Gravity FM: Recent Episodes
Alexandra Arneri-Matsis
Discussing human rights and environmental issues from the legal, political and ethical fronts with interviews from activists, NGOs, authors and professors.
Extraction and Exploitation in the Global South under the Decarbonization Consensus and Theories and Praxis for a Just Transition
Discussion with Professor Miriam Lang and Mary Ann Manahan on how current energy transition efforts are framed under a colonialist narrative that continues and entrenches extraction, exploitation and interference in the Global South. We discuss how the Global North is utilizing emergency framing to create sacrifice zones across the Global South, rife with environmental destruction, resource depletion, land grabbing and human rights violations. We also discuss how renewable energy infrastructure mega projects in the Global South impede local resources while failing to alleviate energy poverty, and the deception and detrimental impact of creative carbon offset accounting. Additionally, we look at the continued internalization of externalities in the Global South, saddled with odious debt and subject to the corrupt ISDS system, creating economic vulnerability and democratic deficits. We also discuss grassroots ecological movements and how we can move from green colonialism to create an equitable and ecological transition.
For More Info: http://thegravity.fm/#/episode/65
How a Community on the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis Took its Story to the Screen and Forced a Land-Grabbing Corporation to Go Off Script
Discussion with writer and director Seán Devlin on his recent genre-busting films, which were made in partnership with typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) survivors, who participated and ad-libbed in his films. We discuss how art can be interventionist and serve a frontline community’s needs, by allowing a community to direct the narrative. Additionally, we discuss how efforts to aid frontline communities, without buy-in or leadership from such communities can be exploitative and harmful. We also discuss climate change vulnerability, disaster capitalism, red-tagging and transgender rights in the Philippines.
For More Info: http://thegravity.fm/#/episode/64
Perils to the Deep Sea From Bottom Trawling, Climate Change and Mining and the Need to Protect Its Stunning Biodiversity
Discussion with Matt Gianni from the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition on the critical importance of the deep sea to our air, climate, the marine food web, our food security and health. We discuss the biodiversity of the deep sea and our continual discovery of new extremophiles. We discuss the threat of bottom trawling, which indiscriminately catches a multitude of bycatch and disrupts nutrient flow. We discuss the looming threat of deep sea mining for critical minerals for the energy transition and the International Seabed Authority’s conflicting mandate to establish the industry while protecting the deep sea. We also discuss how mining companies are exploiting Pacific Island nations, which are the most vulnerable to climate change. Additionally, we discuss the growing schism between climate mitigation and biodiversity protection and the need to view these as one problem that demands an integrated, holistic solution.
For More Info: http://thegravity.fm/#/episode/63
American Resistance and Repression, Identity and Intersectionality and the LGBTQI+ Rights Movement
Discussion with Professor Timothy Patrick McCarthy on American radicalism and the need for multivocality rather than metanarratives in analyzing history. We discuss the construction and interpellation of identities, their historical contingencies and intersectionality. We discuss the power dynamics of identity construction, in entrenching the status quo and serving to cleave mass mobilization and conversely in empowering marginalized groups. We discuss the need for origin myths in the context of the Stonewall uprising and its significance to the LGBTQI+ rights movement. We also discuss the AIDS epidemic as a health and housing crisis, the callousness and myopia of the Reagan administration’s lack of response and how the epidemic also led to solidarity and fostered community. Additionally, we discuss the movements for marriage equality and transgender rights. We also discuss polarization, disassociation, the need for active listening and brave communication.
For More Info: http://thegravity.fm/#/episode/62
The History of Voting Rights in the United States, the Electoral College and the Value of the Vote
Discussion with Professor Alex Keyssar on the origins of democracy and the history of the right to vote in the United States. We discuss the lack of an affirmative right to vote under the U.S. Constitution, amendments prohibiting abridgement and voter suppression. We also discuss the value of the vote in the context of gerrymandering, party mechanics, the impact of different voting systems and the influence of money in politics. Additionally, we discuss the history and distortive impact of the Electoral College in Presidential elections.
For More Info: http://thegravity.fm/#/episode/61
Circular Economy, Community Buy-In and Compassionate Leadership
Discussion with Hon. Maria Kamma-Aliferi, Mayor of Tilos and Jenny Giannopoulou on the need for and implementation of a circular economy. We also discuss renewable energy infrastructure, the Greek energy pricing system, sewerage infrastructure, freshwater conservation and navigating different levels of government bureaucracy. Additionally, we discuss the need for environmental literacy and community buy-in. We also discuss refugees, the need for compassionate leadership and how immigration can be a revitalization for the community.
