Human Rights Law Commons^™

Zero Tolerance Or Strong Cultural Diversity: The Hard Case Of Female Genital Surgery, James M. Donovan, Christiane Canant

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

This article applies a thesis favoring strong cultural diversity to defend a subject-centered policy regarding female genital surgeries (FGS). That idea posits that cultural variation holds an intrinsic value that should be presumptively respected when setting policy and creating law. Correlatively, cultural homogenization, especially by force, should be resisted. 

Taking as a starting point the recent celebration of the United Nation’s Day of Zero-Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, the paper reviews the context of FGS practices in various societies and critiques the inconsistencies of U.N. arguments to advance its goal of total elimination by 2030. Especially problematic for the U.N. …

Policy Recommendations To Reduce False Confessions By Juveniles In Wrongful Conviction Cases, Rohit R. Iyer

CMC Senior Theses

This research focuses on false confessions by juveniles in the United States justice system. False confessions are statements made by suspects during investigations in which individuals provide statements to investigators admitting to a crime in which they had no part. In these cases, individuals often spend years, if not the entirety, of their lives behind bars for crimes they did not commit. False confessions are the result of a number of systemic factors that will be discussed in this paper. While relatively rare, they are one of the largest blemishes in the U.S. justice system. Juveniles – individuals below the …

Cold Comfort: Japan’S “Comfort Women” Litigation Under Transnational Law, Timothy Webster

Faculty Scholarship

Transnational human rights litigation has emerged as a powerful tool to remediate state and corporate abuses. Courts, however, rarely evince the same enthusiasm for these lawsuits as practitioners, scholars, and activists. For the past thirty-five years, “comfort women,” or survivors of wartime sexual exploitation, have used transnational litigation to seek redress from the Japanese government. Yet they have lost nearly all their cases. This Article uses ten “comfort women” lawsuits from Japan to test the limits of transnational human rights litigation. While judges rarely found for the comfort women, their verdicts nonetheless advanced the redress issue by showing the illegality …

Rights Retained: Constitutional Protections For Incarcerated Persons In U.S. Prisons, Alison J. Brochu, Olivia F. Johnson

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Asexual Assumption, Faith K. Whatley-Blaine, Michael S. Sinha

All Faculty Scholarship

Inclusion-focused dating shows such as ‘Love on the Spectrum’ feature individuals with developmental or neurological disabilities on a quest for love. Despite the focus on disability representation, these shows perpetuate stigma against the disabled community by fostering an infantilizing portrayal of individuals with disabilities. This portrayal undermines the premise of encouraging meaningful romantic relationships and reinforces the stigmatizing association of asexuality with disability. This framing aligns with the broader societal narrative that individuals with disabilities are incapable of or lack interest in participating in romantic relationships or physical intimacy.

The stigma that associates asexuality with disability extends beyond mere entertainment, …

Things Humans Do: The Use Of Esds On Autistic Children, Jami L. Anderson

Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity

On March 26, 2024, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a proposed rule (PR) that would ban the use of electrical stimulation devices (ESDs)—shock devices—for treatment of selfinjurious behavior (SIB) and aggressive behavior (AB). This PR was directed at Judge Rotenberg Education Center (JRC), a residential institution in Canton, Massachusetts, that treats children and young adults with profound intellectual and emotional impairments, most of whom are autistic. Medical evidence has well established that ESDs not only fail to treat SIB, but cause the rate and severity of SIB to worsen. This is the FDA’s second attempt to ban ESDs. …

Body Of Law: When Content Moderation Becomes Gender Oppression And Triggers Legal Consequences, Sarah E. Bahrenburg

Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity

For as long as the Internet has existed, it has been used as a tool for good and as a tool for malice. However, there is a discrepancy between punishment for those maliciously invading individuals’ personal space and those posting consensual images of themselves for art or entertainment purposes (not to mention for work). Over the years, while attempting to create safe spaces for people to express themselves, the Internet has also created barriers to individuals doing just that. The Internet and the laws surrounding exposure therein have become increasingly misogynistic and anti-women’s sexual freedom. The laws encompassing safety on …

Philosophically Aligned, Operationally Fractured: Duty-Of-Care In Nagpra Practice, Meghan Ensign

All Master's Theses

This research aims to explore the implementation of the Duty of Care [43 CFR Part 10.1(d)] within the 2024 revision of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) rules and regulations. While NAGPRA was designed to facilitate repatriation, ambiguities and institutional resistance have hindered compliance, necessitating regulatory updates. The 2024 revision added duty-of-care language intended to improve repatriation outcomes and reinforce Tribal sovereignty. Duty of care requires institutions to consult and collaborate with Tribes on curation policies and practices, and to obtain informed consent before allowing research on, exhibiting, or providing access to cultural items or human remains. …

