, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. Papers should generally not exceed 45 double-spaced pages. Students are invited to present either final drafts or works-in-progress. 

This event was recorded on zoom. The recording can be viewed here.

Please join the Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute, the Columbia University Institute for the Study of Human Rights, and Stop Ecocide International for an engaging panel on the topic of ecocide. This panel consisting of legal, diplomatic, historical, and advocacy experts will discuss the law of ecocide along with the path towards recognizing ecocide as an international crime. 

Our Speakers Include: 

• Anna Maddrick, Legal Advisor on Climate Matters, Permanent Mission of Vanuata to the United Nations
• Jojo Mehta, Co-Founder and CEO, Stop Ecocide International
• Nicholas Robinson, Professor of Law, Pace University
• Steven Donziger, Human Rights and Environmental Justice Attorney

Moderater:

• Jackie Dugard, Senior Lecturer, Institute for the Study of Human Rights

When: Thursday, February 6, 2025 | 12:10-1:10pm

Where: Columbia Law School | Jerome Greene Hall | Room 107

Lunch will be served. 

As part of our commitment to nurturing a vibrant human rights culture within CLS, HRI provides funding to support student-led human rights initiatives. The HRI Student Human Rights Action Fund presents a significant opportunity for CLS students to organize and lead various activities aimed at fostering awareness and engagement around human rights issues on campus and in the wider community. For Spring 2025, we invite proposals specifically focused on human rights issues in the United States.

Key Features

• Grant Amount: Between $500 up to $2,500
• Eligibility: Open to all CLS students, including JDs, LLMs, and JSDs.

Application Process:

To apply, interested students can simply fill out a brief form, articulating how the funding will enhance their initiative. The submissions will be reviewed on a rolling basis for the Spring 2025 Semester until 24 January 2025 at 12:00pm.

For more information, click the link below.

Please join the Human Rights Institute and the Ambedkar Program in Global Constitutionalism for a conversation with Cora Chan, author of a newly published book titled, "Deference in Human Rights Adjudication." The panelists along with the author will discuss with the books insightful and pioneering findings as they relate to constitutional law, constitutional theory and human rights laws. 

Our Panelists Include: 

• Cora Chan, Professor of Law, University of Hong Kong; Author of "Deference in Human Rights Adjudication" 
• David E. Landau, Mason Ladd Professor and Associate Dean for International Programs, FSU College of Law
• Frédéric Mégret, James S. Carpentier Visiting Professor of Law, Columbia Law School
• Katharine G. Young, Stephen and Barbara Friedman Visiting Professor of Law, Columbia Law School 

When: Thursday, January 23, 2025 | 12:10-1:10pm

Where: Columbia Law School | Jerome Greene Hall | Room 107

Lunch will be served.

Please register below to prevent food waste. 

The Human Rights Institute would like to invite you for a panel discussion on the efficacy of constitutional courts in upholding human rights freedoms in Asia, especially within several South Asian countries such as India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. 

Our Speaker Is:

• Warisha Farasat, Practitioner-in-Residence, Columbia Law School; Advocate, Supreme Court of India

When: Tuesday, November 19, 2024 | 12:10-1:10pm

Where: Columbia Law School | Jerome Greene Hall | Room 107

Lunch will be served. 

Please register below to prevent food waste.

The Human Rights Institute proudly presents our Fall event series on:

Human Rights on Campus and Globally: A Special Event Series With UN Experts

We invite you to join us at our sixth event for a discussion with: 

Mariana Katzarova, The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Russian Federation

She will be discussing her mandate, recent reports given to the UN General Assembly, as well as their work in relation to the current global context.

When: Monday, November 04 | 12:10pm - 1:10pm 

When: Columbia Law School | Jerome Greene Hall | Case Lounge (7th Floor)

Lunch will be provided. 

Please register at this link.

Please join the Human Rights Institute for a panel discussion on the forced displacement and ethnic cleansing of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh, as documented in a recent fact-finding report with the University Network for Human Rights. The panelists will explore the events leading to the mass exodus, the current status of those affected, and the implications for the upcoming COP29 UN conference in Azerbaijan.

Our Speakers Include:

• Thomas Becker, Senior Clinical Supervisor, University Network for Human Rights
• Anoush Baghdassarian, Co-Founder of Rerooted, Former ICC Fellow

When: Thursday, October 24, 2024 | 12:10-1:10pm

Where: Columbia Law School | Jerome Greene Hall | Room 807

Lunch will be served. 