For More Info: http://thegravity.fm/#/episode/60
Exposing, Investigating and Inoculating Against Hate
Discussion with Lisa Borden and Susan Corke from the Southern Poverty Law Center on hate and extremism groups throughout the United States. We discuss rising right radicalism, including religious and white nationalist groups and their means and methods. We also discuss \"parental right groups\" and their anti-inclusive stance and disruption of public school governance. Additionally, we discuss the school-to-prison pipeline, continuing systemic racism and disenfranchisement and how to help inoculate youth against radicalization. We also discuss the benefits of establishing a national human rights institution.
For More Info: http://thegravity.fm/#/episode/59
A Celebration of Civics and Connection Amidst Crises and Consternation
Discussion with Shannon A. Mullen on her recent book In Other Words, Leadership: How a Young Mother’s Weekly Letters to Her Governor Helped Both Women Brave the First Pandemic Year which looks at agency, representative democracy, socioeconomic and environmental crises within a portrait of leadership. The book is based on the true story of Ashira Knapp’s exchange of letters with Maine Governor Janet Mills during the pandemic. We discuss civics, representative democracy, leadership, reigniting our agency, reconnecting over polarity, what defines a crisis and media responsibility.
For More Info: http://thegravity.fm/#/episode/58
How Grassroots Movements for Climate and Environmental Justice Are Critical to Surviving the Climate Crisis
Discussion with Vivek Maru on the importance of community paralegals in extending access to the law, enforcing rights and aiding in structural change. We discuss the Customary Land Rights Act in Sierra Leone, the Community Land Act in Kenya and environmental justice action in Myanmar. We also discuss environmental injustice within the United States, the need for cumulative impact in any environmental assessment and the importance of having both expert input on legislation as well as the lived experience of affected communities. Additionally, we discuss the importance of prior informed consent and moving from extractive to regenerative practices. We also discuss climate justice as an integral pathway toward climate mitigation and adaptation.
For More Info: http://thegravity.fm/#/episode/57
Climate Change, Subterfuge and Building a Broad Climate Coalition
Discussion with Dr. Michael Mann on the subterfuge tactics by the fossil industry to prevent systemic and structural decarbonization. We discuss how the fossil fuel industry promotes doomsday theories to engender apathy and deny agency. We also discuss how the fossil fuel industry fosters division between different social groups to prevent a climate alliance and needed structural change. Additionally, we discuss how the focus on individual accountability and hypocrisy shaming can impede and deflect from needed structural change. We also discuss pertinent issues in carbon offset accounting, the circular economy and what the paleoclimate record can tell us about the state of and projections for climate change.
For More Info: http://thegravity.fm/#/episode/56
Cattle Ranching, Palm Oil Plantations and Other Agrobusiness Drivers of Deforestation, Fraud and Violence Against Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples, Bolsonaro's Crimes and the Need for Due Diligence and Accountability in Financing and Supply Chains
Discussion with Gabriella Bianchini on the importance of the Amazonian biome to the local environment and our planet and the current threats to the rainforest. We discuss the history of deforestation in Brazil's Amazon, including the ecocide under Bolsonaro and the current agrobusiness drivers, with a focus on cattle ranching and palm oil plantations. We also discuss land grabbing and violence against local communities and indigenous peoples and threats to and murder of environmental defenders. Additionally, we discuss how companies and financial institutions in the Global North are trading with and financing Amazonian destruction and violent land grabbing and legislative efforts to require accountability for failing to undertake due diligence in supply chains and investment.
