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Advocates call for a stop to state repression and violence, a turn to accountability, and a clear path to free and fair elections (Cambridge, MA, July 27, 2020) –­­– Four days after the Interim Bolivian Government suspended elections again, Harvard Law School’s (HLS) International Human Rights Clinic and the University Network for Human Rights (UNHR) released a report on the…

When the COVID19 pandemic hit, garment brands and retailers around the world cancelled their orders. What was to them a logical risk and cost reducing measure, meant destitution for millions of garment workers around the world. Public outcry over corporate behavior led a range of brands to quickly mend their ways. However, the question remains why public outcry was even…

This webinar brings together a panel of Rohingya women in various fields of expertise to share their observations on the gendered experiences of Rohingya women through genocide, mass atrocities, and lives as refugees. The event seeks to explore and understand the effects of human rights violations, gender disparity, and inequality that manifest in different forms for survivors of mass atrocities.  The systematic oppression in Myanmar…

Ten years ago, our Clinic was asked to figure out a way to evaluate whether multi-stakeholder initiatives—or MSIs for short—were helping to advance human rights or whether in fact they were doing precisely the opposite. MSIs are voluntary governance efforts that bring together corporations, civil society, academics, and in some cases governments and rights holders themselves to (privately) govern thorny human rights…

Clinic-incubated org documents systemic failure of business and human rights tool Three decades ago, a grand experiment in human rights and global governance began to unfold. In the absence of rigorous government regulation of transnational corporations, civil society organizations began stepping into this regulatory void by collaborating with industry representatives to create voluntary codes of conduct and oversight mechanisms. These…

For the past three decades, the corporate accountability and business and human rights communities have been in a process of experimentation, searching for interventions that protect people and the environment from corporate abuse. From treaties and due diligence, to naming-and-shaming and direct engagement, the efforts underway span far and wide. MSI Integrity’s recent report examines one such experiment—international standard-setting multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs)—and…

This event is part of “Cultural Heritage in Crisis,” a conversation series co-organized by the Initiative on Religion, Law, and Diplomacy at The Fletcher School at Tufts University and Foreign Affairs, Greece. Speakers include: Elizabeth Prodromou, Visiting Associate Professor of Conflict Resolution, Tufts University, Bonnie Docherty, Harvard Law School, Athanassios Dimopoulos, Dean of National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, and…

Humanitarian disarmament approach offers proven model for change (July 2, 2020) — More than 155 organizations released a joint letter today stating that humanitarian disarmament can lead the way to an improved post-pandemic world. Endorsed by global campaigns that have garnered two Nobel Peace Prizes and fostered the creation of four international treaties in the past 25 years, the letter…

Rights experts call on UN to provide remedy to victims of Haitian cholera epidemic (June 30, 2020) — The United Nations (UN) published two previously embargoed letters from fourteen UN independent rights experts on Saturday, calling on the organization to deliver overdue remedies to victims of cholera in Haiti. Addressed to Secretary-General António Guterres and the Haitian government, the letters respond to a complaint submitted by the International Human Rights Clinic, the Haiti-based human rights law firm Bureau des Avocats Internationaux…

Taking place during the first ‘virtual’ meeting of the AP Mine Ban Convention, this side event will consider inclusion as well as the opportunities and potential pitfalls of digital diplomacy. It will explore the ways in which the humanitarian disarmament community has adapted its working methods during the COVID-19 crisis. Which parts of the traditional ways of working do we…