Please register below to prevent food waste.

The Human Rights Institute proudly presents our Fall event series on:

Human Rights on Campus and Globally: A Special Event Series With UN Experts

We invite you to join us at our fifth event for a discussion with: 

Farida Shaheed, The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education

She will be discussing her mandate, recent reports given to the UN General Assembly, as well as their work in relation to the current global context.

When: Wednesday, October 23, 2024 | 12:10pm - 1:10pm 

When: Columbia Law School | Jerome Greene Hall | Room 107

Lunch will be provided. 

Please register at this link.

The Human Rights Institute proudly presents our Fall event series on:

Human Rights on Campus and Globally: A Special Event Series With UN Experts

We invite you to join us at our fourth event for a conversation with: 

Bernard Duhaime, The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Truth, Justice, and Reparations

He will be discussing his mandate, recent reports given to the UN General Assembly, as well as their work in relation to the current global context.

When: Tuesday, October 22, 2024 | 12:10pm - 1:10pm 

When: Columbia Law School | Jerome Greene Annex

Lunch will be provided. 

Please reserve your seat below. 

The Human Rights Institute proudly presents our Fall event series on:

Human Rights on Campus and Globally: A Special Event Series With UN Experts

We invite you to join us at our third event for talk with: 

Najla Nassif Palma, The United Nations Victims' Rights Advocate 

She will be discussing her mandate, the Victim/Survivor-Centered Approach, as well as her work with regard to the challenges faced in advocating for the rights of victims/survivors of sexual exploitation and abuse by UN and related personnel.

When: Friday, October 18, 2024 | 12:10pm - 1:10pm 

When: Columbia Law School | Jerome Greene Hall | Room 104

Lunch will be provided. 

Please register below.

The Human Rights Institute proudly presents our Fall event series on:

Human Rights on Campus and Globally: A Special Event Series With UN Experts

We invite you to join us at our second event for discussion with: 

Irene Khan, The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Opinion

She will be discussing her mandate, recent reports given to the UN General Assembly, as well as their work in relation to campus speech in crisis in the wake of the current global situation. 

When: Wednesday, October 16, 2024 | 12:10pm - 1:10pm 

When: Columbia Law School | Jerome Greene Hall | Room 104

Lunch will be provided. 

Please reserve your seat below. 

The Human Rights Institute proudly presents our Fall event series on:

Human Rights on Campus and Globally: A Special Event Series With UN Experts

We invite you to join us at our first event for discussion with: 

Gina Romero, The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association. 

She will be discussing her mandate, recent reports given to the UN General Assembly, as well as their work in relation to the current global context.

When: Monday, October 14, 2024 | 12:10pm - 1:10pm 

When: Columbia Law School | Jerome Greene Hall | Room 104

Lunch will be provided.

Please register at this link.

The Human Rights Institute and the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom would like to invite you to an intriguing panel on "Media Freedom and International Law: The Case of the Media Freedom Coalition of States."

Moderated by: Can Yeginsu, Deputy Chair of the High Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom and Senior Fellow of the Human Rights Institute 

The panelists will include:

• Amelia Evans: Deputy Director of Advocacy, Committee to Protect Journalists
• Catherine Amirfar: Deputy Chair, High Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom
• Hina Jilani: Member, High Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom
• Rebecca Vincent: Director of Campaigns, Reporters without Borders

When: Thursday, September 26, 2024 | 12:10-1:10pm

Where: William and June Warren Hall | Basement Floor | Room 107

Please join the Human Rights Institute, co-sponsored by EarthRights International, for a climate-displaced community panel discussion on "Protecting Culture in the Climate Crisis."

This event is part of our Climate Week Series.

Members of the Jean Charles Choctaw Nation (JCCN) will share their story as one of the first U.S. communitites to experience climate-forced displacement as well as the state's failure to uphold their relocation plan.

When: Wednesday, September 25, 2024 | 5:00pm-7:00pm

Where: William and June Warren Hall | Room 310

Please register below.

The Human Rights Institute invites you to join us for a conversation with Environmental Frontline Climate Defenders on the threats they face as well as discuss strategies to support them and their essential climate work.

This event is a part of our Climate Week Series. 

