Human Rights Work

In 2011, I decided to put my knowledge on the law and procedure of international adjudicative bodies to the service of victims of human rights violations. I founded the International Human Rights Center at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles.

You can find an interview where I tell the story of how I got the International Human Rights Center (formerly Clinic) started and what we do here.

 

I am amazed by the quality and quantity of work we have done with the clinic students since then. In short, we are litigating dozens of cases before the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights and specialized United Nations human rights bodies (e.g., the Human Rights Committee, the Committee of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Committee of the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights); have prepared amici curiae briefs for the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and several domestic courts; prepared shadow reports for the United Nations Universal Periodic Review and the periodic reports on the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

So far the themes on which I had the chance to do significant human rights work include: extrajudicial executions and police brutality; arbitrary arrest and detention, including forced disappearance; death penalty; rights of refugees; rights of minors; rights of women; freedom of expression; right to participation in the conduct of public affairs through instruments of direct democracy (i.e. referenda, propositions, recalls etc.); the right to benefit from scientific research and the rights of scientists; reproductive rights; rights of children in armed conflicts; rights of athletes; right to make end-of-life decisions.

These are some of the cases I worked on that resulted in a finding of violation of human rights.

In 2014, I was given the Hidden Hero Award of the CSJ Center for Reconciliation and Justice for my work in the human rights field. Now I have a life-time to actually deserve it!