Duke University’s Summer Institute on Human Rights was lucky enough to have Jo Becker speak today, about how she approaches advocacy and teaching. A long-time veteran of Human Rights Watch, she heads the Children’s Rights Division and is writing a book that collects stories of how advocates work for human rights around the world. She [...]
Posts under ‘Human Rights’
The Saville Inquiry
Thirty-eight years after the tragedy known as “Bloody Sunday” in Londonderry, a second official inquiry contains one crucial word: “innocent.” The thirteen men who died that day (another died of his wounds four months later) posed “no threat” and were engaged in no activity that would justify their shooting Prime Minister David Cameron said that [...]
Tipping point for sectarianism?
One of the most confusing things about Northern Ireland is the contrast between what people say they want and what is. For instance, a report was released yesterday asserting that 80 per cent of people polled in Northern Ireland would prefer to live in “mixed” neighborhoods: i.e. Protestants and Catholics together. Yet 90 percent of [...]
Wild Belfast
In a recent issue of The Nation, Ari Kelman writes about the quickening pace of extinction. Kelman writes that when Thomas Jefferson wrote his encyclopedic Notes on the State of Virginia, he believed that extinction was biologically impossible. Since God made the world, he thought, he would not let his creations vanish. There was no [...]
“Recreational rioting” in West Belfast
One of the most interesting phrases we learned about the conflict in West Belfast is “recreational rioting.” Daniel, who lives on the (Nationalist) Falls, is part of a mobile phone network that acts as rapid response to any trouble. If a neighbor reports stones thrown from the Shankill (Unionist) side, he’ll call his Unionist counterpart, [...]
Can human rights trials improve mental health?
Today, we hosted Dr. Jeffrey Sonis from UNC-Chapel Hill. He’s been studying the international human rights trials in Cambodia, to see if trials produce measurable effects on the mental health of victims who suffer from trauma (or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, according to the lingo). This was an event cosponsored with the Duke Global Health [...]
If Americans torture…
“If Americans torture and it comes to light — as it inevitably will — it embitters and alienates the very people we need most.“ Charles C. Krulak was commandant of the Marine Corps from 1995 to 1999. Joseph P. Hoar was commander in chief of U.S. Central Command from 1991 to 1994. Some of the [...]
CIA and Torture
The just-released report by the CIA Inspector General (CIA IG) is one of a series of documents released yesterday about the US torture program. The report dates from 2004, but has lots of new detail. What you need to know about yesterday’s revelations (via Time’s Michael Scherer): 1. The CIA IG concluded that the public [...]
High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group
The Obama Administration just announced the creation of a new, multi-institution group that will take over the questioning of high-value suspects in the “war on terror.” According to the Los Angeles Times, interrogators will “stay within the parameters of the Army Field Manual when questioning suspects,” meaning no torture. This comes on a day when [...]