Our panelists include:

• Olivier Ndoole, Lawyer and 2024 Global Citizen Prize Winner
• Brenda Díaz Valencia, Daughter of Disappeared Environmental Defender
• Liangyi Chang, Asia Managing Director of 350.ORG
• Dina Júc, Maya W'eqchi & Poqomchi Leader, Mesoamerican Alliance of Peoples and Forests, Black and Indigenous Lives Matter Movement

When: Tuesday, September 24, 2024 | 12:10-1:10pm

Where: Jerome Greene Hall | Room 107

Lunch will be served. 

Please join the Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute for an interactive discussion on "Worker Power at Amazon: Strategies for Collective Action." This panel is co-sponsored by the Columbia Law Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, the Columbia Law and Political Economy Society, and the Columbia Law Students Human Rights Association. 

Please join the Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute for an interactive panel discussion on "Organizing for Change: Fighting Poverty and Inequality in the United States." 

Panelists:

• Kali Akuno, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Cooperation Jackson
• Ashley Hufnagel, Executive Director, United Workers
• Anthony Prince, General Counsel, California Homeless Union

The Human Rights Clinic held a lunch event titled, "Strategies for Economic and Land Justice" where clinic students shared diverse and creative tactics to hold corporations to account for human rights abuses, land grabbing, and to counter poverty and inequality in the US and globally.

Clinic Students That Presented:

• Rhiannon Adams LLM '24
• Sofia Calvo Castillo '25
• Skylar Gleason '25
• Priscilla Along LLM '24
• Mikhal Kidane '25
• Seth McDowell '25

The Human Rights Clinic held a lunch event titled "New Frontiers in Accountability and Climate Justice" where clinic students shared innovative strategies to promote accountability for civilian harm, counter religious discrimination, and protect the environment.

Clinic Students That Presented:

• Amra Ismail LLM ‘24
• Kristen Popham ‘25
• Michael Weaver ‘25
• Samuel Sontag ‘24
• Sugandha Yadav LLM ‘24
• Chrisleine Temple ‘25
• Natalie Smith ‘25
• Maria Terrinoni ‘25
• Allison Love ‘24 
• Claire Ren ‘24

Please join the Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute for a lunch talk as part of our Spring Event Series: Defending Human Rights in the Face of Armed Conflict. The event series will explore strategies for promoting rights, justice, and peace during armed conflict.

This event, co-sponsered by the Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute and the Columbia Law Students Human Rights Association is titled "Pathways to Peace: The Role of Diplomacy and Peacebuilding in Advancing Human Rights During Conflict" and has a particular focus on Ethiopia, Myanmar, and Global Trends.

The Annual Columbia Law School Human Rights Student Paper Symposium aims to foster the development of student scholarship and stimulate debate on human rights challenges and opportunities.

This year we will hold our Eighth Annual Human Rights Student Paper Symposium. 

The Symposium is co-organized and presented by the Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute, Human Rights Clinic, Columbia Law School Human Rights Association, Columbia Human Rights Law Review, and the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law. The student authors of papers selected for the Symposium are invited to present their work to a panel of faculty, practitioners, and students for feedback and commentary. Feedback is designed to assist students to further develop their paper for publication. Following student presentations, the floor opens to the audience for continued collaborative discussion.

Join us for a day featuring papers that critically engage with human rights issues and dicussions on their challenges with human rights scholars and practitioners. 

Columbia Law School Human Rights Coffee Hour.

All students interested in human rights were given the chance to meet Clinic supervisors, to learn about human rights opportunities, and active projects at Columbia Law School. 

Coffee and pastries were served!

This event was an interactive lunch discussion on the impacts and mitigation of ethnic cleansing with Armenian insights through science, history, culture, and law led by prominent scholars and lawyers. 

In advance of the United Nations General Assembly Sixth Committee Session slated for April 2024, Counselor and Legal Advisor for the Permanent Mission of Iceland to the UN Anna Pála Sverrisdóttir led a discussion at Columbia Law School regarding advancements in the development of a Convention on Crimes Against Humanity at the United Nations.

Please join the Human Rights Institute for our first event as part of the Spring Event Series: Defending Human Rights in The Face of Armed Conflict. The event series will explore strategies for promoting rights, justice, and peace during armed conflict. 

This event titled "Women Human Rights Defenders Working in Conflict and Crisis Affected Settings" will be a discussion on the role WHRDs play during armed conflict, with a particular focus on Armenia, Mexico, Sudan and global trends. 

Please register here. 

