Publications

Indigenous (In)Justice: Human Rights Law and Bedouin Arabs in the Naqab/Negev Edited by Ahmad Amara, Ismael Abu-Saad, Oren Yiftachel (January 2013)

This book locates the discussion of the Naqab/Negev question within the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict and within key international debates among legal scholars and human rights advocates, including the application of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the formalization of traditional property rights, and the utility of restorative and reparative justice approaches. Leading international scholars and professionals, including the current United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, are among the contributors to this volume.

Losing Humanity: The Case Against Killer Robots by Bonnie Docherty, of the International Human Rights Clinic and Human Rights Watch. (November 2012)

This 50-page report outlines concerns about fully autonomous weapons, sometimes called “Killer Robots,” which would be able to choose and fire on targets without human intervention. These weapons would inherently lack the human qualities that provide legal and non-legal checks on the killing of civilians. In addition, the obstacles to holding anyone accountable for harm caused by the weapons would weaken the law’s power to deter future violations.

Explosive Situation: Qaddafi’s Abandoned Weapons and the Threat to Libya’s Civilians by Bonnie Docherty, of The International Human Rights Clinic, in partnership with CIVIC and The Center for American Progress (2012)

This report documents the risks posed to civilians from the extensive stockpiling and spread of the former dictator’s munitions following the 2011 armed conflict. Based on in-country investigations, the report calls on Libya to immediately secure or destroy unstable stockpiles of weapons, and with international support, set out to clear munitions, educate the population about risks, and assist victims.

At The Hospital There Are No Human Rights by Mindy Jane Roseman, of the International Human Rights Clinic, Jeni Gatsi-Mallet, of the Namibian Women’s Health Network, and Aziza Ahmed, of Northeastern School of Law (2012).

This report, released at the 2012 International AIDS Conference, examines discrimination and neglect that women living with HIV are subjected to in Namibia’s public health care system. In the report, based on interviews conducted in Namibia in 2010, women describe being unable to give their informed consent (or make an informed refusal) to medical treatment either because information was withheld, or categorically denied to them.

São Paulo sob Achaque: Corrupção Crime Organizado e Violência Institutional em Maio de 2006 by Fernando Delgado, of the International Human Rights Clinic, and Justiςa Global (2011)

In May 2006, a series of coordinated uprisings in 74 detention centers and attacks on police stations and public buildings left 43 state officials and hundreds of civilians dead and brought South America’s largest city and financial capital to a standstill. Five years later, the Clinic and Justiςa Global released this book-length, Portuguese-language report, São Paulo sob Achaque: Corrupção Crime Organizado e Violência Institutional em Maio de 2006, which seeks to answer several questions essential to public security in Brazil: What led to the attacks?  Why were state authorities unable or unwilling to prevent them?  Why and how did the police lash out violently in revenge killings?  Why have the crimes committed by the state not been investigated, and in many cases, apparently covered up?

Meeting the Challenge: Protecting Civilians Through the Convention on Cluster Munitions, by Bonnie Docherty, of the International Human Rights Clinic. Published by Human Rights Watch (2010)

This book draws on Docherty’s  many field investigations to document the burdens cluster munitions impose on civilians,  and on her firsthand experience as senior researcher in the arms division of HRW, and an active participant in developing the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions. It represents the culmination of a decade of research by Human Rights Watch. Meeting the Challenge details the humanitarian toll of cluster munitions, analyzes the international process that resulted in the treaty successfully banning them, and presents the steps that nations that have signed the convention should take to fulfill its promise.

Bearing the Burden: The Effects of Mining on the Rights of First Nations in British Columbia, by Bonnie Docherty, of the International Human Rights Clinic (2010)

This book-length report offers a unique look at British Columbia’s mining regime—on paper and in practice—through a human rights lens. Both international and domestic laws entitle First Nations to special protections related to their traditional territory, including the right to participate in decision-making about the future of their land and natural resources, and the right to use the land, which is inextricably linked to their culture, spiritual life, and livelihoods. Bearing The Burden analyzes existing mining laws and highlights the troubling situation of Takla Lake First Nation, whose mineral-rich territories have been repeatedly opened to mining without adequate consultation by government and industry.

Children and Transitional Justice: Truth-Telling, Accountability and Reconciliation, edited by Sharanjeet Parmar, Mindy Jane Roseman, Saudamini Siegrest, and Theo Sowa (2010)

Children are increasingly a focus of international and national courts and truth commissions.  This book includes analysis of the recent involvement of children in transitional justice processes in Liberia, Peru, Sierra Leone, and South Africa. It also explores key areas of current debates among legal scholars and child rights advocates, such as international criminal responsibility, traditional and restorative justice, reparations, psychosocial support for child witnesses, and links between education and reconciliation.

No Place to Hide: Gang, State and Clandestine Violence in El Salvador by Laura Pedraza Fariña, Spring Miller, and James Cavallaro (2010)

Seventeen years after the civil war in El Salvador came to an end, violence and insecurity continue to shape the daily lives of many Salvadorans. This book examines the phenomenon of youth gangs, as well as related police abuse, clandestine violence, and their collective impact on the rule of law. Beginning with an evaluation of the historical legacy of violence in El Salvador and the limitations of postwar efforts to construct functioning democratic and judicial institutions, No Place to Hide analyzes the dynamic evolution of violent street gangs and the Salvadoran state’s responses to gang-related and other forms of violence. The book’s findings are based on primary research conducted in El Salvador between 2006 and 2008.

Prosecuting Apartheid-Era Crimes? A South African Dialogue on Justice, by Tyler Giannini and Susan Farbstein of the International Human Rights Clinic (2009)

In December 2005, South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) promulgated a controversial policy on the prosecution of apartheid-era crimes, sparking renewed debate about such prosecutions and their role in the transition to democracy since 1994. This book presents a diverse collection of perspectives on prosecutions in South Africa, including a foreword by playwright and actor John Kani. Other reflections from former Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) commissioners, survivors of apartheid, civil society members, and government officials outline the serious questions facing South Africa as it deals with prosecutions today.

Interrogations, Forced Feedings, and the Role of Health Professionals: New Perspectives on International Human Rights, Humanitarian Law, and Ethics, edited by Ryan Goodman and Mindy Jane Roseman, of the International Human Rights Clinic (2009)

The involvement of health professionals in human rights and humanitarian law violations has again become a live issue, as a consequence of the U.S. prosecution of conflicts with al Qaeda, the Taliban, and Iraq. Health professionals have reportedly advised and assisted in coercive interrogation. The direct involvement of medical professionals in torture, covering up extrajudicial killings, and other extreme conduct is a phenomenon common to many societies and periods of national crisis; indeed, the widespread and repeated nature of this problem has led to the development of important legal and ethical codes on the subject. Those codes, however, are notoriously insufficient in many cases.  In this volume, a wide range of prominent practitioners and scholars explore these issues.