Human Rights USA and University of Texas Law Clinic Published in Northeastern University Law Journal

An article written by Human Rights USA's Colleen Costello, Attorney for Human Rights & Anti-Terrorism Project, in collaboration with law students from the University of Texas National Security & Human Rights Clinic, appears in the February 2009 inaugural edition of the Northeastern University Law Journal.

The article, Challenging the Practice of Transfer to Torture in U.S. Courts: A Model Brief for Practitioners, examines the myriad legal issues presented by transfers to torture (the practice of transferring detainees to countries where they face a substantial likelihood of being tortured), and sets forth legal arguments challenging these unlawful transfers as violations of the Convention Against Torture and other international and domestic laws.

Portions of the article were presented by Ms. Costello at the Northeastern University School of Law's Guantánamo Symposium on April 25, 2008.*

The full citation for the article is Colleen Costello, Challenging the Practice of Transfer to Torture in U.S. Courts: A Model Brief for Practicitioners, 1 NE. U. L.J. 157 (2009). An electronic version of the article may be found at the NULJ website.

*The article was subsequently updated to incorporate the Supreme Court's June 2008 decisions in Boumediene v. Bush and Munaf v. Geren, which further defined the scope of rights available to detainees held by the United States Government.

Human Rights USA Supporter Doug Wilson Speaks to TED TV About Corporate Accountability

Longtime Human Rights USA supporter and human rights advocate Doug Wilson gave a speech in February 2008 to Ted TV about corporate accountability in the internet era. The annual conference brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives. During the presentation, Mr. Wilson urged U.S. companies to adapt a "human rights framework" when selling their products and technologies into repressive regimes.

Mr. Wilson illustrated that during the modern internet era, technology sold by US companies into repressive regimes can be used to help "harass, kidnap, intimidate, torture, and ultimately imprison" journalists, activists, and bloggers.

Human Rights USA is fighting to prevent such abuses from occurring by holding corporations accountable for their human rights violations in US Courts. Mr. Wilson specifically cited Human Rights USA's lawsuit against Yahoo! Inc., in which Yahoo! was held accountable for aiding and abetting the arbitrary and prolonged detention of journalists and human rights advocates in China.

To view his talk, and to obtain further information about Doug Wilson, please visit his website: http://douglasawilson.com. To read more about TED, please visit www.ted.org.

HRUSA to Host Panel Discussion "Bringing Human Rights Home" on March 11th at GWU's Betts Theater

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