The Prohibition Of Force Is The First Principle Of International Humanitarian Law, Mary Ellen O'Connell

Journal Articles

This article tracks the decline of respect for the prohibition of force, IHL, and human rights law. At the same time, it will clarify the inter-relationship of the three bodies of international law relevant to armed conflict. The article also considers why presidents first began to “abandon peace.” The evidence indicates that a major reason involves the influence of realist political theory. Realism asserts that national security is attained by amassing and demonstrating superior military capability. A president who follows the theory will defy the law against the use of force. Following realism is also at odds with the empirical …

Leaning Into Absence: Lessons From Kony, Mark A. Drumbl

Scholarly Articles

This article begins with the confirmation of charges decisions undertaken by the International Criminal Court in the Kony case. These proceedings struggled with the reality of in absentia. This article addresses the high absentee rate among individuals against whom the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants and notes the stark presence of absence in the ICC’s work as well as within the enforcement of international criminal law at large. This article suggests that international criminal lawyers lean into the prevalence of absence and reboot predominant collective thinking. One path forward is to truly and warmly embrace transitional …

Kim Gyeong-Seok And The Origins Of Northeast Asia’S Corporate Accountability Movement For War And Colonialism, Timothy Webster

Faculty Scholarship

Campaigns to review Japan’s wartime legacy and legal liability have recurred throughout postwar Japan. While most of these efforts have targeted the Japanese government, an important subset of actors has also focused on the role of Japanese corporations. And perhaps no one played a larger role in directing attention towards Japan, Inc. than Kim Gyeong-seok, a Korean forced laborer in the 1940s turned redress activist in the 1990s. As described in this Article, Kim’s 1991 lawsuit against Nihon Kokan launched the corporate accountability piece of the reparations project, an endeavor that continues to create ripples even now. The Article briefly …

The Elusive Nexus Standard: Differing Approaches To The Asylum Nexus Standard As Applied To Religious Persecution Perpetrated By Gangs, Chloe Schalit

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

In 2015, Ms. Odalis Mireida Chicas-Machado, the secretary of an evangelical church in El Salvador, started getting harassed by members of the MS-13 gang during her walks to and from the church. Chicas-Machado believed that the harassment began because the gang considered her to be an enemy due to her work spreading the message of God to young people who otherwise might have joined the gang. Approximately one year after the harassment commenced, gang members threatened Chicas-Machado with death if she refused to alert the gang when police cars drove by a local store. The gang sought out Chicas-Machado for …

Who Makes The Jury? Demographics And Decision-Making In The Jury Process., Ana B. Pons

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Within the American judicial system, juries have played a central role in promoting representation and fairness in the courtroom. However, limited information exists on whether prosecutorial decisions during jury selection, jury composition, or jury behavior differ based on the sex, race/ethnicity, type of case, political ideology, or geographic location of potential jurors. Following PRISMA guidelines, this scoping review synthesizes 48 peer-reviewed articles published between the 1940s and 2026 to examine whether prosecutorial decision-making and jury outcomes vary based on the sex, race/ethnicity, type of case, political ideology, or geographic location of potential jurors. Findings indicated that men are disproportionately selected …

The Price Of Labor: The Kafala System And Human Rights Violations, Susana El Souki El Assal

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The present research analyzes the Kafala sponsorship system and how it impacts the rights and lives of migrant workers in Middle Eastern and Arab Gulf countries. The Kafala system connects a worker's legal status to their employer, providing companies with significant power over their employees' occupations, movements, and ability to leave the nation. Although some governments as well as businesses maintain that the system promotes economic growth and provides important labor, many studies reveal that it can result in exploitation, such as passport seizure, postponed wages, unsafe working conditions, and reduced freedom. The objective of this study is to understand …

Religious Freedom Without Material Autonomy: Property Dispossession And The Containment Of Religion In Socialist Macedonia, 1945-1958, Aleksandar Spasenovski

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article examines the relationship between religious freedom and property rights in socialist Macedonia within Yugoslavia between 1945 and 1958. It argues that the formal constitutional recognition of religious freedom did not necessarily guarantee the institutional autonomy of religious communities. Through a legal-historical analysis of federal Yugoslav and Macedonian legislation, implementing regulations, and administrative mechanisms, the article shows how agrarian reform, nationalization of private economic enterprises, expropriation, and the nationalization of rental buildings and construction land progressively reduced the material foundations of religious organizations. The central claim is that property was one of the clearest indicators of the practical scope …

A Corporate Accountability “Turn” In International Climate Litigation, Jacqueline Peel

