September 27, 2006
Harvard Law and National Law Faculty Denounces Detainee Bill
HLS Advocates for Human Rights Applauds Recent Letter to Congress from Harvard Law School Faculty and over 600 Law Professors from 49 Different States in Denouncing Disgraceful Bill that Would Violate Fundamental Constitutional and International Rights.
09/27/06; 4:00pm
HLS Advocates for Human Rights recognizes the valiant effort of several Harvard Law School Faculty with the help of dedicated law students in sending a letter to the U.S. Congress to object to the provisions in Senate bill S. 3929. This bill could strip courts of jurisdiction to review Habeas Corpus petitions of enemy combatants and effectively legalize certain forms of torture and inhumane and degrading punishment in blatant violation of U.S. and international law, including the Geneva Conventions.
In a matter of 24 hours, Harvard Law faculty have been joined by over 600 law school faculty professors and lecturers of law from law schools in over 49 different states across the country in denouncing this bill.
Click here for a PDF file of the full text of the letter, and for the current list of signatories:
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August, 2006
Inter-American Court Litigation
HLS Advocates Students Help Litigate Damião Ximenes Case Before Inter-American Court
HLS Advocates for Human Rights has been working with the Brazilian NGO Justica Global to represent the family of Damião Ximenes Lopes, beaten to death while in the custody of a publicly funded mental health center in Sobral, Brazil. Ximenes Lopes’ sister, Irene Ximenes, investigated her brother’s death, pressing local authorities unsuccessfully to bring those responsible to justice. Irene Ximenes eventually filed a petition with the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights. That body opened a formal proceeding against Brazil and later ruled that the State had violated fundamental human rights. After Brazil failed to implement the Commission’s recommendations, the case was forwarded to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
Before the Court, HRP Clinical Director Professor James Cavallaro led a litigation team comprised of law students Jonathan Kaufman ’06, Fernando Delgado ’08, Deborah Popowski ’08 and Brazilian attorney Renata Lira in sessions before the Court. There, after arguments by Cavallaro, the Commission and the Brazilian government, the Court dismissed Brazil’s preliminary objections. After the State conceded that it had violated the American Convention on Human Rights, articles 4 (right to life) and 5 (right to physical integrity), the Court heard two days of arguments and witnesses on the denial of the right to justice enshrined in articles 8 and 25 of the same instrument.
In August 2006, the Inter-American Court decided in favor of Damião's family, the first time the Court has issued a ruling on a human rights violation related to people with mental disabilities. The Court decided in its sentence that, according to Articles 1.1, 4, 5, 8 and 25 of the American Convention on Human Rights, Brazil was guilty of violating the rights to physical integrity and to life of Damião Ximenes Lopes, and the rights to access to justice and due process of his family.
Visit the following link for a recent news story about this case:
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