Events
2004 Events
From Torture to Trial: Guantánamo and Beyond (November 17, 2004)
NYU School of Law
In response to the events of the September 11, 2001, the Bush Administration repeatedly voiced its determination to prosecute the "War on Terror" decisively. Some of its approaches and tactics, however, appeared to have been formulated without regard to human rights or the rule of law. The former director of the CIA's Counterterrorist Center, J. Cofer Black, told Congress that "there was a before 9/11 and there was an after 9/11. After 9/11 the gloves come off." The separation of captured individuals into the prisoners of war (POW) and "enemy combatants", the latter being excluded from the protections of the Geneva Conventions according to the Bush Administration, engagement by U.S. officials in direct and indirect (i.e., by virtue of "extraordinary renditions") torture of detainees, long-term detention and "disappearance" of certain detainees, and the establishment of military commissions for trials of detainees, which lack basic due process, all confirm that the gloves had in fact "come off."
On November 17, 2004, the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice hosted a panel of lawyers, journalists and human rights activists, "From Torture to Trial: Guantánamo and Beyond." The panel, which consisted of David Rose, an investigative journalist and author of "Guantánamo: The War on Human Rights;" Reed Brody, special counsel with Human Rights Watch; Miles Fischer, an advisor to the National Institute of Military Justice and chair of the committee on Military Affairs and Justice, Association of the Bar of the City of New York; and Margaret Satterthwaite of the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, examined actions taken by the Bush Administration in the course of the "War on Terror," examined the actions of the Bush Administration in the "War on Terror," criticizing the Administration for violating international law and for promoting a policy of circumvention of the rule of law.
Crackdown in Cairo: Egypt's Campaign Against Homosexual Conduct (March 4, 2004)
7.00pm - 9.00pm. NYU School of Law
On March 4, 2004, the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice joined with Human Rights Watch to sponsor a panel discussion of the Egyptian government's campaign against men who have sex with men. The discussion focused on the findings in HRW's new report, In a Time of Torture: The Assault on Justice in Egypt's Crackdown on Homosexual Conduct. Panelists included the author of the report, Scott Long, director of HRW's new Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Project; Monroe France, member of the board of the; Al-Fatiha Foundation for LGBTIQ Muslims; Widney Brown, HRW Deputy Program Director; Michael Heflin, Director of Amnesty International USA's OUTFront Program; and Katherine Acey, Executive Director of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice. CHRGJ’s Margaret Satterthwaite moderated the panel.
Scott Long explained that since 2001, hundreds of men have been arrested for homosexual conduct in Egypt. The 2001 trial of 52 men charged with the "habitual practice of debauchery" was the most visible event in a much larger effort that includes police raids, phone taps, and the widespread use of informants. Mr. Long detailed cases of torture and prolonged detention. Widney Brown described the use of invasive medical techniques used to "prove" the homosexuality of men detained by police - tests that are in themselves a form of torture. Michael Heflin of Amnesty International suggested ways in which human rights communities can take action to end these abuses. Monroe France, speaking on behalf of Al-Fatiha, called on LGBT communities to stand side by side with Muslims seeking change in Egypt. Katherine Acey of the Astraea Foundation commented on ways in which gender interacts with homophobia around the world. A lively discussion followed the panel presentations, with commentaries on the shifting meaning of gay identities across borders, the ways in which human rights discourses are sometimes abused for political ends, and the need to forge partnerships for change. A reception followed the event.
International Humanitarian Law, Justice, and Reconciliation in a Changing World (March 3, 2004)
5:00 p.m., NYU School of Law
The eighth Hauser Lecture on International Humanitarian Law was delivered by Lord Paddy Ashdown, High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, at NYU School of Law on March 3, 2004. The lecture was entitled "International Humanitarian Law, Justice, and Reconciliation in a Changing World."
Human Rights and Development: Towards Mutual Reinforcement (March 1, 2004)
9:00 a.m. - 6:30 p.m., NYU School of Law
On March 1, 2004, the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, in collaboration with the Ethical Globalization Initiative chaired by Mrs. Mary Robinson, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, organized a conference entitled ‘Human Rights and Development: Towards Mutual Reinforcement’. The aim of the meeting was to stimulate a dialogue designed to enhance mutual understanding between the development and human rights communities.
The key note speaker at the conference was then-World Bank President James Wolfensohn and other key World Bank officials, including Managing Director Mamphela Ramphele, Managing Director and Executive Vice-President, IFC, Peter Woicke, Senior Vice-President Jean-Louis Sarbib, Senior Vice President and General Counsel Roberto Dañino, Vice President Gobind Nankani, participated in the dialogue, as did representatives from development and human rights inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations.
The conference examined the role of human rights in relation to some of the major development challenges of the day, including poverty eradication, wealth creation, gender equity and governance. Consideration was given to questions such as whether there is a developing convergence between human rights and development thinking in relation to issues of child labor and getting more children to school; access to land and women¹s empowerment; legal and judicial reform; the role of human rights within the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) process; and the role of the private sector in promoting human rights. The conference resulted in a published volume: Human Rights and Development: Towards Mutual Reinforcement (eds. Philip Alston & Mary Robinson) (2005)
Should International Human Rights Law and Practice Shape the Philosophy of Human Rights? (January 28, 2004)
6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m., NYU School of Law
On January 28, 2004, the Institute for International Law and Justice, with the support of the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, and the Jean Monnet Center, hosted a workshop to discuss a paper by Charles Beitz, Professor of Politics at Princeton and Visiting Fellow in the Institute for International Law and Justice, on the topic "Should International Human Rights Law and Practice Shape the Philosophy of Human Rights?" The paper was presented and critiqued by Professor Liam Murphy, with additional comments by Professor Mattias Kumm. Professor Beitz replied and other participants joined a general discussion of the paper and of the issues it raises.
Professor Beitz argues that the philosophy of human rights ought to be influenced by the actual practice of international human rights promotion/protection. His paper is thus a critique of a widespread view among philosophers, exemplified for instance by James Griffin's Presidential address to the Aristotelian Society on "Discrepancies Between the Best Philosophical Account of Human Rights and the International Law of Human Rights," which holds that there is a pure philosophical form of human rights and criticizes international lawyers and human rights advocates for straying from it in their practice.