For More Info:
- https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/environmental-activists/amazon-palm/
- https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/environmental-activists/violence-torture-and-threats-continue-allege-land-and-environmental-defenders-amazonian-brazil-palm-oil-regionefenders-amazonian-brazil-palm-oil-region/
- https://www.globalwitness.org/en/press-releases/open-letter-to-the-brazilian-minister-of-foreign-affairs-on-escazu-agreement/
- https://www.globalwitness.org/en/blog/defending-the-defenders-why-brazil-must-prioritize-ratification-of-the-escazu-agreement/
- https://www.globalwitness.org/en/blog/new-documentary-short-looks-at-a-communitys-struggle-for-land-in-the-brazilian-amazon/
- https://www.globalwitness.org/en/blog/big-beef-watch/
- https://www.globalwitness.org/en/press-releases/new-tracking-tool-launched-monitor-amazon-deforestation-meatpacker-supply-chain/
- https://www.globalwitness.org/en/blog/who-needs-climate-justice-in-brazil/
- https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/09/17/rainforest-mafias/how-violence-and-impunity-fuel-deforestation-brazils-amazon
- https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/09/17/brazil-criminal-networks-target-rainforest-defenders
- https://theconversation.com/historic-amazon-rainforest-fires-threaten-climate-and-raise-risk-of-new-diseases-146720
- https://films.nationalgeographic.com/the-territory
- http://climatecasechart.com/non-us-case/the-planet-v-bolsonaro/
Neocolonialism, Democratic Deficits and Regulatory Chill of the Investor State Dispute Settlement Mechanism
Discussion with Lisa Sachs on the regulatory chill and democratic deficit of the Investor-State Dispute Settlement mechanism (ISDS). We discuss the structural issues of ISDS, including conflict of interest, lack of transparency and lack of accountability as well as its neocolonial origins and entrenchment. We also discuss the proliferation of bilateral and multilateral investment treaties, the expanding investor protections of international investment law, treaty shopping and how ISDS is distorting the investment climate in favor of fossil fuels. Additionally, we discuss the fragmentation of international law and the need to have holistic international jurisprudence and governance.
For More Info:
- https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1070&context=sustainable_investment_staffpubs
- https://ccsi.columbia.edu/content/primer-international-investment-treaties-and-investor-state-dispute-settlement
- https://ccsi.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/docs/publications/fJohnsonetal58-1.pdf
- https://ccsi.columbia.edu/content/investment-law-policy
- https://icsid.worldbank.org/sites/default/files/ICSID%20Convention%20English.pdf
- https://investmentpolicy.unctad.org/investment-dispute-settlement
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14693062.2022.2153102?journalCode=tcpo20
- https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2697555
- https://www.oecd.org/daf/inv/investment-policy/4th-Annual-Conference-on-Investment-Treaties-agenda.pdf
- https://policyalternatives.ca/ontheoffensive
- https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/diaepcbinf2019d3_en.pdf
- https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/803449?ln=en
- https://alexandra-arneri.medium.com/that-my-keen-knife-see-not-the-wound-it-makes-part-ii-why-loot-when-you-can-lend-the-violence-of-be65d7e16c9d
Palestinian Human Rights Defenders, SLAPP Suits, Anti-Boycott Laws and Human Rights Abuses in Israel and the OPT
Discussion with Maria LaHood on the curtailment and criminalization of advocacy on behalf of Palestinian human rights and criticism of Israeli government policies and their conflation with antisemitism. We discuss SLAPP suits, prevention of academic freedom and debate and anti-boycott laws and their effect on chilling speech. We also discuss the importance of the right to boycott for our democracy and the increasing criminalization of dissent in the U.S. Additionally, we discuss human rights abuses and war crimes in the OPT.
For More Info:
- Click Here for more info.
Regulatory Capture, Lobbying, Astroturfing, Greenwashing and the Failure to Clean up LA’s Toxic Secret
Discussion with Daniel Hirsch, Denise Duffield and Melissa Bumstead on the history and current contamination of the nuclear experiment and rocket testing site, Santa Susana Field Lab, above Ventura and Los Angeles Counties. We discuss how the responsible parties- NASA, the Department of Energy (DOE) and Boeing have failed to clean up the site, the tactics they have utilized to not do so and the current status of the cleanup. We discuss Boeing’s litigation against cleaning up to background levels, Boeing’s greenwashing campaign to limit its clean up by restricting the land use to a conservation zone and its astroturfing efforts to legitimize its greenwashing campaign. We also discuss the Department of Toxic Substances Control, its failure to hold polluters to account and the wider problems regulatory capture and lobbying present to our democracy.
