The Wake

We find ourselves trapped in the heat of election season once again. So many issues are being discussed and debated that they all blend into one grand argument. However, have you given any thought to human rights lately? Have you heard anyone talking about this hot topic? Has it even been an issue to discuss, since the Nazi internment camps, the horrors of Rwanda or the humiliating incidents of Abu Ghraib? It is an important issue that continues to present itself.

In the post 9/11 society we now live in, our country has been forced to re-evaluate its stance on human rights. After the events at Abu Ghraib prison and other places such as Guantanamo Bay, where U.S. soldiers allegedly abused British Muslim prisoners, the U.S. government made the decision to close itself off from the international community and instead deal with the issues of human rights on their own terms. Instead of upholding the high standards set out by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, the U.S. government has redefined past standards to fit their current needs. The government refuses to admit that human rights are being abused under their supervision.

A professor from the University of Minnesota has decided to begin a discussion about the United States’ policies on human rights after reading about treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Barbara A. Frey, director of the Human Rights Program at the university, has been a leader not only in Minnesota, but also around the world for her dedication to guaranteeing universal human rights.

“What the United States [government] does, has an effect on the entire world community,” Frey says, “[There is a] desire in an atmosphere of fear to role back the founding principles of freedom.” The United States stands as an example of freedom and democracy; however, if the government refuses to grant basic human rights to all, it can no longer be a credible world leader, Frey says.

Frey, along with her colleagues from the Human Rights Program, has put together an impressive panel of human rights experts to explore the topic “U.S Detention Practices Here and Abroad.” This series of four speakers hopes to bring to light many of the issues the government faces today.

Sir Nigel Rodley is a British member of the U.N. Human Rights Committee and professor of human rights and international law at the University of Essex. Rodley, who is an expert on the treatment of prisoners and the prevention of torture, spoke on September 22 about the United States’ current tendency to disregard international policies and treaties concerning torture and to instead redefine these policies to comply with their practices.

On September 28, Major Michael D. Mori, a military attorney, spoke about his client David Hicks, an Australian citizen detained at Guantanamo Bay. Mori says that the Hicks situation is important in the Office of Military Commissions. His client and other Guantanamo detainees have been denied access to fair trials, he says.

Joseph Margulies, who is both a lawyer and professor of law at the University of Chicago, is an advocate of civil liberties and spoke on October 4 about how it has changed since 9/11. He recently served as lead counsel in the Supreme Court case Rasul et al. v. Bush, president of the United States, et al. which “ruled against the Presidential power to detain ‘enemy combatants’ at Guantanamo Bay for an indefinite period without legal recourse.”

Jamie Fellner, director of the U.S. Program for Human Rights Watch, spoke on October 12 about her role as an expert on abuses in the criminal justice system. Fellner has written extensively and continues to raise awareness on “the treatment of immigrants and of racial, ethnic, and sexual orientation minorities.”

For more information about human rights issues, or upcoming events hosted by the Human Rights Program, check out their website at: http://hrp.cla.umn.edu.