HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCACY GLOBAL STUDIES 5403 LAW 6058 SYLLABUS FALL 2012

HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCACY GLOBAL STUDIES 5403 / LAW 6058 SYLLABUS / FALL 2012 Instructor: Barbara A Frey Day & Time: W 2:30-5:15 pm E-mail: freyx001@umn.edu Location: Blegen 155 Phone: 612-626-1879 Office/Hrs: 235 Social Sciences (T 1:30-3:30 pm, or by appointment) Course Description: This 3-credit seminar will examine the theoretical basis of the human rights movement, the nature of the organizations in the human rights field, their philosophies, strategies, and tactics The class will also consider the ethical choices that face human rights advocates with regard to their impartiality, motivations and mandate to protect vulnerable individuals and groups The class will build upon internships and other experiences students have had with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the human rights field The class will use case studies and other methods to investigate fact situations, analyze norms and design creative strategies as human rights activists The class will address human rights issues and situations from the perspective of human rights professionals The class will use case studies as the basis of many of our discussions, simulating the experience of advocates who work to solve human rights problems Students will consider measures used to determine the success of human rights advocacy and will evaluate the effectiveness of particular advocacy tools as a means of addressing human rights situations and issues, such as fact-finding and documentation of violations, campaigns on human rights issues, use of social networking, and normative development Students in the seminar will consider critiques of human rights advocacy addressing the tensions between cultural norms and human rights work as well as the asymmetries that affect relationships among the various actors in the human rights movement We will take steps to evaluate the ethics and effectiveness of our own proposed actions in our group projects to protect human rights Students will also consider the basic fundraising needs of NGOs and will design and present a request for funding based on their in-class projects Readings include an overview of human rights norms and mechanisms; roots and development of the transnational human rights movement; analysis of key NGOs and their campaigns; advocacy within international institutions; reports and publications from NGOs working in the field; critical responses to human rights ideology and practice; and guidelines used to conduct fundraising and strategic planning Course Objectives: As a result of taking this course, participants will:  Gain an understanding of the history and philosophies of transnational human rights movements          Develop perspectives and tools of analysis appropriate to working in the field of international human rights Have a comprehensive picture of the mission, objectives and tactics of key NGOs in the field of human rights Learn how NGOs shape the human rights agenda by carrying out campaigns, creating norms, and advocating for the implementation of those norms Gain a basic understanding of human rights advocacy in the UN system Be able to identify and weigh the strategic value of various tactics used by human rights advocates on normative or issue-based campaigns Understand the critique of cultural relativism as against universal human rights and be conscious of how ideas about human rights are shaped by culture as well as by economic, political and other forms of power Be able to distinguish between human rights advocacy and humanitarian assistance Understand the practical and ethical issues involved in fundraising to support human rights work Integrate issues of practice in the field with theory and research Course Requirements: Seminar participation Reflection papers (3 @ 10% each) Group project presentation: -findings and recommendations -proposal and funder interview My Human Rights Project presentation 20% 30% (Sept 26, Oct 24, Nov 7) 10% 15% 25% (Nov and 21) (Dec 5) (by semester end) Short Papers: Students will be expected to write three short papers regarding mission statements, tactics and ethics, due September 26 and October 24, and November 14, respectively See those classes below for further details Working Group Project and Presentation: Students will select a working group in which to participate The proposed issues for the working groups are (1) prolonged isolation in U.S prisons and detention centers; and (2) the right to health in Myanmar During the second half of the course, the working groups will investigate the violations involved, frame the issue to be addressed by our NGO, identify strategies and tactics to achieve identifiable outcomes regarding the issue, and draft a short fundraising proposal to support our NGO’s work on the issue The working groups have two assignments which will be