Unless you’ve been living under a rock, chances are you have seen your Facebook and Twitter newsfeeds blow up with reposts of Invisible Children’s (IC) new viral social media campaign, “Kony 2012,” intended to make Joseph Kony, the rebel leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, infamous worldwide — so that the international community can bring…
I just wanted to plug this great new Foreign Policy article, “How Obama Betrayed Sudan: The former Sudan Envoy on how U.S. government policy could push the country back into civil war.” I took a class at Northwestern, about Sudan and Darfur, with the author – Richard Williamson, our former Sudan Special Envoy. His perspective…
While the deadly Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) may have left Uganda for good, the notorious rebel army hasn’t stopped wreaking havoc in the region. Ugandan President Museveni recently said at a press conference in Kampala that Joseph Kony, leader of the LRA, may now be in southern Darfur. Kony has been fleeing ever since he…
The earthquake that has just struck Haiti is a natural disaster of massive proportions, and it’s very difficult for us to wrap our heads around it. The current estimated death toll is 30,000 to 100,000 – which is a huge number. According to Tales From the Hood And even at the low end of that…
Thanks to Running Chicken, I found an excellent new article by Hunjoon Kim and Kathryn Sikkink: Explaining the Deterrence Effect of Human Rights Prosecutions for Transitional Countries. The article basically concludes that: We find that human rights prosecutions after transition lead to improvements in human rights protection, and that human rights prosecutions have a deterrence…
I just ran across this fascinating Time interview with Stephen Rapp, who was previously chief prosecutor for the Special Court for Sierra Leone (H/T Shelby Grossman). Rapp states: The concern all of us had was that we were conducting justice in a comfortable courtroom with long trials and well-paid attorneys. Prisoners had single cells, and…
I’m a strong proponent of studying or working abroad, especially for college students in the U.S. who can afford the experience. I’m incredibly lucky, because this year – as a junior in college – I’ve had the absolutely amazing opportunity to study abroad at the London School of Economics (LSE) for the entire school year….
I recently ran across the University of California Berkeley Human Rights Center, which held a Mobile Challenge to invite projects and innovations utilizing cutting-edge mobile technology to aid human rights work. I immediately fell in love with this project because it’s something I strongly believe in: law and human rights working together can benefit so…
I’m pretty upset right now. I’m angry, and I usually don’t get this fired up about things. In fact, I’m so angry that I feel like punching a wall or screaming from frustration. But I know anger leads to nothing, so here I am channeling that anger into a blog post. Yesterday, as is common…
Tomorrow, Wednesday March 4 2009, the International Criminal Court (ICC) will issue a decision concerning the arrest warrant for Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir. Sudan – and indeed, the world – is waiting. Some are waiting curiously, some eagerly, some angrily, and some hopefully. Most hope that an arrest warrant would improve the situation on the…
