Where are they now? Human Rights USA's interns make the world a better place

Human Rights USA hosts student internships every semester, training future attorneys and human rights advocates by immersing them in our cases. But what happens when they leave? Many of them go on to use human rights strategies to solve local problems.

For example, we're proud that one former Human Rights USA intern, Jessica Dickenson Goodman, has taken what she learned in her internship with us (and her experiences gained at other great organizations) and she is now working to get an anti-trafficking bill passed in Pittsburgh. Go Jessica!

Click here to read the interview on Change.org, which also has a link to an online petition supporting the Pittsburgh bill.

Post Osama - The Way Forward for the United States

JURIST Guest Columnist Benjamin G. Davis, an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Toledo College of Law and a supporter of Human Rights USA, answers a few questions about Osama Bin Laden's death and discusses what it might mean in terms of foreign affairs and domestic attitudes towards torture...http://jurist.org/forum/2011/05/benjamin-davis-post-osama.php

Human Trafficking Lawsuit to Move Forward; Judge Denies Motion to Dismiss

A federal judge has denied a motion to dismiss claims in a lawsuit by 18 survivors of human trafficking against Star One Staffing, Inc. and some of its officers and employees. Yesterday’s decision clears the way for the survivors’ claims of human trafficking, forced labor, and racketeering to move forward in the court.

As set out in the complaint filed last year in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, the defendants recruited the plaintiffs from the Philippines and the United States using fraudulent visa applications, false promises, and misrepresentations to induce the plaintiffs to work for the defendants in the United States. Once employed by defendants, plaintiffs were compelled to live in severely crowded housing and to work long hours in country clubs and hotels in Florida and New York. To ensure that the plaintiffs complied with their demanding work schedules, plaintiffs were threatened with arrest, imprisonment, deportation, cancellation of their visas, loss of work, lawsuits, and blacklisting. The defendants also failed to pay the plaintiffs their legally-required wages, deducting exorbitant fees from the plaintiffs’ pay for insufficient food, overcrowded housing and transportation. As a result of this campaign of fraud and coercion, the plaintiffs remained in fear and believed they had no choice but to obey their orders and continue working.

The plaintiffs are represented by Human Rights USA, the International Human Rights Clinic of The George Washington University Law School, and Gregory Schell of Florida Legal Services.

Allison Lefrak, Human Rights USA’s Litigation Director and one of the attorneys for the 18 plaintiffs, said "Judge Ryskamp has agreed that our clients have raised serious allegations of forced labor and human trafficking, and has vindicated their right to pursue those claims under the Alien Tort Statute and RICO. In a significant victory for our clients, the court will now carefully examine the defendants' actions."

The defendants argued that one of the main tools for human rights litigation in U.S. courts, the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), only applies to human rights violations that occur outside the United States. The court rejected this argument, upholding the rights of survivors of human rights abuses to bring forward claims regardless of whether the harm took place inside or outside U.S. borders. Recognizing the gravity of abuses that can be inflicted on workers by their employers, Judge Ryskamp stated in his decision that there is "no doubt that human trafficking and forced labor violate specific norms accepted by the civilized world."

The lawsuit - Magnifico, et al. v. Villanueva et al., 10-cv-80771 - is pending before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Take Action: Help Google Protect Your Online Human Rights

Friends of Human Rights USA know that we take protecting online human rights seriously. So we are happy to support an initiative by EPIC inviting everyone who uses the 'net to help Fix Google Privacy.

From EPIC's website:

The FTC is seeking public comment on its proposed Agreement with Google
regarding Google Buzz, and EPIC wants your voice to be heard! EPIC will send your comments and information to the FTC and use them to help us write our own comprehensive recommendations to the FTC.

Click here to send your comments. Stand up for your right to online privacy!

Human Rights USA Releases Asylum Guide on International Women's Day

March 8^th 2011 is International Women's Day, celebrating the achievements of women past, present and future. Here in the United States, March is National Women's History Month, an opportunity to honor the achievements of women who have grappled with challenges and overcome them, changing the world for the better in the process.

