New York University School of Law has long been at the forefront of scholarly work on civil liberties and human rights. In 2002, the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice was established to bring together and expand the rich array of teaching, research, clinical, internship, and publishing activities undertaken within the Law School on issues of international human rights law.
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AnnouncementsRecent EventsJune 23, 2008, Wòch Nan Soley: The Denial of the Right to Water in Haiti PressJune 23, 2008, Rights Groups Launch Groundbreaking Report on Right to Water in Haiti Student OpportunitiesHuman Rights Opportunities for LL.M. Students Post-Graduate Global Human Rights Fellowship Call for Submissions |
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LAWSUIT
Freedom of Information Act: Ghost Detention and Extraordinary Rendition Case
(New York and Washington, DC, July 21, 2008)—The Department of Justice (DOJ) must stop its stonewalling tactics and produce documents related to the U.S. government’s ghost detention, torture, and extraordinary rendition program, three prominent human rights groups urged today, just after collectively filing a motion to require the DOJ to make certain information public. The motion also seeks to compel the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to process the groups’ request for particular documents.
The groups—Amnesty International USA (AIUSA), CCR, and the International Human Rights Clinic at NYU School of Law’s Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (NYU IHRC/CHRGJ)—filed a motion for preliminary injunction on July 19, 2008 in the Southern District of New York, where the case is being heard. The lawsuit was filed in June 2007 under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), after repeated attempts to obtain information from the DOJ and other agencies had failed.
Since 2004 and 2006, AIUSA, CCR, and NYU IHRC have filed FOIA requests with several U.S. government agencies, including the DOJ, the CIA, and the Department of Homeland Security, seeking information about the government program of secret or irregular detention.
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Motion for Injunction Compelling DOJ and the CIA to Complete Processing of Plaintiff's FOIA Requests (July 18, 2008)
Exhibit A of Motion for Injunction Compelling DOJ and the CIA to Complete Processing of Plaintiff's FOIA Requests (July 18, 2008)
Attachments A-B;
Attachments C-D;
Attachments E-F;
Attachment G (1);
Attachment G (2);
Attachments H-J;
Attachments K-Q;
Attachment R;
Attachments S-X;
Attachment Y (1);
Attachment Y (2);
Attachments Z-EE;
Attachments FF-KK
Exhibit B of Motion for Injunction Compelling DOJ and the CIA to Complete Processing of Plaintiff's FOIA Requests (July 18, 2008)
Exhibit C of Motion for Injunction Compelling DOJ and the CIA to Complete Processing of Plaintiff's FOIA Requests (July 18, 2008)
Exhibit D of Motion for Injunction Compelling DOJ and the CIA to Complete Processing of Plaintiff's FOIA Requests (July 18, 2008)
Opposition to CIA Motion for Summary Judgment and Plaintiffs' Cross-Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (June 26, 2008)
Press Release: Rights Groups Challenge CIA for Failure to Release More Than 7000 Documents (June 26, 2008)
Plaintiffs' Opposition and Cross Motion Against the CIA (June 26, 2008
Declaration of Gitanjali S. Gutierrez (June 26, 2008)
Plaintiffs' Chart of Repetitive and Missing Information Examples in Vaughn Index (June 26, 2008)
Declaration of Margaret Satterthwaite in Support of Plaintiffs' Opposition (June 26, 2008)
Declaration Exhibits A-Z of Margaret Satterthwaite in Support of Plaintiffs' Opposition (June 26, 2008)
Declaration Exhibits AA-GG of Margaret Satterthwaite in Support of Plaintiffs' Opposition (June 26, 2008)
Declaration Exhibits HH-NN of Margaret Satterthwaite in Support of Plaintiffs' Opposition (June 26, 2008)
Press Release: CIA Acknowledges it Has More Than 7000 Documents Relating to Secret Detention Program, Rendition, and Torture (April 23, 2008)
2007
2006
REPORT
Rights Groups Launch Groundbreaking Report on Right to Water in Haiti
Groups Allege U.S. and the IDB Violated Rights by Obstructing Vital Water Projects
(NEW YORK, June 23, 2008)—Lack of access to clean water in Haiti has devastating health consequences and constitutes a clear violation of Haitians’ right to water according to both domestic and international legal obligations, claims a new report released today by the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ), Partners In Health (PIH), the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center (RFK Center), and Zanmi Lasante. The release of the report, “Wòch nan Soley: The Denial of the Right to Water in Haiti,” comes just months after public outrage over rising food prices led to a full-blown political crisis in Haiti.
The 87-page report—which combines health and water data gathered on the ground in Haiti, legal analysis, and discussion of the historical context—presents the findings of a joint project conducted by the groups, who worked together to research, author, and release it. The groups used human rights and public health methodologies to assess the right to water in Haiti by surveying community members, testing water sources, and meeting with community leaders and government officials.
