Should Berenson return to Peru?

Just after Christmas, the New York Times contacted me to contribute a brief argument on whether I thought Lori Berenson, the American convicted of terrorism in Peru, should return to that country to complete her parole, after spending this holiday with her family in...

Occupy human rights

The diplomats who gathered in chilly Paris sixty-three years ago today to sign the Universal Declaration of Human Rights lodged in the best hotels that still-shaken city had to offer. Occupied Paris was then liberated Paris, like so much of urban Europe besieged by...

“Unthinkable” is unwatchable

A friend had recently watched Unthinkable, a 2010 Hollywood exploration of the use of torture, and recommended it to me. Along with offerings like Rendition and the last seasons of the TV show “24,” the movie purports to be a thoughtful examination of the...

A glossary for occupation

Most professions or tasks come with their own words (terms or, less nicely, jargon). Human rights is full of them: habeas corpus, CAT (Convention against Torture, “internally displaced,” “disappeared,” etc.   Each has a specific meaning...

Did 9/11 change everything? Anything?

My comments on a recent panel at Duke, from (time) 9:00 to 26:00… Related articles U.S. went to ‘dark side’ on torture (politico.com) Torture Wasn’t Enough (andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com) Mundane bills bring CIA’s rendition network...

The unfinished work of 9/11

On the morning of September 11, I was having the first slow day after weeks of intense work in my job as a senior researcher for the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch. In Washington, I had been meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell’s staff, who were...