For More Info:
- https://parentsagainstssfl.com/summary
- https://www.change.org/p/no-more-kids-with-cancer-clean-up-the-santa-susana-field-lab
- https://www.committeetobridgethegap.org/
- https://www.psr-la.org/
- https://www.inthedarkofthevalley.com/
- https://www.etec.energy.gov/Library/Main/Doc._No._50_Hirsch_Senate_Statement_9-18-2008.pdf
- https://www.epa.gov/superfund/search-superfund-sites-where-you-live
- https://www.nationalgeographic.com/superfund/
- https://www.gao.gov/assets/680/672920.pdf
- https://www.nrdc.org/experts/caroline-reiser/questions-and-answers-about-santa-susana-field-lab
- https://healthebay.org/calling-for-accountability-at-the-santa-susana-field-lab/
- https://www.committeetobridgethegap.org/the-santa-susana-field-laboratory/
- https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-pollution-conservation-easements/
- https://www.enviroreporter.com/draft-media-campaign-for-the-santa-susana-field-laboratory-by-make-over-earth-inc
- https://www.dtsc-ssfl.com/files/lib_boeinglawsuit/legaldocs/64886_Issues_Material_Fact.pdf
- https://www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/ssflstipulation.pdf
- Statement&gclid=Cj0KCQiAgribBhDkARIsAASA5bsowcY6IskP7JUrgpG9UwKxTugCEUl1oIObzbL4n_l_5LKdGmSR-uYaAlfxEALw_wcB
- https://www.enviroreporter.com/2012/12/toxic-department/all/1/
- https://www.boeing.com/principles/environment/santa-susana/site-tours.page
- https://www.wildlifehc.org/membership/ourmembers/
The Nexus Between Environmental Health and Social Justice
Discussion with Dr. Jimena Díaz Leiva on the health and environmental impact of fracking, forever chemicals, flame retardants and glyphosate. We discuss how trade secrets are being utilized to protect against disclosure of all toxic chemicals in fracking, the exemptions the industry obtained from environmental laws and how the First Amendment is being utilized against mandated government health warnings for glyphosate. We also discuss the tobacco and chemical industries’ deception respecting flame retardants and how CEH worked to ban flame retardants in children’s products, mattresses and upholstered furniture in CA. Additionally, we discuss the nexus between environmental health and social justice and the importance of fostering community partnerships and citizen science.
For More Info:
- https://ceh.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Toxic-Dirty-Secrets-CEH-Fracking-Report.pdf
- https://ceh.org/latest/news-coverage/video-kids-near-fracking-sites-risk-permanent-brain-damage-study/
- https://concernedhealthny.org/compendium/
- https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/EHP11092
- https://www.courthousenews.com/ninth-circuit-orders-epa-to-reexamine-glyphosates-toxicity-to-humans-and-the-environment/
- https://www.docketalarm.com/cases/US_Court_of_Appeals_Ninth_Circuit/20-16758/NAWG_et_al_v._Xavier_Becerra_et_al/18/
- https://ceh.org/21780-2-air-pollution-data-paramount-ca-hex-chrome-metal-processing/
- https://ceh.org/product-testing/childrens-products/
- https://ceh.org/product-testing/food/
- https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-announces-new-drinking-water-health-advisories-pfas-chemicals-1-billion-bipartisan
- https://earthjustice.org/sites/default/files/files/phthalates_petition_2016.pdf
- https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2022/fda-allows-hormone-disrupting-phthalates-in-food-packaging
- https://ceh.org/latest/news-coverage/la-times-cehs-historic-aliso-canyon-settlement/
- https://ceh.org/latest/news-coverage/la-weekly-op-ed-flame-retardants-ineffective-toxic-bad-business/
Drafting and Establishing the 5th International Crime Against Peace
Discussion with Darryl Robinson and Kate Mackintosh on the history of ecocide and the gravity and culpability elements necessary for it to be the fifth international crime against peace. We also discuss the process of establishing ecocide as an international crime, including the process of its adoption by the International Criminal Court. We discuss the differences between the definitions of the independent expert panel of international criminal and environmental jurists and the Promise Institute’s expert working group, which advised the panel. We also discuss the problem of intersecting international criminal and environmental law. Additionally, we discuss salient issues of the ICC, including lack of jurisdiction over corporate actors, lack of dominant state parties and selectivity.