graded: • (1) On November the working group on prolonged isolation will present its findings and recommendations to the class; on November 21, the working group on the right to health in Myanmar will present Each group will provide key background readings (totaling about 50-60 pages) for the entire class, a week prior to their presentations (October 31 and November 14) • (2) Presentation of a project for funding explained in a letter of inquiry to a human rights foundation and meeting with the foundation program officer on December 5, 2011 The proposal, which should be turned in no later than Thursday, December 1, should be 5-6 pages long including an introduction to our NGO, statement of need, project summary, timeline, and estimated budget “My Human Rights Project” Presentation: In lieu of a traditional end-of-semester research paper, I would like students to have an opportunity to put their intellectual creativity to work in furthering their own personal human rights project This “project” may take various forms: it might be a description of actual or proposed research associated with your dissertation or masters thesis; work you are already doing in the community; an intellectual question or dilemma that has captured your imagination, or an idea about what you would like to be doing or creating in the near future What are the issues that compel you at this time? What problem would you like to solve and how? I want you to apply your energy and research along a forward track instead of being pulled away on a project that is not really connected to your own central human rights interests Each student will be asked to present their ideas at one of a series of colloquia that will be scheduled throughout the semester You will have a half hour for a dedicated discussion of your project at which the other members of your colloquium will give feedback about your ideas To ensure that we understand your thinking, please present me and the other students in your colloquium with no more than pages of exposition on the thesis or idea you would like to discuss with us Since we will depend on this written background to prepare us for the colloquium presentation, please draft it carefully The students and I will give you feedback both at the colloquium and in writing afterwards, and I will base your grade on this feedback Your grade will assess your written background, your presentation and the intellectual rigor of the discussion generated by your presentation Our goal is to assist in shaping and improving your personal project related to human rights Human Rights Biographies: We will begin each class with a 5-minute biographical sketch of a human rights activist who has made a significant contribution to the field I would be grateful for a student volunteer for the presentation each week Attendance Policy/Seminar Participation: Due to the interactive and participatory nature of this course, attendance at each class session is required Twenty percent of your grade based on class attendance and the quality of your participation Please, however, not come to class if you are sick with the flu or any other communicable illness Your grade will not be affected by your common sense decision to stay home and get well! Materials Required: Books: • Andrew Clapham, Human Rights: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press: 2007 • Margaret E Keck and Kathryn Sikkink, Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics, Ithaca: Cornell University Press: 1998 • Ann Marie Clark, Diplomacy of Conscience: Amnesty International and Changing Human Rights Norms, Princeton University Press, 2001  James Dawes, That the World May Know: Bearing Witness to Atrocity, Harvard Press: USA, 2007  All additional materials are available on the Moodle Site or through the internet link in the syllabus COURSE CALENDAR 1Week – September 5: Kevin Boyle Introduction and Overview: The role of NGOs in promoting and protecting human rights In this introductory class we will establish the ground rules for our work together in the class, including agreeing on a working name for our NGO We will assess our collective assets, including previous work and knowledge of international human rights Throughout the course we will carry out research through the perspective of the NGO we have created Readings: Margaret E Keck and Kathryn Sikkink, Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics, (Ithaca: Cornell University Press: 1998) Universal Declaration of Human Rights, http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/b1udhr.htm For basic background information on the sources of human rights and the mechanisms for enforcing them, see The Advocates for Human Rights, Human Rights Toolkit, available at http://discoverhumanrights.org/sites/7cc8fb84-899d-457d-a486470ccb03fb16/uploads/Human_Rights_Toolkit_Final.pdf Week – September 12: Navanethem Pillay The Human Rights Framework: Evolving Laws and Structures We will consider