To Our Colleagues in the Legal Community:

The Lawyers Committee for Human Rights has changed its name to Human Rights First. As we begin this exciting new era in our history, I write to assure you that while our name is changing, our commitment and focus are not.

For 25 years, we have worked to advance human rights and the rule of law using our signature asset: legal expertise in areas fundamental to the protection of human rights, including the rights of refugees. Under our new name, we will continue to rely, as we have in the past, on lawyers like you to help us promote and protect these rights around the world.

As always, our advocacy on behalf of refugees remains one of the most important aspects of our work. Our asylum program is the largest pro bono representation program for refugees in the country, coordinating the representation of more than 1,000 cases. Our volunteer lawyers – from the nation’s best firms – provide high quality legal representation to these asylum seekers and win more than 90 percent of these cases. In 2003, law firms participating in this program volunteered more than 70,000 hours of service. We are deeply grateful for the legal community’s ongoing engagement in these important efforts.

Our work on this area is the subject of Court TV’s recent original movie, Chasing Freedom. The film, which is being broadcast in February 2004 on Court TV, was inspired by the story of one of our clients, an Afghan woman who fled the Taliban in 2001, and was represented by a team of dedicated attorneys through our representation program. If you would like a videotape of Chasing Freedom let me know. We also wrote a report In Liberty’s Shadow, that challenges the long-term detention of asylum seekers. You can read the report online or call me to receive a copy. The new film accurately and movingly describes the nature of our refugee work, which the legal community has helped us sustain for the past 25 years. We will count on this commitment more than ever in the years to come.

Human Rights First will also continue our research, litigation and advocacy in three other important program areas.

Building a strong international system of justice and accountability. Our International Justice Program continues working to end impunity for the worst human rights crimes – genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. We are actively involved, for example, in the debate surrounding a plan by the Iraqi Governing Council to establish a War Crimes Tribunal and to try Saddam Hussein in Iraq. We are supporting the decision to base this tribunal in Iraq, but also urging the new tribunal to invite the formal participation of international lawyers, judges and investigators to help ensure that the trials are fair and credible.

Extending a lifeline to human rights defenders around the world. Local human rights activists are engines of democratic change in their societies. Many of them are lawyers. Often opposed by repressive local governments, they undertake their work at enormous professional and personal risk. Through our Human Rights Defenders Program, we are committed to challenging attacks against these courageous front-line activists, supporting their struggle for freedom and peaceful change in their own societies. In our support of human rights defenders worldwide, we continue to rely on the expertise of volunteer lawyers who serve as trial observers or even participate in litigation before international bodies, like the Inter-American Court.

Safeguarding liberty and security in the United States. Almost immediately after the horrific events of September 11, 2001, we began working to ensure that civil liberties and human rights were not unnecessarily compromised in the rush of fear and anger that followed the attacks. As the magnitude of this work became clear, we designed our U.S. Law and Security Program to challenge policies and practices that undermine liberty in the United States, including through high profile litigation and advocacy. More broadly, through this program we are promoting a greater understanding of and respect for human rights in U.S. national security policy. Drawing on the insights of experts in law and security from across the political spectrum, we are working hard to promote a U.S. security policy that operates within the rule of law.

Each of our programs is premised on a core belief that when basic rights are protected, safe and stable societies thrive. Through our careful research and practical policy advocacy, our legal expertise and representation, we seek to ensure that human rights are given the prominence they deserve. As Human Rights First, our approach to ensuring lasting, positive change will remain the same. And our new name will help us expand our public advocacy by reaching more people from all walks of life who share our goals.

If you would like to know more about our work, please read a listing of our accomplishments in 2003. If you have not yet done so, I encourage you to visit our website www.HumanRightsFirst.org to sign up for RightsWire, our free electronic newsletter, to learn more about what we are working on today.

We look forward to continuing our important work in the years ahead – and to building our partnership with you – to promote human rights and the rule of law in the United States and around the world.

Best Wishes,

Michael Posner
Executive Director