Human Rights Institute

The Human Rights Institute serves as the focal point of international human rights education, scholarship and practice at Columbia Law School. The Institute currently focuses on a number of key themes, and, throughout the year, hosts a wide array of symposia, lectures, and other events to bring practitioners and scholars together. 

News

• Naureen Shah testified at the May 8 congressional hearing on United States drone policy in D.C.  She joined a group of human rights experts whose testimonies are also available.
• Associate Director of our Counterterrorism & Human Rights project Naureen Shah presents at the Oxford Union debate on Drone Warfare, April 25, 2013.  
• On April 26, 2013, HRI hosted our annual domestic human rights focused CLE on "Bringing Economic & Social Rights Home: The Right to Adequate Housing in the U.S."
• The Human Rights Clinic submitted a statement to Senate Judiciary hearing on drones, April 23, 2012
• Sarah Cleveland, Harold Koh and Ryan Goodman submitted an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in Hollingsworth v. Perry. The brief provides the Court with foreign and comparative law to support same-sex marriage equality under the 14th Amendment.
• HRI made the following submissions to the UN Human Rights Committee to inform its review of US compliance with the ICCPR in 2013.   These submissions address the following issues:  Access to Justice, the Role of the Federal Government in Respecting and Ensuring Covenant Rights, Diplomatic Assurances/Renditions and Targeted Killings through Drone Strikes.   
• Naureen Shah urges John Brennan to commit to ending the CIA's involvement in the U.S. drone program.
• HRI releases a report on state and local human rights initiatives across the U.S. on International Human Rights Day.  JoAnn Kamuf Ward highlights some of these initiatives in a Politico op-ed as well as recommending strategies for state and local governments to implement human rights.
• HRI joined the ACLU to call for the US to integrate human rights standards into governmental responses to domestic violence in the United States in a submission to the UN Commission on the Status of Women. 
• In a recent Huffington Post piece, HRI's Executive Director Risa Kaufman & Human Rights Clinic students discuss Access to Justice & Human Rights at Home.
• HRI is excited to announce the release of our 2011-2012 Annual Report!

   

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