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HUMAN RIGHTS FIRST IS THE NEW NAME OF THE
LAWYERS COMMITTEE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
25-year
old organization takes a name to educate and inspire
NEW YORK – The Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, a 25-year
old international human rights organization, will become Human Rights
First on January 30, 2004.
The
change reflects the organization’s commitment to expanding
and intensifying its outreach work, while continuing to provide
the thorough research, analysis and legal representation work that
the organization has become known for since it was founded in 1978.
“We
believe our new name conveys a powerful idea,” said Michael
Posner, the Executive Director of Human Rights First. “When
basic rights are assured – the right to speak and associate
freely, the right to personal liberty, the right to a fair trial
– safe and stable societies are more likely to take root.
Human Rights First communicates that justice, fairness and respect
for human dignity can only be assured when human rights issues are
put at the center of the debate.”
The
following are some of the organization’s current initiatives
to put human rights first:
Challenging
the detention of U.S. asylum seekers. Human Rights First
is campaigning to challenge the unfair and lengthy detention of
refugees who come to the U.S. seeking asylum. A new report by Human
Rights First, In
Liberty's Shadow, documents the lack of safeguards
in the asylum system and how policy changes since 9/11 have imposed
greater restrictions on asylum seekers who pose no security threat.
The release of the report coincides with broadcast of an original
Court TV movie, Chasing
Freedom (the next air date is February 22), which was
inspired by the case of one of our clients and illustrates the lack
of due process in the U.S. detention system for asylum seekers.
Human
Rights First is using the report and the movie – at screenings
and through the internet – to mobilize supporters to "Write
Ridge" and ask the Secretary of the Department of Homeland
Security to appoint a refugee expert in the Department, promulgate
federal regulations governing parole of asylum seekers, and provide
more independent administrative review of requests for parole.
Challenging
the President’s authority to designate U.S. American citizens
as enemy combatants. In the next few months, the Supreme
Court will hear the cases of two U.S. citizens –Jose
Padilla and Yaser
Hamdi – who are currently being detained incommunicado
as enemy combatants. The Lawyers Committee is centrally involved
in these cases – writing and helping to coordinate "friend
of the court" briefs and providing legal expertise. Our book-length
report, Assessing
the New Normal, analyzes these and other cases, as
well the range of changes to U.S. law and policy since 9/11 that
have eroded human rights and civil liberties.
Protecting
local human rights advocates. Through our Human
Rights Defenders Program, Human Rights First challenges
attacks against front-line human rights activists, conducting advocacy
on the cases of those persecuted for promoting basic rights. We
are currently working on behalf of the nearly 80
human rights defenders imprisoned by the Cuban government
in the most severe crackdown on civil society seen on the island
in years.
We are also conducting advocacy on behalf of Ashraf
Ibrahim, an Egyptian political activist who was detained
for four months without charge, and then charged with sending information
to international human rights organizations – apparently a
crime in the eyes of the Egyptian prosecutor. Another case currently
on our docket includes that of Bruce
Harris, a leading children’s rights expert
in Guatemala, who is facing trial for criminal defamation for exposing
the involvement of powerful figures for abducting children for illegal
adoption rings.
“Though our name is changing, our mission is not,” Posner
said. “Human Rights First will continue to combine legal analysis
and representation with in-depth human rights research, reporting
and public advocacy on important human rights issues.”
EXPERTS AND ISSUES
Our
program experts are well positioned to comment and provide assistance
on a range of issues. Here is a list of some of our key staff and
the issues they can address.
Experts
on International and Domestic Human Rights
Michael
Posner, Executive Director, 212-845-5211
PosnerM@HumanRightsFirst.org
Elisa
Massimino, Director, Washington, DC Office, 202-547-5692
MassiminoE@HumanRightsFirst.org
Michael
McClintock, Director of Program, 212-845-5249
McClintockM@HumanRightsFirst.org
SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS
U.S.
Law and Security: Analysis and litigation related to U.S.
counterterrorism and national security policies, including “enemy
combatant” cases, security detainees, and military commissions.
Deborah
Pearlstein, Director, US Law and Security Program, 212-547-5692
PearlsteinD@HumanRightsFirst.org
Elisa
Massimino, Director, Washington, DC Office, 202-547-5692
MassiminoE@HumanRightsFirst.org
Ken
Hurwitz, Senior Attorney, 212-845-5243
internationaljustice@humanrightsfirst.org
Fiona
Doherty, Senior Attorney, 212-845-5260
defenders@humanrightsfirst.org
Human
Rights Defenders: Human rights defenders cases around the
world, and the situation of human rights defenders post 9/11.
Neil
Hicks, Director, Human Rights Defender Project, 212-845-5248
defenders@humanrightsfirst.org
Lorna
Davidson, Senior Associate, 212-845-5251
defenders@humanrightsfirst.org
Asylum and Domestic Refugee Policy: Refugee protection
in the U.S., due process for asylum seekers, non-citizens, and minorities
in the immigration system; work with pro bono attorneys and the
legal community on refugee policy and individual asylum cases.
Eleanor
Acer, Director, Asylum Program, 212-845-5227
AcerE@HumanRightsFirst.org
Archana Pyati, Staff Attorney and Equal Justice Works Fellow, 212-845-5279
asylum_ny@humanrightsfirst.org
International justice and accountability: Ad hoc
international tribunals for human rights crimes, the International
Criminal Court, the proposed Iraqi tribunal to try Saddam Hussein
and Alien Tort Claims (ATCA) litigation in the U.S.
Fiona
McKay, Director, International Justice Program; 212-845-5246
internationaljustice@humanrightsfirst.org
Eric
Biel, Washington, D.C. Office, 202-547-5692
BielE@HumanRightsFirst.org
U.S. policy – domestic and foreign
Elisa Massimino, Director, Washington, DC Office, 202-547-5692
MassiminoE@HumanRightsFirst.org
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