For More Info:
- https://ecocidelaw.com/legal-definition-and-commentary-2021/
- http://opiniojuris.org/2021/07/16/your-guide-to-ecocide-part-1/
- http://opiniojuris.org/2021/07/16/your-guide-to-ecocide-part-2-the-hard-part/
- https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4074985
- https://law.ucla.edu/academics/centers/promise-institute-human-rights/ecocide
- https://ecocidelaw.com/promise-institute-working-group/
- https://www.stopecocide.earth/
- https://ecocidelaw.com/existing-ecocide-laws/
- https://ecocidelaw.com/publications/
- https://ecocidelaw.com/history/
- https://www.cfr.org/timeline/ecological-disasters
- https://apnews.com/article/28a8bfe6019f673e318a40035940b2fb
- https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/mitigating-conflict-over-water-in-the-euphrates-tigris-basin/
Adam Hochschild's Ghosts of Rapacity and Resistance
Discussion with Adam Hochschild on the historical movements and moments throughout Adam’s books. We discuss the First World War, the Spanish Civil War, the turmoil and anti-immigrant and anti-labour purges in the United States during and after the First World War, apartheid, the Stalinist purges and the Russian people’s attempt to reconcile with this rapacity, the British emancipation movement and King Leopold II’s genocide in the Congo.
For More Info:
- https://www.amazon.com/King-Leopolds-Ghost-Heroism-Colonial/
- https://www.amazon.com/Bury-Chains-Prophets-Rebels-Empires/
- https://www.amazon.com/End-All-Wars-Patriotism-Hochschild/
- https://www.amazon.com/Spain-Our-Hearts-Americans-1936-1939/
- https://www.amazon.com/Unquiet-Ghost-Russians-Remember-Stalin/
- https://www.amazon.com/Half-Way-Home-Memoir-Father/
- https://www.amazon.com/Rebel-Cinderella-Riches-Radical-Journey/
- https://www.amazon.com/Mirror-Midnight-South-African-Journey/
- https://www.amazon.com/Lessons-Dark-Time-Other-Essays/
- https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Trapdoor-Essays-Portraits-Travels/
The Noxious Nexus of Environmental Destruction, Corruption, Conflict and Human Rights Abuse
Discussion with Patrick Alley on the intersectionality of environmental destruction, human rights abuse, conflict and corruption. We discuss how our banks and institutional funds finance deforestation while concomitantly publicly rallying against it. We discuss greenwashing by the fossil fuels industry and its influence on COP26. We also discuss the intimidation, attacks and murder of frontline environmental defenders. Additionally, we discuss the environmental destruction, corruption and human rights abuses of the palm oil industry in Papa New Guinea.
For More Info:
- https://www.globalwitness.org/en/
- https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/environmental-activists/last-line-defence/
- https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/forests/true-price-palm-oil/
- https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/forests/deforestation-dividends/
- https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/forests/money-to-burn-how-iconic-banks-and-investors-fund-the-destruction-of-the-worlds-largest-rainforests/
- https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/fossil-gas/chevron-faces-unprecedented-complaint-over-misleading-consumers-climate-action/
- https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/corruption-and-money-laundering/undermining-sanctions/
- https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/oil-gas-and-mining/not-for-sale-salonga/
- https://www.globalwitness.org/en/archive/drillers-mist-how-secret-payments-and-climate-violence-helped-uk-firm-open-african/
- https://www.globalwitness.org/en/archive/rough-trade/
- https://twitter.com/Global_Witness
Democratic Resistance in Hong Kong
Discussion with Alex Yong-Kang Chow and Brian Leung on China’s increasing control over Hong Kong and its breaches of the Sino-British Declaration. We discuss the student democratic protests in 2014 and 2019 and the arrest and trials of the protestors. We discuss the enactment and use of the National Security Law to target free speech and the free press. We discuss the ransacking and closure of the June 4th Museum and the prohibition of the Tiananmen Square vigil and attendant arrest of its organizers. We also discuss the Greater Bay Area initiative and the integration of Hong Kong into the mainland, the recent “elections” of the Legislative Council, the utility of Magnitsky sanctions and China’s use of soft power.
For More Info:
- https://hkdc.us/
- https://www.2021hkcharter.com/
- https://hongkongfp.com/2020-legislative-elections/
- https://hongkongfp.com/article-23/
- https://hongkongfp.com/qa-hkfp-and-the-national-security-law/
- https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/07/china-climate-change-democracy-human-rights.html
- https://hkcompendium-org.translate.goog/?_x_tr_sl=zh-TW&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=nui,sc
- https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/asia-and-the-pacific/east-asia/hong-kong/
- https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/10/1102882
- https://hongkongfp.com/press-freedom-censorship/
- https://hongkongfp.com/2021/09/29/1989-tiananmen-massacre-online-museum-blocked-in-hong-kong-three-weeks-after-police-raid-physical-site/
- https://hongkongfp.com/greater-bay-area/
- https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm1088
- https://freetibet.org/
Abandoned Australians, Cultural Restitution and Human Rights Accountability
Discussion with Geoffrey Robertson QC on how Australia’s COVID response, including its border closure to citizens abroad, has violated human rights and Geoffrey’s petition on behalf of abandoned Australians before the Human Rights Committee. We also discuss the lack of constitutional rights in Australia and the need for a bill of rights. Additionally, we discuss the secret, political trial of barrister Bernard Collaery. We also discuss cultural restitution and the case of the British Museum’s refusal to return the Parthenon sculptures to Greece. Additionally, we discuss the importance of social and economic rights, corporate accountability for human rights, the Magnitsky Act and its adoption by numerous states as a way to target human rights violators.