Lewis & Clark Law Review

Corporations are among the most significant emitters of anthropogenic greenhouse gases, which are responsible for the existential threat of climate change. Yet accountability for corporate emitting activities has been difficult to secure, particularly where companies operate across nation-state borders or have global value chains. This Essay looks at recent developments in international law, found in a series of climate-related advisory opinions issued by international courts and tribunals, which may signal greater corporate accountability for climate harms. It argues that the recent advisory opinions of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and …

Corporate Climate Litigation In Europe: Scaffolding From State Obligations And The Rise Of Polluter-Pays, Joana Setzer, Nina Koistinen, Catherine Higham, Lucas Biasetton

Lewis & Clark Law Review

Over the last decade, Europe has been the crucible of path-defining climate cases. Across the region, courts have been asked to define the limits of public and private responsibility. This Essay argues that corporate climate litigation in Europe has developed along two intersecting trajectories that together define an emerging framework of climate accountability. The first extends public-law standards to corporations, translating human rights and carbon-budget principles into private-law duties of care, due diligence, and disclosure that reach across entire value chains. The second trajectory sees the emergence of polluter-pays litigation, which seeks to proportionate damages and adaptation costs from major …

Regulated Victimization: The Rise Of Human Trafficking Within The Oregon Massage Industry, Hannah Beaulieu

Lewis & Clark Law Review

Illicit massage businesses are massage spas that appear to operate as legitimate businesses but facilitate commercial sex acts behind closed doors. Recent law enforcement investigations in Oregon have revealed that some illicit massage businesses have facilitated the human trafficking of multiple victims. The illicit massage industry has steadily grown across the country but has especially boomed in recent years in Oregon. This Note investigates how the illicit massage industry has evolved to be so prevalent in our communities and what factors have contributed to the growth. It goes on to recommend ways to protect victims, to prevent further harm, and …

Beyond The Rings: Housing Inequalities In Olympic Host Cities, Audrey Hansen

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

The note argues that hosting the Olympic Games consistently leads host cities to violate their citizens' right to adequate housing through displacement, gentrification, and the criminalization of homelessness. By analyzing historical patterns and current preparations for the 2028 Los Angeles Games, the analysis contends that the traditional single-city hosting model is unsustainable and harmful.

Legislative Support Of Religious Policy In Ukraine Under Martial Law, Volodymyr Karpunets, Andrii Shevchuk, Oleksandr Bilchuk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article examines the legislative framework of Ukraine's religious policy under the conditions of martial law caused by the full-scale armed aggression of the Russian Federation. The constitutional foundations of state-confessional relations are analyzed, particularly the provisions of Article 35 of the Constitution of Ukraine on freedom of conscience and religion, as well as Article 64, which provides for the possibility of temporary restrictions on religious rights under martial law. Key legislative acts are reviewed: the Laws of Ukraine "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations" (1991, with amendments in 2018 and 2019), "On the Legal Regime of Martial Law" …

Examining Reproductive Equity In The Post-Roe United States, Yali Pang, Anna Grace Causey, Nakeina E. Douglas-Glenn, Research Institute For Social Equity Rise

Research Institute for Social Equity

Four years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, state-level variation in reproductive rights policy is associated with substantial geographic inequities in access to abortion and reproductive health care across the United States. The adoption of restrictive or protective reproductive rights policies is closely tied to legislative control, underscoring the political drivers of reproductive inequity. The evidence suggests that advancing reproductive equity will require coordinated national, state, and local response to strengthen healthcare infrastructure, reduce economic barriers, and establish durable legislative protections for reproductive rights.

Democratizing Restitution: Trust As An Equitable Approach To Competing Claims On Cultural Heritage Objects, Britta Redwood

Articles

As formerly colonized states began to win their independence in the mid-twentieth century, a growing chorus of voices called on museums in London, Paris, Berlin, and other European cities to return objects taken during the colonial period. Having largely ignored these requests until recently, museums throughout Europe and the United States have begun negotiating returns of these objects to their rightful owners. There is a growing recognition among Western cultural institutions that continuing to hold cultural heritage objects taken under conditions of coercion or violence is morally untenable. More recently, some scholars have argued for a human rights approach to …

Cedaw's General Recommendation No. 37: A Sweeping Reconceptualization Of Women’S Rights In The Climate Crisis And A Tool To Assess State’S Compliance With Them, Ingrid Nifosi-Sutton

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

INTRODUCTION: Climate change is one of the most formidable challenges of our time that threatens our way of life and the very existence of humankind. While climate change has negative impacts on all persons, it affects women and girls disproportionately. During floods and severe storms fueled by climate change, for example, women are more likely to die than men because they lack access to essential information on how to survive in these emergencies. In certain regions of the world—such as Sub-Saharan Africa—women smallholder farmers are bearing the brunt of climate change because, in the aftermath of droughts, these women have …

Reproductive Rights & Absolutist Abortion Bans: Beatriz V. El Salvador & Human Rights Standards In The Inter-American Court Of Human Rights, Jordan Schucker

Human Rights Brief

On December 20, 2024, the Inter-Amer­ican Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) issued its judgment in Beatriz v. El Salvador. The case concerned an impoverished Salvadoran woman, known as Beatriz, who had severe pre-existing conditions impacting her pregnancy, including systemic lupus erythematosus, lupus nephritis, and rheumatoid arthritis. After a first pregnancy,  in 2012 that triggered severe preeclampsia, she became pregnant again in 2013. Ultrasounds showed the fetus was anencephalic, making it incompatible with life outside the uterus.