The Human Rights Institute and Institute for the Study of Human Rights held a interactive workshop led by the Co-Executive Directors of the Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI), Thalia Kehoe Rowden and Melissa Del Aguila, a organization focused on harnessing data to monitor States' adherence to global human rights norms. 

This event offered an opportunity for students and leading practitioners to delve into the synergies between the legal and research communities regarding the effective measurement of international human rights standards. 

The Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute, the Columbia Law Students Human Rights Association, Columbia Society of International Law, the Public Interest Law Foundation, the Columbia Law Women's Association and the Institute for the Study of Human Right held a conversation with Ms. Lopa Banerjee, Director of the Civil Society Division at UN Women.

In advance of the forthcoming 68th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, this event provided a unique opportunity to discuss strategies to advance gender equity in democracy.

The Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute, the Columbia Law Students Human Rights Association and the Columbia Society of International Law held a lunch event on "Youth Shaping Rights: A Dialogue with the 2024 Obama Foundation Scholars on Human Rights Leadership." 

The event provided the opportunity to explore how young leaders are shaping the future of human rights. Panelists engaged in discussions with the CLS community around impactful human rights leadership and the pivotal role of youth-led groups in driving positive change.

This event was a dialogue with human rights practioners about career paths from law school to civil society advocacy, particularly advocating within the United Nations in New York. 

The panel was comprised of individuals who had made this transition and offered valuable insights into securing positions at international civil society organizations, as well as the day-to-day experiences of working in such environments.

The Human Rights Institute and the Columbia Law School Human Rights Assocation invited Mr. Guy Ryder, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Policy at the Executive Office of the Secretary-General (EOSG), for an engaging discussion on "Reinvigorating Global Governance: Challenges and Opportunities to Reviving Multilateralism."

This was a unique opportunity where participants delved into critical issues shaping global governance and explored avenues for strengthening multilateral collaboration. 

This discussion focused on human rights approaches to combating atrocity crimes against Uyghur and Turkic populations in China. 

Speaker: Rayhan Asat, Human Rights Lawyer at the Atlantic Council Strategic Litigation Project. 

In November 2023, the United Nations elected Prof. Sarah Cleveland to serve as a judge on the International Court of Justice.

To celebrate, CLSHRA, CSIL, and HRI hosted a fireside chat with Prof. Cleveland, during which she discussed her campaign experience along with the hopes and expectations of the role. 

The chat was followed by a general end-of-semester reception with food and drinks at 6:00 pm in the JGH lobby. 

This event was an interactive discussion on the climate change proceedings, that were pending at the time, before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and the European Court of Human Rights. In relation to both proceedings, questions of the interaction between human rights and climate change came to the fore.

This event provided space for a discussion on multiple diasporas and their relation to  international law with Professor Frédéric Mégret from McGill University. 

This was an interactive discussion with Olivier De Schutter, the UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, on how to address poverty in an era of climate disaster.

This panel discussion explored the resolution of transboundary water conflicts through the active involvement of the public and emphasized the crucial role of informed collaborative decision-making in ensuring sustainable water resource management.

This event was made possible by the Human Rights Institute, in conjunction with both student and university-wide organizations. 

This event engaged with the topic of human rights challenges faced by migrant workers as they navigate the vulnerable landscape of labor migration.

This event included a discussion on the creation of a robust legal framework to safeguard human rights activism, celebrated the enduring spirit of Human Rights Defenders over the past 25 years and the timeless principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which have guided us for 75 years.

The Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute held an interactive dialogue with Dr. Beth Van Schaack, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice. In her capacity, Dr. Van Schaack offered guidance to the Secretary of State and other key department leaders on matters concerning the prevention and prosecution of atrocity crimes, encompassing genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, spanning from Ukraine to South Sudan and Syria.

This event was a collaborative effort among various groups within CLS and presented a valuable opportunity to connect, explore, and engage with the diverse human rights organizations and bodies across CLS. 

This panel discussion and Q/A served as an important entry point for anyone interested in joining the human rights community at Columbia Law School. The panelists introduced various avenues for engagement and shared their insights into the diverse opportunities within the field of human rights at CLS.

This event was made possible through the collaborative efforts of the Human Rights Institute, Human Rights Clinic, Office of Public Interest/Public Service Law and Careers, Columbia Law Women's Association, Columbia Law Student Human Rights Association, Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, the Columbia Society of International Law, the Columbia Human Rights Law Review, the Columbia Public Interest Law Foundation, and the Society for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

This event was the result of collaborative efforts among various groups within CLS and presented a valuable opportunity to connect, explore, and engage with the diverse human rights organizations and bodies across CLS. 

