Law Commons^™

Trial Monitoring Of People V. Miti Et Al. (Zambia 2018), Human Rights Institute, Beth Van Schaack

Human Rights Institute

Between September and December 2018, TrialWatch monitored the trial of six
activists in Zambia, who were arrested and charged under the Public Order Act in
connection with an anti-corruption protest they organized in 2017. On December 21, 2018, the judge dismissed the charges and acquitted all six defendants.

Although the trial itself was generally fair, and Judge Mwaka Chigali Mikalile is to be commended in this regard, the proceedings were infected with prosecutorial misconduct in pursuing spurious charges based upon patently insufficient evidence.

Trial Monitoring Of People V. Cansu Pişkin (Turkey 2019), Human Rights Institute, Stephen J. Rapp

Human Rights Institute

Between March and May 2019, TrialWatch monitors under the supervision of the
Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic monitored the trial of Cansu Pişkin, a
journalist for the Turkish daily paper, Evrensel, in Istanbul, Turkey. Pişkin was charged with “making a public servant into a target for terrorist organizations” in violation of Section 6(1) of Law No. 3713, otherwise known as the Anti-Terror Law, for publishing the prosecutor’s name in her April 5, 2018 article, “Special Prosecutor for the Bosphorus Students.” On May 7, 2019, the Court convicted Pişkin and sentenced her to 10 months’ imprisonment (with the sentence pronouncement …

Flushed And Forgotten: Sanitation And Wastewater In Rural Communities In The United States, Alabama Center For Rural Enterprise (Acre), Human Rights Institute, Institute For The Study Of Human Rights

Human Rights Institute

This report seeks to bring attention to the unique plight of rural U.S. communities struggling to secure basic sanitation and wastewater. The problem of inadequate and unaffordable water services has received increasing coverage in recent years, and the focus here is on bringing attention to less well-known structural challenges that impede access to sanitation, and the unique ways they impact rural residents.

Advancing Racial Justice And Human Rights: Rights-Based Strategies For The Current Era, Human Rights Institute

Human Rights Institute

On June 1, 2018, the Human Rights Institute convened its 15th annual CLE Symposium on Human Rights in the United States, a signature event of the Human Rights Institute’s Bringing Human Rights Lawyers’ Network. The day-long event brought together more than 150 leading U.S. lawyers, activists, and academics, along with federal and local government representatives to share strategies to advance racial justice within a domestic and global context increasingly hostile to human rights.

This report highlights key takeaways and themes from the Symposium, drawing from speakers’ remarks and their advocacy. It also serves as a basic human rights primer, describing …

Red Mining: Mining And The Right To Water In Porgera, Papua New Guinea, Human Rights Clinic, Advanced Consortium On Cooperation, Conflict And Complexity (Ac4)

Human Rights Institute

The Porgera Joint Venture (PJV) gold mine in the highlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG) has been one of the world’s highest producing gold mines over the course of its quarter-century history, and has accounted for a considerable percentage of PNG’s economic income. Yet many Porgeran residents live in deplorable conditions and feel trapped by the mine. Where they once farmed vegetables and collected fresh water from natural streams, they now see ever-expanding waste dumps. For years, security guards at the mine physically abused many residents, including sexually assaulting and gang-raping Porgeran women. 3 Residents feel the earth shake with …

Red Mining: Mining And The Right To Water In Porgera, Papua New Guinea, Human Rights Institute, Earth Institute

Human Rights Institute

An interdisciplinary study of the human right to water in the villages near the Porgera Joint Venture (PJV) gold mine in Papua New Guinea (PNG) finds that local residents do not have consistent access to sufficient, acceptable, and safe water, or adequate information about their water resources. It concludes that the PNG government and the mining companies Barrick Gold and Zijin Mining, as well as their jointly controlled operator of the mine, Barrick (Niugini) Limited (BNL), can do more to meet their human rights obligations and responsibilities.

Submission To The United Nations Universal Periodic Review Of Yemen, Mwatana Organization For Human Rights, Human Rights Clinic, Cairo Institute For Human Rights Studies, International Federation For Human Rights (Fidh), Gulf Centre For Human Rights (Gchr)

Human Rights Institute

Mwatana for Human Rights (Mwatana), the Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic (the clinic), Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) submit this report to inform the examination of Yemen during its third Universal Periodic Review (UPR). This submission focuses on international human rights and humanitarian law violations by the Government of Yemen and by the armed group Ansar Allah (the Houthis).