Report Launch (June 23, 2008)
REPORT
CHRGJ Releases Groundbreaking Report on Nepalese Dalit Rights
“Recasting Justice” Outlines Crucial Next Steps for Nepal’s Constitution
(New York and Kathmandu, April 22, 2008)—Nepal’s new constitution must recognize and protect the fundamental human rights of Dalits, says a new report released today by the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ) at New York University School of Law. The report was released on the heels of Nepal’s historic Constituent Assembly elections held on April 10, 2008.
The 89-page report Recasting Justice: Securing Dalit Rights in Nepal’s New Constitution analyzes Nepal’s Interim Constitution to inform how the new constitution may be drafted in accordance with the country’s international human rights obligations to secure the rights of Dalits—a group which has faced more than 2000 years of systematic discrimination on the basis of caste. As Nepal prepares its new constitution after years of prolonged civil war, Recasting Justice provides Nepalese lawmakers with tangible means to demonstrate the country’s commitment to the inherent dignity and human rights of all individuals.
Report Launch (April 21, 2008)
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REPORT
Business: Rights at Risk in the Global Economy
Companies Harm Human Rights Worldwide
(New York, February 19, 2008) – People in countries across the world are regularly harmed when businesses fail to respect basic human rights, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch and the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ) at New York University School of Law.
The clear evidence of widespread abuse and government inaction detailed in the report shows that global standards are needed to ensure that corporate conduct respects internationally recognized human rights.
The 53-page report, On the Margins of Profit: Rights at Risk in the Global Economy, was jointly prepared by Human Rights Watch and the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice. It illustrates how everyday business decisions have significant implications for the human rights of workers, local communities, suppliers, and consumers.
REPORT
CHRGJ Releases a New Shadow Report to the UN
(December, 2007) CHRGJ released a new shadow report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD): In the Shadows of the War on Terror: Persistent Police Brutality and the Abuse of People of Color in the United States.
The report was put together by a multitude of NGOs, including NYU School of Law's Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, which is acknowledged in the report.
REPORT AND LAWSUIT
CHRGJ Releases Unprecedented Testimony about CIA “Black Sites”
(New York - December 17, 2007)-In the first-ever report of its kind, the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice today released a comprehensive, first-hand account of a survivor of enforced disappearance and torture at several CIA “black sites.” The 63-page report Surviving the Darkness: Testimony from the U.S. “Black Sites” is the first to present an in-depth account of a former CIA detainee’s experience in his own words.
Surviving the Darkness is the narrative of Mohamed Farag Ahmad Bashmilah, a Yemeni national who spent more than a year and a half in the CIA’s secret detention program. Mr. Bashmilah, along with four other individuals, is a plaintiff in an ACLU lawsuit against Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc.—a subsidiary of the Boeing Corporation—alleging that Jeppesen provided flight services enabling the transfer of Bashmilah and the four other plaintiffs to secret CIA detention centers around the world.
On October 19, 2007, the U.S. government filed motions to intervene and dismiss the action or, in the alternative, for summary judgment on the basis that the case concerns state secrets. On December 14, 2007, Bashmilah’s account—alongside a legal memorandum and the accounts of other plaintiffs in the suit—was filed by the ACLU in support of the plaintiffs’ opposition to the government’s motion.
Press Release: CHRGJ Releases Unprecedented Testimony about CIA “Black Sites” (December 17, 2007)
Full Report (63 pages)
Declaration of Margaret L. Satterthwaite in Support of Plaintiffs’ Opposition to the United States’ Motion to Dismiss or, in the Alternative, for Summary Judgment: Part 1 and Part 2
Complaint in Lawsuit: Mohamed et al. v. Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc.
For more information about the lawsuit, click here.
For more information about CHRGJ’s work in this area, click here.
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LAWSUIT
On Behalf of Rendition Victim, Clinic Joins ACLU Lawsuit Against Boeing Subsidiary
(New York, NY, August 1, 2007) - On behalf of Mohamed Farag Ahmad Bashmilah, the NYU International Human Rights Clinic today joined an ACLU lawsuit against Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc., a subsidiary of Boeing Company. Filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the lawsuit alleges that Jeppesen knowingly provided extensive flight services that enabled the CIA's rendition of Yemeni citizen Bashmilah and four others into the U.S. government's publicly-acknowledged secret detention program. The lawsuit was originally filed by the ACLU on May 30, 2007 on behalf of three victims of extraordinary rendition. Today's filing adds Bashmilah and Bisher al-Rawi, another victim, to the suit.
The complaint alleges that Jeppesen provided services enabling Bashmilah's rendition to Afghanistan, where he was subjected to torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment before being sent to a CIA "black site" in an undisclosed location. It further alleges that through this assistance, Jeppesen violated the Alien Tort Statute, which allows aliens to bring claims in the United States for violations of the law of nations. Bashmilah was unlawfully detained in U.S.-run facilities outside of the U.S. for seventeen months, without any contact with his family, government, lawyers or humanitarian organizations. He was released to his country of origin, Yemen, in May 2005. Although Bashmilah was subject to torture and endured a long and painful enforced disappearance, no charges were ever brought against him by the U.S. government.
For more information about the lawsuit, click here.
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