In commemoration of International Women's Day and National Women's History Month, Human Rights USA is proud to announce the release of our Guide to Establishing the Asylum Eligibility of Victims of Human Trafficking and Forced Marriage. This handbook is designed to assist attorneys in crafting arguments and writing briefs to support their clients' asylum applications based on trafficking and/or forced marriage.

Human trafficking - as well as forced marriage, often a form of trafficking - is indisputably recognized around the world as an egregious human rights abuse, and many victims fear that they cannot safely return to their home countries after escaping. Increasingly, courts around the world are concluding that victims of trafficking and forced marriage are eligible for refugee protection. While some U.S. immigration judges and asylum officers have also recognized this principle, there is not a large body of binding U.S. precedent specifically addressing trafficking or forced marriage. But with a targeted litigation strategy, attorneys can convince more adjudicators to recognize what is becoming firmly established in international law.

For the last five years, Human Rights USA, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit dedicated to closing the gaps between international human rights standards and U.S. laws, has successfully represented numerous refugee women fleeing these forms of abuse and assisted attorneys working on these types of cases. In doing so, we have developed strong arguments and litigation strategies to help convince judges and asylum officers that trafficking and forced marriage are forms of persecution and that people fleeing such situations may be eligible for asylum. Our guide breaks down each element of asylum eligibility to suggest ways to apply the law to victims of trafficking and forced marriage, offer examples of supportive case law and other authorities, and highlight helpful types of evidence and how to tie that evidence to the law to demonstrate a client's eligibility.

The guide is accompanied by two sample briefs, one oriented toward sex trafficking cases and another toward forced marriage cases. Used in conjunction with the guide, the sample briefs demonstrate how Human Rights USA's legal arguments and suggested authority can be incorporated into the legal strategy of an individual case.

While Human Rights USA's trafficking-related asylum cases have all involved women and girls fleeing sex trafficking or forced marriage, many of the arguments and authority contained in the guide and sample briefs could be applied to other types of trafficking cases, including labor trafficking and claims made by male asylum seekers.

For a copy of the guide, please find it on our website, or call (202) 296-5702.

Wrap-up: Bush's canceled trip to Switzerland

A few days ago, Human Rights USA was part of a loud chorus of international anti-torture advocates urging Swiss government officials to take swift action if former President Bush went through with announced plans to visit Switzerland. We are gratified that the calls for Switzerland to uphold its international obligations seem to have prompted President Bush to call off the trip. (Anyone who says international human rights law doesn't have any teeth hasn't been forced to cancel their travel plans for fear of indictment.)

The law is clear: no one, not even former heads of state, enjoys immunity from prosecution for torture. The Pinochet Precedent took that principle from theory to practice. As quoted in an article in The Guardian:

"Nobody – from those who administered the practices to those at the top of the chain of command – is under a shield of absolute immunity for the practices of secret detention, extraordinary rendition and torture," said Martin Scheinin, UN special rapporteur on human rights and professor of public international law at the European University Institute. "Legally this case is quite clear. Bush does not enjoy immunity as a former head of state, and he has command responsibility for the decisions that were taken."

How did we get to the point that a former U.S. president is not free to travel the world for fear of prosecution and protests? More importantly, how do we prevent this from happening again? Here at Human Rights USA, we believe that fully implementing the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment is a good place to start. The Convention requires governments to fully investigate allegations of torture, hold perpetrators accountable, and provide redress to victims. When the U.S. government fails to uphold its obligations, other countries, like Switzerland, are obliged to step in.

The Center for Constitutional Rights, Amnesty International, and the World Organization Against Torture all issued statements reiterating the need to investigate and prosecute those responsible for torture -- even former presidents -- even former presidents of the United States of America. Today, Human Rights Watch called on U.S. officials to prosecute, saying, "The U.S. record on accountability for detainee abuse has been abysmal. The official authorization of torture by a head of state should never go unpunished."

For more news coverage, here are links to stories in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and CNN.