The event provided an opportunity to meet and connect with fellow members of the human rights community across CLS. This informal gathering, with drinks and food, created a space to share experiences and speak with a range of groups across CLS working to advance human rights. 

This event was made possible through the collaborative efforts of the Human Rights Institute, Human Rights Clinic, Office of Public Interest/Public Service Law and Careers, Columbia Law Women's Association, Columbia Law Student Human Rights Association, Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, the Columbia Society of International Law, the Columbia Human Rights Law Review, the Columbia Public Interest Law Foundation, and the Society for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
 

Hear Christian Wenaweser, Ambassador of Liechtenstein to the UN, on crucial rights and accountability issues at the UN.  

The Ambassador will discuss:

-  Raising the cost for the UN Security Council's Five Permanent Members casting their veto to thwart human rights and accountability for the most egregious international crimes 

- With Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the challenges establishing a tribunal for the crime of aggression 

- With widespread war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria's civil war, creating an unprecedented UN investigative body to facilitate the prosecution of atrocities there.

This event is orchestrated by HRI. Lunch will be provided. 

Gender inequality remains a reality in every country worldwide, and is particularly pronounced in conflict-affected contexts. How do inequalities and gender roles shape civilian experiences of war? What are the responsibilities of those who hold power to shift the needle? Amid growing inequalities, this topic may never have been so urgent.

Join us for a critical reflection with the new President of the ICRC on how international humanitarian law and humanitarian principles can be a vital link between women, peace and security and address the gendered impacts of war. 

Listen to a lecture on the Indian death penalty by Anup Surendranath, the Executive Director of Project 39A and a Professor of Law at National Law University, Delhi. This is a talk facilitated by the Human Rights Institute, and lunch will be served. 

Listen to Pablo Arrocha, the Legal Adviser for Mexico's Mission to the United Nations, present on progress and prospects for a new international treaty on Crimes Against Humanity, with additional insights from Professor Lori Damrosch and moderation by Professor Richard Dicker. Lunch will be provided. 

With rampant wildfires, drought, rising sea levels, and ever-stronger storms, the baleful effects of Climate Change are more and more evident. Prompted by small Pacific Island states, other countries from different regions of the globe face this as a threat to their national existence. In this context, Vanuatu has proposed bringing a request to the UN’s General Assembly for an Advisory Opinion in which the ICJ would articulate state responsibilities for the effects of Climate Change.

Vanuatu Ambassador Ode Tevi and Legal Adviser Kevin Chand will speak with Professor Michael Gerrard of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law & HRI Senior Fellow Professor Richard Dicker about the objectives of bringing such a request which has to be approved by half of the GA’s membership.

Lunch will be served.

Co-organized by the Human Rights Institute and the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law.

Co-sponsored by the Columbia Climate School, Rightslink, and the Columbia Law School Society of International Law.

#WhatsHappeninginThailand: Democratic Decline, Collapsed Rule of Law, and Emergence of Resilience

Shrinking civic space is a growing issue in Thailand. As waves of pro-democracy and youth-led protests started in 2020 and continue to grow, the authorities continue to suppress civic acts, sometimes through violence. Social movements and resistance by the people have fought back against the government’s backsliding of democracy and the rule of law, and have pressured the government to abide by its human rights commitments.

Thailand used to be the regional leader championing democracy and human rights. But what is the reality in Thailand? Join our talk with two prominent Thai human rights defenders who will discuss #WhatsHappeninginThailand.

Co-sponsored by APALSA, Rightslink, and the New York Southeast Asia Network.

Lunch will be served. 

In 2014, ISIS launched the Yazidi Genocide, targeting Iraq’s Yazidi minority. In her documentary ‘HÁWAR––My Journey to Genocide,’ HÁWAR.help founder and chairwoman Düzen Tekkal portrays the fate of resistant women to shed light on the collective trauma of the Yazidis. The film shows that the lives of surviving women will be scarred forever if the perpetrators go unpunished and if there is no justice for the Yazidi people.