definitions of human rights and efforts to challenge or reformulate human rights definitions Are human rights norms set in stone? Do you perceive a hierarchy of human rights norms? How are new norms conceived and promoted? Andrew Clapham, Human Rights: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford 2007 Clifford Bob, The International Struggle for New Human Rights, “Introduction: Fighting for New Rights,” and Chapter 3: "Dalit Rights Are Human Rights": Untouchables, NGOs, and the Indian State,” (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010), pp.1-13; 30-51; Martha Nussbaum, “Human Rights and Human Capabilities,” available at http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/hrj/iss20/nussbaum.pdf Nussbaum, Creating Capabilities: The Human Development Approach, (Belknap Harvard: Cambridge, 2011), pp 17-68 Week – September 19: Javier Sicilia Constructing a Campaign, Part I: Eliminating Torture from the Criminal Justice System in Mexico We will begin to immerse ourselves in a common fact situation so that we can construct a model advocacy campaign The issue we will address is the pattern of torture in the criminal justice system in Mexico In today’s class, we will view the documentary Presumed Guilty, by Layda Negrete and Roberto Hernández Visiting professor Karina Ansolabehere from FLACSO-Mexico will serve as our expert resource on the issue of torture in Mexican jails We will work with the facts of this case for our strategic mapping and tactical discussions in weeks and Readings: Ingram, Matt, and David A Shirk Judicial Reform in Mexico: Toward a New Criminal Justice System San Diego: Trans-Border Institute, U of San Diego, 2010 Iacopino, Vincent Forensic Documentation of Torture and Ill-Treatment in Mexico Boston: Physicians for Human Rights, 2008 Nyseth, Hollie “Judicial Reform and the Role of Public Defenders in Mexico,” 2009 United Nations, Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture “Report on the visit of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to Mexico.” U.N Doc CAT/OP/MEX/1, 31 May 2010, pp 1-31 Week September 26: Suzanne Nosell and Ken Roth Human Rights Advocacy: Mission, Philosophy and Structure of NGOs and the role of the “Gatekeepers” Looking in depth at the two largest human rights organizations in the world today, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, we will consider how their philosophies and mission statements are constructed and what values they reflect What kinds of impacts these large and visible organizations have on human rights advocacy, in general? Readings: Claude Welch, ed., NGOs and Human Rights: Promise and Performance, (Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press: 2000) Chapter 4, Claude Welch, “Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch: A Comparison,” Makau Mutua, “Human Rights International NGOs: A Critical Evaluation.” Kenneth Roth, “Human Rights Organizations: A New Force for Social Change,” in Realizing Human Rights, Samantha Power, Graham Allison, eds., 2000, pp 22548 Clark, Chapters 1, 2, and Julie Mertus, “Applying the Gatekeeper Model of Human Rights Activism: The U.S.Based Movement for LGBT Rights,” pp 52-67 In addition to these readings, please study the websites of Amnesty International, especially the “Who We Are” section, www.amnesty.org, and Human Rights Watch, especially “About Us,” www.hrw.org For a critique of the role and work of these NGOs see Robert Charles Blitt, “Who Will Watch the Watchdogs? Human Rights Non-Governmental Organizations and the Case for Regulation,” 10 Buffalo Human Rights Law Review 2004, 261, 292-320 PAPER IS DUE AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS ON SEPTEMBER 26: Each student will turn in a two- to three-page paper summarizing and evaluating the significance of the mission, philosophy and tactics of an NGO Suggested NGOs include: Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (Forum Asia, Bangkok), Centro de Estudios de Derecho, Justicia y Sociedad (Dejusticia, Bogotá), Disability Rights International, Human Rights First, International Commission of Jurists, Kenya Human Rights Commission, The Advocates for Human Rights, Physicians for Human Rights The paper should explain the purpose of the NGO, what kind of activities it undertakes and, to the extent possible, your assessment of how effective it is at what it does You may use the organization’s website as the primary source of information Please: this assignment may give you the feeling that you are entitled simply to cut and paste from the organization’s website You are not I expect you to evaluate the NGO’s work, not just narrate it back to me in an uncritical way I am interested in your perspective on the significance, accomplishments, visibility, effectiveness and creativity of these organizations’ work Week – October 3: Pussy Riot Constructing a Campaign, Part II: Documenting Human Rights Violations Some helpful resources for our class briefing See reports on Mexican judicial reform at http://justiceinmexico.org/publications/justice-in-mexico-project/ Shirk, David M “Justice Reform in Mexico: Change and Challenge in the Judicial Sector,” III Mexican Law Review 2, Jan.