For More Info:
- https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/ccpr.aspx
- https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx
- https://covid19.dfat.gov.au/citizeninformation/s/
- https://strandedaussies.com/get-informed#gs.8she2p
- https://strandedaussies.com/#gs.8shy75
- https://freeandopenaustralia.org/
- http://www.helleniccouncil.org.au/docs/The%20Case%20for%20the%20Return%20of%20the%20Parthenon%20Sculptures.pdf
- https://removethecap.com/
- https://inmyblooditruns.com/
- https://www.hrlc.org.au/news/2019/11/29/stop-putting-kids-in-prison-australian-governments-told
- https://eresources.hcourt.gov.au/downloadPdf/2020/HCA/48
- https://eresources.hcourt.gov.au/downloadPdf/2021/HCA/5
- https://www.vgso.vic.gov.au/implied-constitutional-freedom-political-communication
- https://eresources.hcourt.gov.au/showCase/2019/HCA/23
- https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/legal/submission/inquiry-australian-security-intelligence-organisation-amendment-bill-2020
- https://eresources.hcourt.gov.au/downloadPdf/2019/HCA/23
- https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/indefinite-detention-australia-refugee-law/
- https://decisions.scc-csc.ca/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/18169/index.do
- https://www.hrlc.org.au/news/2021/5/17/collaery-charges-must-be-dropped-and-undemocratic-secrecy-orders-must-end
Cobalt, Chocolate, Blood and Corporate Impunity
Discussion with Terry Collingsworth on forced child labor in cobalt mines in the DRC and his Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) case against American tech companies which knowingly benefit from the cheap cobalt mined by children. We discuss the legal issues in the case as well as the facts on the ground in the DRC, including the environmental impact of cobalt mining and the maiming and killing of child miners that are lured to extremely hazardous and toxic work in the mines. We also follow from our 2017 episode with Terry, “Chained to Chocolate”, to discuss Terry’s continuing case against Nestlé and other confectionary companies for the knowing use of child slave labor on their cocoa farms in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. We discuss Terry’s TVPRA case and the increase in child enslavement since the filing of the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) case against Nestlé et. al. as well as the pending ATS decision before the United States Supreme Court. We also discuss whether the decision will gut the ATS by exempting corporations from liability under it and the future of ATS claims.
For More Info:
- http://www.iradvocates.org/
- http://www.iradvocates.org/case//cobalt-drc-case
- http://www.iradvocates.org/press-release/nestle/press-release-child-slaves-who-were-trafficked-and-forced-harvest-cocoa-cote-d
- https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/AFR6231832016ENGLISH.PDF
- https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/drc/overview
- https://twitter.com/savethecongo?lang=en
- https://wid.world/country/dr-congo/
- https://www.globalwitness.org/en/press-releases/global-witness-welcomes-reversal-us-sanctions-reprieve-granted-mining-magnate-dan-gertler/
- https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/nestle-usa-inc-v-john-doe-i/
- https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/audio/2020/19-416
- https://goodweave.org/
- https://www.slavefreechocolate.org/ethical-chocolate-companies
Expanding the Rights Rubric: Adding Rights and Rights Holders for a Good Society
Discussion with Sushma Raman on The Coming Good Society: Why New Realities Demand New Rights, her book with William F. Schulz. We discuss the need for specific rights to redress the needs of LGBTQIA+ communities and why adding new rights reinforces rather than dilutes traditional human rights. We also discuss the risks posed to our rights by technological advancement, including algorithmic decision-making and CRISPR and how to address these from a rights perspective. Additionally, we discuss the need to view corruption as a human rights violation per se. We also discuss the need to ascribe rights to non-humans, including the environment, AI and a tiered approach to animal rights.