Following a 20-minute video screening of the documentary, filmmaker Düzen Tekkal and LLM Human Rights Fellow and Yazda Legal Advocacy Director Natia Navrouzov ‘23 will discuss both the role of female Yazidi genocide survivors as agents of change in international relations and peace processes, as well as the importance of international institutions, such as the United Nations, in punishing crimes against humanity and putting an end to impunity.

Welcome by Professor Daniel Naujoks, director of SIPA’s UN studies specialization.

Columbia students, faculty, and staff may attend in person; others please join us virtually. Please see the different registration options. A light lunch will be served after the event.

Join us to hear from HRI & SJI faculty, staff, students, & alumni on how & why to get involved in Human Rights at CLS!

Join HRI for a short film screening and art presentation followed by a discussion panel with the creators. Bayeté Ross Smith (CLS Artist-in-Residence and interdisciplinary artist, photographer, filmmaker, and education worker) and and Fatima Anwar (LLM '22 Human Rights Fellow and lawyer, researcher, and writer from Pakistan) will take us through case studies from the US and Pakistan on how art can engage with and respond to repressive laws, policies, and social systems. Utilizing diverse mediums, including animated film, still photography and more, these case studies contend with racial injustice, free speech, the marginalization of religious minorities, and extrajudicial violence. Through their art, our speakers expand what it means to be a human rights advocate and the strategies & tools available to us to advocate for justice and legal reform.

The U.S. has never fully reckoned with the civilian cost of its post-9/11 wars. Civilian deaths remain unacknowledged, uncounted, and too often ignored—as do the longer-term consequences of these wars. Panelists Stephanie Savell (Costs of War Project), Emran Feroz (Founder of the Drone Memorial and Independent Journalist), Chris Woods (Founder, Airwars), and Bonyan Jamal (Accountability Specialist, Mwatana for Human Rights) will discuss their research shedding light on the human costs of U.S. military operations abroad, and their efforts to address this blind spot in U.S. foreign policy.

Watch the recording here.

Alaa Abd el-Fattah, Egypt’s highest profile political prisoner, rose to international prominence during the revolution of 2011. You Have Not Yet Been Defeated, his collection of essays and interviews, has just been published in the U.S.

Alaa's sister, writer, filmmaker and activist Sanaa Seif, will discuss the book's core themes of protest, free expression, and political imprisonment in conversation with award-winning journalist Sharif Abdel Kouddous.

Watch recording here.

For the past two decades, human rights advocates have called for all perpetrators of human rights abuses in Afghanistan, including U.S. forces, to be held accountable. Now, the collapse of the Afghan government, and Taliban takeover have accelerated a human rights and humanitarian crisis. Panelists Katherine Gallagher (Center for Constitutional Rights), Shaharzad Akbar (Former Chairperson, Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission), Horia Mosadiq (Expert, Human Rights and Transitional Justice) and Heather Barr (Human Rights Watch) will discuss obstacles and challenges to seeking accountability, and potential routes for justice going forward. 

Watch the recording here.

LLM Human Rights Fellows to discussed their high-impact work within the human rights field as researchers, advocates, and writers. Fellows spoke about their hands-on experiences utilizing media to address complex human rights issues, investigating US air strikes, and strengthening national human rights mechanisms. 

Presentations:

"Confronting Civilian Harm; US Drone Strikes in Somalia" by Abdullahi Hassan

"Art and Alternative Human Rights Work: Confronting Extrajudicial Violence in Pakistan" by Fatima Anwar

"Defending the Defenders through National Human Rights Institutions Advocacy" by Shanna Priangka Ramadhanti

More than 20 years ago, the Guantanamo prison facility opened its doors to the first of nearly 800 Muslim men and boys to be held in detention there. Nearly a year ago, President Biden promised to close the facility, ending the practice of indefinite definition there and marking an end to its history of torture and abuse, but his administration has made very little progress toward that end. Guantanamo remains open, with 39 men still detained there, the majority of them never charged. Hear panelists Mansoor Adayfi (writer, artist, activist, and former Guantanamo detainee), Alka Pradhan (CLS ‘07; Human Rights Counsel for Ammar al Baluchi, Guantanamo Bay Military Commissions), and Terry Rockefeller (Founding Member, September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows) discuss the facility’s history of injustice and the pathway to closure. Scott Roehm (Washington Director, Center for Victims of Torture) will moderate.

Watch the recording here.