–Jun., 2011, 189-228 Human Rights First, “Legalized Injustice: Mexican Criminal Procedure and Human Rights.” New York: Human Rights First, 2001 United Nations, Human Rights Council “Report of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers: Mission to Mexico.” U.N Doc A/HRC/17/30/Add.3., 18 April 2011 U.S Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 2011, Mexico, http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/index.htm#wrapper US Agency for International Development, http://www.usaid.gov/where-we-work/latin-american-and-caribbean/mexico Mexico page on the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, http://www.ohchr.org/EN/countries/LACRegion/Pages/MXIndex.aspx Each student will sign up to brief their fellow class members about particular aspects of the issue of torture in Mexico The following are some suggested topics for your briefing Use the above listed materials Please not feel limited to these sources, but share whatever information you find to be useful in analyzing the current human rights situation We are relying on you to convey what you learn in a clear and well organized manner Since everyone will be reading different sources, the goal is for all of us to share a broad understanding of the situation after our discussion The legal system in Mexico: state and federal laws and politics regarding torture Proposed legal reforms Role of the PGR Role of the police Role of public defenders International mechanisms response to Mexico: Inter-American system and the United Nations Relevant case law in Inter-American system UN system CAT and OPCAT in particular Fact-finding by Inter-American and UN mechanisms Bilateral Action: the role of the United States in Mexico’s legal reforms What is the U.S government position with regard to torture and legal reforms in Mexico US State Department USAID and HED projects NGO Work on human rights in the Mexican legal system Which NGOs are working on the issue of torture in Mexico and what are they doing? Mexican NGOs International NGOs Week October 10: Juan Mendez Constructing a Campaign, Part III: Mapping the issue of torture in Mexico Mapping The class will undertake a tactical mapping exercise on the issue of preventing torture in Mexico to identify the various critical actors and how to influence them How should we identify the problem and shape a common vision for our organization’s work in Mexico? What is the terrain in which we are working, locally and globally, on this issue? Who are our likely allies or opponents on the issue? What challenges will we face? How does an NGO define a “victory” when addressing a situation like child abduction? Tactical mapping is a tool of the New Tactics for Human Rights project, www.NewTactics.org For the exercise, please read the following New Tactics piece and come prepared with your ideas for steps 1, and of the map You may want to review materials from the previous class or seek out new ones to help understand the relationships between the actors we identify for our map Reading: New Tactics in Human Rights, “Five Steps to Tactical Innovation: Methodology Guide,” Center for Victims of Torture: Minneapolis, 2010 Douglas A Johnson, “The Need for New Tactics,” in New Tactics in Human Rights: A Resource for Practitioners, pp 12-19, https://www.newtactics.org/sites/newtactics.org/files/resources/02needfornewtacti cs.pdf Charli Carpenter, “Setting the Advocacy Agenda Issue Emergence and Non-Emergence in Transnational Advocacy Networks,” International Studies Quarterly 51 (1), (2007) 99-120, available at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.14682478.2007.00441.x/pdf Week October 17: Leymah Gbowee Constructing a Campaign, Part IV: Effective tactical approaches Designing the right tactics to improve human rights protection should be an act of creative imagination Today we will discuss your suggested tactical responses to the problem of torture in Mexico The readings give you a view into traditional tactics used by human rights organizations fact-finding and United Nations advocacy – as well as the catalogue of tactics supported by the New Tactics project Think creatively and design your own! Readings: Giffard et al, The Torture Reporting Handbook, The Human Rights Centre, University of Essex, 2000, Part II, “Documenting Allegations,” http://www.essex.ac.uk/torturehandbook/english.htm Hurst Hannum, ed., Guide to International Human Rights Practice, 3rd Ed., Transnational Publishers, 1999 Center for Victims of Torture, New Tactics in Human Rights, a Resource for Practitioners, http://www.newtactics.org/en/notebooks/grid Each student should select a tactic to review and be prepared to explain it as part of our discussion PAPER IS DUE AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS: Each student will prepare a twopage paper describing a tactic for our NGO to use to address the issue of preventing torture in Mexico Your tactic should consider what the assets and capacity are of our human rights organization You not need to resolve this issue in Mexico – just describe one step you would take to address an aspect of the crisis The New Tactics resource guide is a good source of ideas Week October 24: Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera Methods of documentation: anthropology, law, sociology, humanities We will consider how practitioners and scholars carry out their work in the field of human rights and compare the methodologies they use to produce knowledge about violations There are many experts who work in international organizations, like the United Nations, to protect human rights One of their primary methods is documentation of human rights violations, a form of knowledge production that is designed to publicize the experiences of victims in order to promote international protection Scholars also document the causes and consequences of human rights violations How does the work of scholars differ in perspective and methodology from that of activists and practitioners? Are scholars human rights advocates? Should they be? Guest presenter: Shannon Golden, PhD candidate in Sociology, affiliated Fellow, Human Rights Program Readings: United Nations, Handbook on Human Rights Monitoring, Basic Principles and Interviewing (2002), available at http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/monitoring/index.html, (Read Chapters V – IX) Sociology reading – from Shannon Mark Goodale, Surrendering to Utopia, Chapter “Human Rights Along the Grapevine,” Stanford University Press: Stanford, CA, 2009 Paul Farmer, Pathologies of Power: Health Human Rights and the New War on the Poor, U Cal Press, 2005, Introduction and Chapter Amy Kaminsky, Densely Woven Skeins: When Literature Is a Practice of Human Rights, Hispanic Issues on Line, Vol 4, Summer 2009, available at http://hispanicissues.umn.edu/assets/pdf/KAMINSKY_HR.pdf Week – October 31: George Soros 10 Practical and ethical considerations regarding fundraising and human rights Human rights organizations need financial support to carry out their work We will consider various models used by NGOs to fund their activities, including soliciting individual donors, seeking funds from private foundations and/or government agencies How doe NGOs carry out their fundraising work? What ethical decisions are involved in soliciting financial support from various donors? What role donors have in shaping the work of NGOs? We will look specifically at the historical and current role of the Ford Foundation as a major funder of human rights advocacy Readings: William D Carmichael, “The Role of the Ford Foundation,” in Welch, ed., NGOs and Human Rights: Promise and Performance, (Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press: 2000), pp 248-60 Study the Ford Foundation’s Human Rights website: http://www.fordfoundation.org/issues/human-rights/strengthening-human-rightsworldwide International Human Rights Funders Group, http://www.hrfunders.org/hrfunding/index.html (offers a profile of a group of important private foundations supporting international human rights work) To support your Working Group’s preparation of a Letter of Inquiry or short proposal, please follow the guidelines offered through the Foundation Center, “A Proposal Writing Short Course” Parts I and II available at http://fdncenter.org/learn/shortcourse/prop1.html Week 10 – Nov 7: Rafael Lemkin Working Group Presentation I Working group presentation to present findings and recommendations to our NGO on the issue of prolonged isolation in U.S prisons and detention centers Week 11 – November 14: Anna Ahkmatova Representations of Human Rights Violations Historical and contemporary human rights advocacy have been motivated as well as supported by storytelling Scholars including historian, Lynn Hunt, and psychologist, Stephen Pinker, argue that the rise of human rights was caused in large part by the promotion of empathy through first person narratives of “the other.” In today’s class we will consider the power of stories to represent human rights violations and the use of tools of literary criticism to understand the use of the narrative in human rights advocacy 11 Guest presenter: Corbin Treacy, PhD candidate in French, affiliated Fellow, Human Rights Program Readings: James Dawes, That the World May Know: Bearing Witness to Atrocity, Harvard Press: USA, 2007 Joseph Slaughter, excerpts Lynn Hunt, Inventing Human Rights, Norton: New York, 2007, Chapter 1, “Torrents of Emotion.” View the 2011 lecture by Philip Gourevitch PAPER IS DUE AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS: Each student will prepare a paper of no more than 1000 words reflecting on the ethical and practical dilemmas of