Upcoming events

Join us for a movie:Water For Life which explores the collision of water rights, Indigenous beliefs, and resource extraction through the lives of three Latin American community leaders. The right to clean water is a global issue—in Latin America it has become a matter of life and death.

Narrated by Mexican actor Diego Luna with the original song Ko (Water) sung by Grammy Award-winning Mexican Mixtec singer Lila Downs and Chilean Mapuche singer-songwriter Daniela Millaleo.

When: Tuesday,February 24, 2026 | 4:15pm - 6:15pm
Where: Columbia Law School | JG 102A

Food will be served

Please register below:

• Register with my Columbia UNI
• Register as a Guest

Join us as the representatives of the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) will discuss the innovative legal and advocacy strategies the organization has developed over the past decade in its pursuit of justice for the assassination of renowned Honduran human rights defender Berta Cáceres. On March 2, 2016, Berta Cáceres was murdered in her home following a prolonged campaign of persecution, surveillance, criminalization, and violence. She had long led the defense of Lenca territory against the imposition of the Agua Zarca hydroelectric project.

In the ten years since her murder, Berta’s family and the organization she co-founded, COPINH, have pursued accountability while continuing to safeguard the territory, self-determination, and environment of the Lenca people.

The event will examine the strategies COPINH has spearheaded at both domestic and international levels. Representatives will share insights from the recently released findings of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights’ Group of Independent Experts (GIEI), which was mandated to investigate those responsible for financing and ordering the crime. In a global context where impunity remains pervasive in cases of violence against land and environmental defenders, these efforts have resulted in the conviction of nine individuals, including the unprecedented conviction of a CEO in a case of retaliatory violence against an Indigenous land rights defender. At the same time, as the GIEI report makes clear, additional financiers and planners of the crime continue to evade accountability.

Speakers

• Bertha Zúñiga Cáceres, General Coordinator of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH)
• Camilo Bermúdez, Director of Strategic Litigation and Management of COPINH. 

When: Thursday,February 26, 2026 | 12:10pm - 1:10pm
Where: Columbia Law School | JG 107

Lunch will be provided. 

Please register below:

• Register with my Columbia UNI
• Register as a Guest

Join us for a critical conversation on the weaponization of law against journalists and the rising threat of criminal SLAPPs worldwide.

Speakers:

• Tejal Jesrani – Director, TrialWatch Project & Acting Director, Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute
• Paulina Milewska – Researcher, European University Institute
• Ksenia Mironova – Russian Investigative Journalist

When: Tuesday, March 3, 2026, 12:10 – 1:10 PM EST
Where: JG 107 | Columbia Law School

Lunch will be served 
Co-Sponsors: : Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute, TrialWatch Project

Please register below:

• Register with my Columbia UNI
• Register as a Guest

Celebrating a Decade of Student Scholarship, Dialogue, and Faculty–Student Collaboration

The Human Rights Institute at Columbia Law School is delighted to invite submissions for the Tenth Annual Columbia Law School Human Rights Student Paper Symposium, marking ten years of elevating innovative student scholarship and fostering rich intellectual exchange on urgent human rights challenges.

Co-organized by the Human Rights Institute, Human Rights Clinic, Columbia Law School Human Rights Association, Columbia Human Rights Law Review, and the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, this milestone anniversary symposium will bring together students, faculty, practitioners, and scholars for a full day of rigorous discussion, constructive feedback, and community building.

Founded by Professor Sarah Knuckey in 2017, for a decade, this symposium has served as a cornerstone of human rights engagement at Columbia—a uniquely collaborative space where students present their research and receive detailed commentary from leading academics and practitioners committed to mentoring the next generation of human rights thinkers. The 2026 symposium will also feature special programming reflecting on the evolution and future of human rights scholarship at Columbia Law School.

Event Details

Date: Friday, April 3, 2026
Time: 8:00 AM – 2:00 PM 
Location: Jerome Greene Hall (in-person)
Format: In-person sessions
Food: Light breakfast and lunch provided for all participants

Call for Submissions

We welcome submissions from Columbia Law School (J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D.) students engaging with any aspect of human rights—across law, policy, practice, advocacy, theory, and research methods. Papers may explore contemporary issues, historical inquiries, comparative perspectives, or forward-looking approaches to rights protection and accountability.

Selected presenters will:

• Present their research in curated thematic panels 
• Receive targeted, in-depth commentary from distinguished Columbia faculty and external practitioners

This year’s anniversary symposium will highlight the long-standing tradition of faculty–student partnership that has shaped human rights learning and mentorship at Columbia.

How to Apply

Application Deadline: February 16, 2026
Please submit your materials through the online submission form.

Required materials:

1. Curriculum Vitae (CV)
2. Abstract (500–750 words)
3. (If available) Draft paper or a detailed outline

Applicants will be notified of selection decisions by February 28, 2026.
Selected presenters must submit a full draft (15–30 pages) by March 20, 2026 to allow time for faculty and practitioner reviewers to prepare feedback.