On May 30, 2016, the Extraordinary African Chambers, a tribunal formed through an agreement between the African Union and Senegalese government, convicted Hissène Habré, the former leader of Chad, of crimes against humanity, war crimes and other offenses for murdering and torturing thousands from 1982-1990. It represented a rare successful prosecution of a Head of State for grave international crimes in the courts of another country, and was achieved through 20 years of relentless advocacy of survivors and victims' families, in coordination with international advocates.

Professor Sharon Weill, co-editor of the new book, "The President on Trial: Prosecuting Hissène Habré" (co-eds: Kim Thuy Seelinger, Kerstin Bree Carlson), convenes this panel of key advocates to reflect on this landmark trial and its lessons: attorney Delphine K. Djiraibe of N’djamena Chad who co-initiated the Habré prosecution; Reed Brody, formerly of Human Rights Watch and an architect of the victims’ campaign; and Dr. Ndeye Amy Ndiaye, a lawyer with the Extraordinary African Trial Chambers. The event will be moderated by Sarah Mehta, Trial Watch Project Director at HRI.

Watch the recording here.

Ten years after the first U.S. drone strike in Somalia, air strikes and counterterrorism operations aimed at al-Shabab continue, in some cases killing or injuring civilians. Panelists Abdullahi Hassan, LLM '22 (Somalia Expert), Brian Finucane (International Crisis Group), Amanda Sperber (Foreign Correspondent), and Abdifatah Hassan Ali (Digital Shelter) will discuss the civilian impacts of these strikes, as well as the legal basis for continued U.S. operations in the country. Watch the recording here.

This event features Jeremy Scahill, a founding editor of the Intercept and award-winning investigative journalist, and Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. Speakers will address how key information provided by whistleblowers informed public understanding and oversight of counterterrorism programs, as well as the risks whistleblowers face. Priyanka Motaparthy, of Columbia Law School’s Human Rights Institute, will moderate. Watch the recording here.

In October, Nigerian youth rose up to protest and campaign against brutality and abuse by a notorious unit of the police. A decentralized social movement led by young Nigerians mobilized to organize, and provide vital legal aid, medical support, and security assistance to protestors. On October 20, viral social media footage showed military officers shooting at unarmed protestors, which left multiple people killed and injured. How did #EndSARS emerge as such a powerful movement? What was the role of youth and social media in organizing? What happens from here? Join Modupe Odele, LLM '16, a key lawyer at the forefront of providing legal aid support to protestors, and Anietie Ewang, Nigeria researcher at Human Rights Watch, to discuss the movement to end police brutality in Nigeria and the ways forward. The event will be moderated by Tito Kolawole '17, an international lawyer and Gender, Law, and Development researcher.

Watch the recording here.

Join the Human Rights Institute and the Mailman School of Public Health's Global Health Justice and Governance Program for an interdisciplinary conversation between researchers, artists, and activists about approaches to ending gender-based violence (GBV), and the increase in GBV during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moderated by Professor Terry McGovern, a panel of four experts, including Yolanda Dyantyi (South Africa-based activist/ artist), Dr. Nicoletta Mabhena (medical doctor and population-based epidemiologist), Anna MacDonald (international campaigner and advocate), and Etaf Reum (author, A Woman Is No Man), will discuss art, research, and activism as tools to bring to light and advocate for ending gender-based violence.

Watch the recording here.

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As the climate crisis continues to escalate, its human rights implications around the world have grown increasingly clear. So, too, has the urgent need for multi-disciplinary climate strategies to ameliorate its harmful effects and address the systems propelling it forward. Join us for a conversation on the human rights impacts of and legal solutions to the climate crisis with César Rodríguez-Garavito, Director, Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, NYU; Hillary Aidun, Climate Law Fellow, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia University; and Landry Ninteretse, Africa Managing Director, 350 Africa. The panel will be moderated by Anjli Parrin, Associate Director, Project on War Crimes and Mass Graves, HRI.

Watch the recording here.

This interactive session with CLS Human Rights Practitioner in Residence, Anna Macdonald, will explore what makes human rights advocacy successful at the UN. Where do you start? How do you know if an advocacy meeting has been successful? What about countries that are hostile to your ideas? Anna will share tips and strategies from over 20 years of successful international advocacy, and discuss some of the new challenges facing advocates in the current context of onslaughts on human rights principles and the difficulties of influencing in a pandemic environment.

Watch the recording here.