human rights activism You may want to offer your personal response to the ethical issues regarding representation that are raised by today’s reading or that are raised by your group’s work on a specific issue, or by any of the other critiques and concerns raised throughout the class Week 12 – November 21: Aun San Suu Kyi Working Group Presentation II Working group presentation on the Right to Health in Myanmar Week 13 – November 28: Myrna Mack Chang Has the human rights movement made a difference? How can we know? Debate has begun to rage in academic circles concerning the actual impact of human rights reformers Are human rights improving over time? If so, what are the causes of the improvement? Are some rights better respected than others, and why? We will read a selection of work by contemporary public intellectuals regarding the relative impact of human rights advocacy Readings: Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of our Nature: Why violence has declined, Viking: NY 2011, pp 295-415 For a critique of Pinker, see John Gray, “Delusions of Peace,” Prospect, Sept 21, 2011, http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/john-gray-steven-pinker-violence-review/ 12 Oona Hathaway, “Do Human Rights Treaties Make a Difference?” Yale Law Journal, Vol 111, 2002 Beth A Simmons, Mobilizing for Human Rights: International Law in Domestic Politics, Cambridge: NY 2009, pp 114-155 Michael Freeman, Human Rights: An Interdisciplinary Approach, Cambridge, U.K.: Polity Press (2002) Chapter 7, “Idealism, Realism and Repression: the Politics of Human Rights,” pp 131-147 Claude Welch, ed., NGOs and Human Rights: Promise and Performance, (Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press: 2000) Chapter 11, David L Cingranelli and David L Richards, “Measuring the Impact of Human Rights Organizations,” pp 225-236 Five-page letter of inquiry to one of the funders located in the International Human Rights Funders Group, http://www.hrfunders.org/hrfunding/index.html, is due by December at 4:30 pm; please transmit it electronically to freyx001@umn.edu Week 14 – December Working with Foundations We will be joined in class by Pete Dross, who will act as our human rights foundation officer to field your funding proposals There are no assigned readings this week, please prepare your presentations Week 15 – December 13: Don Fraser Ethics of Human Rights Practice Readings: Daniel Bell and Joseph Carens, “The Ethical Dilemmas of International Human Rights and Humanitarian NGOs: Reflections on a Dialogue between Practitioners and Theorists,” 26 Human Rights Quarterly, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004, 300-329, accessible at: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/human_rights_quarterly/v026/26.2bell_d.pdf John D Clark, “Ethical Globalization: The Dilemmas and Challenges of Internationalizing Civil Society,” and Ann M Florini, “Transnational Civil Society,” and Caroline Harper, “Do the Facts Matter? NGOs, Research and International Advocacy,” in Michael Edwards and John Gaventa, eds., Global Citizen Action, (Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc.: 2001), 13 pp 17-40, 247-58 Barbara Klugman, “Evaluating Social Justice Advocacy: A Values Based Approach,” Center for Evaluation Innovation, August 2010 University of Minnesota Disability Statement: Any student with a documented permanent or temporary disability (e.g., physical, learning, psychiatric, vision, hearing, etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations must contact the instructor and Disability Services at the beginning of the semester All discussions will remain confidential Note: Students with special needs should talk to your instructor as soon as possible so that we can better assist you in meeting the course goals and objectives Scholastic Dishonesty: The College of Liberal Arts defines scholastic dishonesty broadly as any act by a student that misrepresents the student’s own academic work or that compromises the academic work of another Examples include cheating on assignments or exams, plagiarizing (misrepresenting as one’s own anything done by another), unauthorized collaboration on assignment or exams, or sabotaging another student’s work Consequences can include an F for the assignment, exam, paper, or for the entire course 14 ... Pillay The Human Rights Framework: Evolving Laws and Structures We will consider definitions of human rights and efforts to challenge or reformulate human rights definitions Are human rights norms... Mexican Law Review 2, Jan.–Jun., 2011, 189-228 Human Rights First, “Legalized Injustice: Mexican Criminal Procedure and Human Rights. ” New York: Human Rights First, 2001 United Nations, Human Rights. .. 248-60 Study the Ford Foundation’s Human Rights website: http://www.fordfoundation.org/issues /human- rights/ strengthening -human- rightsworldwide International Human Rights Funders Group, http://www.hrfunders.org/hrfunding/index.html