For More Info:
- https://www.openglobalrights.org/the-coming-good-society-why-new-realities-demand-new-rights/
- https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674977082
- Twitter: @sushmaraman
- https://harvardpress.typepad.com/hup_publicity/2020/09/qa-with-william-f-schulz-and-sushma-raman-authors-of-the-coming-good-society.html
Chevron’s Carious Crusade Against Steven Donziger, SLAPP Suits and the Defense of Climate Necessity
Discussion with Lauren Regan on corporate SLAPP suits and in particular the oil and gas industry’s utilization of RICO against grassroots environmental activists. We also discuss the miscarriages of justice in Chevron’s RICO action against attorney Steven Donziger and the criminal contempt case against Steven, whom Lauren is defending on the criminal contempt charge. Additionally, we discuss Lauren’s defense of the “Valve Turners”, their reasoning behind civil disobedience and Lauren’s establishment in Washington and Minnesota of the climate necessity defense. Finally, we discuss police misconduct and crowd control by private security firms, including at Standing Rock and the way forward for attorneys in supporting and advocating for grassroots activists.
For More Info:
- https://cldc.org/
- https://cldc.org/climate-necessity-defense/
- https://cldc.org/standing-rock/
- https://cldc.org/organizing-resources/activist-webinars/
- https://www.donzigerlaw.com/
- https://nlginternational.org/newsite/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/ Mirer-Kaplan-Complaint.pdf* https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/current-time/
The Need for a Unified, Holistic Approach to Environmental, Animal and Human Health
Discussion with Professor Dr. Christine Kreuder Johnson on anthropogenic ecosystem drivers of disease emergence in wildlife and spillover into the human population. We discuss how habitat destruction, including from changing land use patterns and industrial and agricultural intensification and effects of climate change have contributed to epidemics of zoonotic infections. We also discuss how biodiversity loss leads to disease emergence and transmission of zoonotic viruses. Additionally, we discuss the importance of providing access to better living conditions and healthcare for people at the frontlines of zoonotic infection for proper disease detection and prevention of pandemics. Finally, we discuss the imperative for a unified approach to environmental, animal and human health policies in order to avoid future pandemics.
For More Info:
- UC Davis One Health Institute
- EpiCenter for Disease Dynamics
- Global Shifts in Mammalian Populations Reveal Key Predictors of Viral Spillover (link to publication)
- Global Shifts in Mammalian Populations Reveal Key Predictors of Viral Spillover (link to Fact Sheet)
- One Health Institute Twitter
- Dr. Christine Kreuder Johnson Twitter
- One Health Institute Latest News
- https://www.ecohealthalliance.org/2018/03/nipah
- https://theecologist.org/2014/oct/29/oil-palm-explosion-driving-west-africas-ebola-outbreak
- https://www.who.int/environmental_health_emergencies/disease_outbreaks/communicable_diseases/en/
- https://news.emory.edu/stories/2020/02/esc_disease_spread_species_gillespie/campus.html
Regulatory Gaps and Conflicts in the Fertility Industry
Discussion on regulatory gaps and issues in the fertility industry with Professors Naomi Cahn and June Carbone. We discuss the marketing of egg freezing, brokerage of egg donation and surrogacy and issues surrounding informed consent, vulnerability and inequality in the fertility industry. Additionally, we discuss clinic mislabeling mishaps and mistaken implantation, the legal recognition of parental rights and the ownership of embryos when there is conflict over termination and/or implantation. We also discuss disclosure with respect to donors and how to balance the privacy rights of donors and intended parents with the rights of children to know their genealogy.
For More Info:
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/naomicahn/2019/11/08/is-egg-freezing-all-its-cracked-up-to-be/#36180001d784.