Amidst a challenge to the U.S. democracy and a global pandemic, refugees move into the rubble of what was once their homes, their churches, and their hospitals: the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabagh) has just reached its bitter end. What Human Rights violations arose from the crisis and how can we hold the perpetrators accountable? Join us for a talk with Rachel Denber (Deputy Director of Europe and Central Asia Division of Human Rights Watch), Paul Stronski (Senior Fellow in Carnegie’s Russia and Eurasia Program), and Larisa Minasyan (Executive Director of Open Society Foundations Armenia).

Watch the recording here.

From Brazil to Colombia, France to the United States, protests are underway asking for an end to the systematic violence against black peoples. This panel will explore how the Black Lives Matter movement has invigorated the fight for black lives across the world, and discuss the resulting challenges and opportunities from local, regional, and international perspectives. Featuring Dominique Day, Margarette May Macaulay, Justin Hansford, and Natasha Bannan. Moderated by Cassandre Theano, Ud Nnamdi, and Dante Violette.

Watch the recording here.

The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare human rights concerns in prisons throughout the world. Overcrowding and inhuman conditions have demanded international attention with the outbreak of the virus. What is the balance between accountability and the rights of the incarcerated? How have systemic racial disparities in the U.S. put prisoners of color at a disproportionate risk of contracting COVID-19? Has the pandemic presented an opportunity for the release of jailed human rights defenders? Join Qiana Johnson (Life After Release), Scott Hechinger (Zealous), Cynthia Roseberry (ACLU), and Fabian Salvioli (UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation, and guarantees of non-recurrence) for a conversation about the urgent needs of prisoners facing this pandemic and what actions might inform broader efforts at decarceration and prison reform.

Watch the recording here.

This event featured a recording of The Dream Unfinished: An Activist Orchestra’s community reading of Fannie Lou Hamer’s speech, “I am Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired.” Hamer, a voting rights activist and civil rights leader, centered the injustices Black Americans faced in securing the right to vote in 1964 – many of which are still prevalent today. The first 20-30 minutes of the event featured the recording, which was followed by a discussion about arts and civic engagement, voting rights, and current voter suppression. Featuring Sarah Overton, Production Manager, The Dream Unfinished Orchestra; Amshula Jayaram, Senior Campaign Strategist, Demos; and Jennifer Wilson, Deputy Director, League of Women Voters of NYS.

Watch the recording here.

October 31, 2020 marks the 20th anniversary of the UNSCR 1325, which reaffirmed the contributions women make to peace. It urges actors to incorporate gender perspectives in all UN peace and security efforts and calls on parties to conflict to protect women and girls from gender-based violence. Join Krishanti Dharmaraj (Center for Women's Global Leadership, Rutgers University), Lina Abou Habib (Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship, American University of Beirut), Nicole Musimbi (Global Network of Women Peacebuilders), Elvira Pablo Antonio (indigenous lawyer), Efua Acquaah-Harrison Owusu (ICAP, Columbia University), and Soon-Young Yoon (International Alliance of Women) for an inter-generational discussion on the links between peace and conflict and women’s equity, including the culture of violence in the home, cities, and countries; and restoring the culture of peace by conflict resolution and through justice systems.

Watch the recording here.

From the Harlem Renaissance through the Civil Rights Movement, to today, we celebrate the radical practices of creatives across the globe working to advance civic and social justice issues. Join William Crow and Stacie Brennan from Lehigh University Art Galleries to explore the Doing Democracy Exhibition and Jennifer Mock from Columbia University's Wallach Art Gallery to explore the Uptown Triennial 2020 exhibition,  as they create connections between visual representation and how artists and photographers document change through the creation of their artistic practice.

Watch the recording here.

This event features an intergenerational dialogue between activists who attended the Beijing conference and youth leaders facing the crises of our times. Did the Beijing Platform go far enough? How helpful is it to address gender issues today? Who wasn’t included in the original drafting? How can governments be held accountable for it? What are our demands for the future of women’s rights? Through personal narratives, the speakers will bridge the themes of the Beijing conference with current movements for gender equality. Join us for a conversation with women's rights activists and experts Charlotte Bunch (Center for Women's Global Leadership at Rutgers University), Zonibel Woods (Gender, Climate Change and Sustainable Development Consultant), Rahima Sajid (Malala Fund, International Alliance of Women), Dr. Uzma Gul (The Commonwealth Youth Network for Peace), moderated by Soon-Young Yoon (Women's Environment and Development Organization).

Watch the recording here.