Behind The Headlines: Media Control In Bangladesh Post July Revolution, Nahida Islam

Human Rights Brief

“I have always written for truth, for peo­ple, and for my country . . . [b]ut today, when I look at my own life, I feel that living by writing the truth is not easy.” The words from Bibhuran­jan Sarkar’s suicide note echo into the minds of all Bangladeshi journalists as fears of retaliation took precedent over the work of informing the public. Journalism in South Asia has always been a toxic balance between writing what is fair versus writing what people in power want you to write. In Bangladesh, the autocracy led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina created …

Rights On Paper, Violations In Practice: Israel, The U.S., And The Failure To Enforce Judicial Pro¬Tections And International Obligations In Cases Of Arbitrary Detentions, Anjali Narayanan

Human Rights Brief

Muhammad Srur, a 34-year-old father, en­dured small cells, restricted movement, minimal family visits, and limited access to legal counsel when detained by Israel. He was beaten during arrest and interrogation, and the food, medical care, and living conditions fell below international standards. Half a world away, Abu Zubaydah remains in extreme isolation at Guantánamo Bay, following secret CIA detention where he faced prolonged confinement, sleep deprivation, stress positions, and other forms of torture. These men will never meet. Yet, their situations reflect the same legal reality: both have been placed into categories designed to fall outside the full protections of …

Blurring The Lines: A Reflection On The ‘Relaxation’ Of The Organization Requirement Of Article 7(2)(A) Of The Rome Statute Since The Situation In Kenya Decisions, Leonardo Helman

Human Rights Brief

International criminal liability for Crimes Against Humanity (CAH) was born during the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg to address the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime against civilians throughout the Third Reich. Since the post-World War II tribunals at Nuremberg and Tokyo, the definition of CAH has undergone several evolutionary stages to better reflect the circumstances in which atrocities have been committed. The ad hoc tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda substantially adjusted the definition of CAH to fit the context of these conflicts. However, this evolution of CAH in the ad hoc cases did not yield a definition applicable in …

The Venice Commission’S Impact Regarding The Fight With Democratic Backsliding And Rule Of Law Recovery: Reflections Of The Polish Example, Adam Bodnar

Human Rights Brief

The Article examines the role of the Venice Commission — the expert body affiliated with the Council of Europe — in addressing democratic backsliding and supporting the restoration of the rule of law, using Poland as a case study. It places the Venice Commission within the broader system of European constitutional governance and discusses its role when Poland moved, after 2015, towards the system of illiberal democracy. Opinions of the Venice Commission were significant in the evaluation of reforms affecting the Polish Constitutional Court, judicial independence, the prosecution service, and surveillance powers. They had impact on policies of the European …

Beyond Borders: Transnational Repression As A System Of Authoritarian Control In Russia, Kazakhstan, And Kyrgyzstan, Jasmine D. Cameron

Human Rights Brief

This Article examines transnational repression, state-sponsored persecution of citizens, human rights defenders, journalists, members of diaspora, and critical voices located outside physical borders, as a systemic tool of political control employed by Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Based on analysis of legislation, published reports, UN Special Rapporteur findings, and case files, this Article provides three case studies that demonstrate different stages of an escalating trend towards transnational repression systems. From Kyrgyzstan, where the government has started to develop and implement harmful practices to persecute its citizens abroad, to a more established system in Kazakhstan, where numerous incidents of transnational repression showed …

Visible At Last: Legal Recognition Of Children Born Of War (Cbow) And The Case Of Bosnia And Herzegovina, Ajna Jusić, Gordana Subotić Ph.D.

Human Rights Brief

Children born of war (CBOW) — those conceived through conflict-related sexual violence— have long remained stigmatized, marginalized, and largely invisible in law and policy. Drawing on international scholarship and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s post-conflict experience, this Article examines the social, political, and legal mechanisms that sustain CBOW exclusion and traces the emergence of CBOW as a recognized category within contemporary international legal frameworks. Using Bosnia and Herzegovina as a case study, the Article argues that patriarchal norms, fragmented governance and legal structures, and decades of institutional silence have profoundly shaped CBOW lived experiences and access to rights. Furthermore, the Article assesses …