Student Perspectives

Recapping Discussion on Repression in Xinjiang

HLS Advocates for Human Rights Hosts Event Highlighting Atrocities Against Uyghurs On March 9, 2020, HLS Advocates for Human Rights hosted a discussion at Harvard Law School on abuses committed by the Chinese government against Uyghur minorities in the Xinjiang region. HLS Advocates is a student practice organization which conducts human rights projects in partnership with NGOs around the world;…

HRP Looks Back On A Busy Semester: Fall 2019

December 20, 2019

It was another productive and busy semester at HRP. Before we sign off for Harvard’s winter break, we wanted to share some highlights from the fall. HRP hosted dozens of events, including standing room-only talks with Jane McAdam, Scientia Professor of Law and Director of the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at UNSW, and Ben Saul, Challis Chair of…

Paras Shah JD ’19, fostering inclusion and creativity in human rights

August 29, 2019

By Elaine McArdle Paras Shah’s approach to human rights centers on inclusion. In his four terms with the International Human Rights Clinic, Shah has encouraged an international coalition to ban killer robots to integrate diverse perspectives into its campaign, and collaborated with grassroots activists to counter hate speech and de-escalate ethnic and religious ultra-national rhetoric in Myanmar. As a student in the Advanced…

Mamani: Lessons and Learning From a Decade-Long Struggle for Justice

Having grown up, lived, or worked abroad for several years in Ghana, Chile, and Cuba, among other locations, the three of us came to Harvard Law School excited about pursuing international law. We had ideas about what a career in this field might look like and were eager to get involved with clinics and student practice organizations. But prior to…

HLS Spotlights IHRC Student Radhika Kapoor LL.M. ’19

By Audrey Kunycky After consecutive internships at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Court, Radhika Kapoor LL.M. ’19 came to HLS to take advantage of Harvard’s institutional expertise in international law, humanitarian law, and post-conflict stability. “I really wanted to equip myself with tools that would let me explore questions that had come up…

Clinic Students Support International Advocacy to Advance Rights of Women in Mauritius

October 29, 2018

This month, the Musawah Movement for Equality in the Muslim Family submitted a thematic report to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) Committee advocating for codification of family law provisions to protect the rights of Muslim women in Mauritius. International Human Rights Clinic students Samantha Lint JD’20 and Natalie McCauley JD’19 contributed to…

Spotlight Feature: Volz, Jung win David Grossman Exemplary Clinical Student Award

This piece originally appeared as a spotlight feature on Harvard Law School’ s Today homepage on May 22, 2018, written by Ian Spaho. In recognition of their demonstrated excellence in representing clients and undertaking advocacy or policy reform projects, Amy Volz ’18 and Ha Ryong Jung (Michael) ’18 were named the 2018 recipients of the David A. Grossman Exemplary Clinical Student…

Student Perspectives on Working in the International Human Rights Clinic

December 12, 2017

We’re so pleased to reprint below two student perspectives on the International Human Rights Clinic, published recently on the blog for the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs. First, Salomé Gómez Upegui LL.M. ’18, reflects on her work on women’s rights in the Arab world. Next, Zeineb Bouraoui LL.M. ’18, describes her work on detention-related abuses in Yemen. Both…

Student Perspective: Fighting for Human Rights with HLS Advocates

November 7, 2017

This piece first appeared on the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs blog I came to Harvard Law School because I wanted to make a difference. As an international student from Thailand, however, I wasn’t originally sure how that would manifest. Should I make a lot of money in corporate law to help my family? Should I become part…

Banning the Bomb: Reflections on the UN Negotiations for the Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty

By Carina Bentata Gryting JD ’18, Molly Doggett JD ’17, Lan Mei JD ’17, and Alice Osman LLM ’17 Signing up for the International Human Rights Clinic in spring 2017, we could not have imagined that it would lead us to the United Nations and global negotiations to ban nuclear weapons. With Bonnie Docherty and Anna Crowe as our clinical…