- https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/eastern-and-western-perspectives-on-surrogacy/united-states-of-america/7B912769A7D7D19489470C328C72DA42
- https://www.law.gwu.edu/cahn-naomi-r
- https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3123361
- https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2772064
- https://corethics.org/wp-content/uploads/Human-Eggs-Laws.pdf
- https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-women-surrogacy-factbox/fatcbox-which-countries-allow-commercial-surrogacy-idUSKBN1530FP
- https://www.reprotechtruths.org/
- https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-09/ivf-industry-criticised-over-misleading-claims/7152508
- http://www.bu.edu/articles/2015/regulate-the-fertility-industry
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10253866.2018.1512239?journalCode=gcmc20
The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, Little Gitmo and Corporate SLAPP Suits
Discussion on the terrorization of activists and the criminalization of dissent with Rachel Meeropol. We discuss the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, how it may operate to violate the First Amendment and its chilling effect on activism. We also discuss corporate SLAPP suits including Energy Transfer Partner’s suit to bring a RICO claim against environmental activists at Standing Rock and the entire EarthFirst! environmental movement. Additionally, we discuss Communication Management Units, their clandestine opening in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act, their draconian communication limitations and their use as political prisons. We also discuss the federal government’s detention and egregious treatment of immigrants with minor infractions suspected and later cleared of terrorism charges based solely on racial and religious profiling. Finally, we discuss the Jailhouse Lawyers Handbook and the impact of the recent Supreme Court decision in Ziglar v. Abbasi which denied personal liability for federal officials for constitutional violations and the need for remedial legislation.
For More Info:
- https://www.protecttheprotest.org/category/resource-categories/help-us-end-slapp/
- https://anti-slapp.org/your-states-free-speech-protection#scorecard
- https://ccrjustice.org/sites/default/files/attach/2017/06/2017-06-19_ZiglarvAbbasi_SCOTUSdecision.pdf
- https://ccrjustice.org/sites/default/files/assets/Turkmen_3rdAmendedComplaint_09_04.pdf
- https://ccrjustice.org/sites/default/files/attach/2015/10/Aref%20Appeal%20brief%2010.28.2015.pdf
- https://ccrjustice.org/sites/default/files/assets/Blum%201st%20circuit%20decision.pdf
- https://ccrjustice.org/sites/default/files/assets/Appellants'%20Opening%20Brief_0.pdf
- https://ccrjustice.org/sites/default/files/attach/2017/11/US%20v%20Johnson%20Appellate%20Decision.pdf
- https://ccrjustice.org/sites/default/files/attach/2016/05/Appeal%20Brief%20and%20Appendix%205.9.16.pdf
- https://ccrjustice.org/sites/default/files/assets/ALDF%20v.%20Otter%20CCR%20amicus%20brief.pdf
- https://ccrjustice.org/sites/default/files/attach/2017/07/ALDF%20v%20Herbert%20%28Utah%20ag%20gag%29%20Order-Granting-Pls-SJ.pdf
- https://ccrjustice.org/sites/default/files/attach/2019/02/135%20Order%202019.02.14.pdf
- https://ccrjustice.org/sites/default/files/attach/2018/04/80%20Earth%20First%20Journal%27s%20Response%20to%20the%20Court%27s%20Order%20of%20March%2022%2C%202018.pdf
- https://ccrjustice.org/sites/default/files/attach/2017/12/1%20complaint.pdf
Ag-Gag Laws and the First Amendment, Carious CAFOS and the Endangerment of the Endangered Species Act
Discussion with Cristina Stella on the advent and continuance of Ag-gag laws that criminalize undercover reporting at animal enterprises and their violation of First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. We also discuss the First Amendment violation of “food censorship” laws that prohibit meat and milk alternatives from using “milk” and “meat” in the name of their products. We discuss humane washing cases and the conditions of animals in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Additionally, we discuss the impact CAFOs have on our public health, the environment and the quality of life of surrounding populations. We also discuss the exemptions CAFOs have obtained from environmental regulations and the current roll-backs to the Endangered Species Act and the pending litigation challenging these.
For More Info:
li>https://aldf.org/issue/ag-gag/* https://aldf.org/case/challenging-iowas-ag-gag-2-0-law/ * https://aldf.org/article/lawsuit-challenges-constitutionality-of-arkansas-ag-gag-law/ * https://aldf.org/article/federal-rule-allowing-cruel-high-speed-pig-slaughter-violates-federal-law/ * https://aldf.org/article/animal-legal-defense-fund-sues-tillamook-for-deceptive-advertising/ * https://aldf.org/article/tofurky-mounts-free-speech-challenge-against-arkansas-meat-label-law/ * https://aldf.org/case/challenging-fsas-medium-sized-cafo-exemptions/ * https://aldf.org/article/the-edge-of-extinction-hundreds-of-vulnerable-animal-species-in-danger-under-endangered-species-act-rollbacks/ * https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/gulf-of-mexico-dead-zone-is-largest-ever-measured * https://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/files/animal_drug_es_10_26_77814.pdf * https://aldf.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/CAFOs-Plaguing-North-Carolina-Communities-of-Color.pdf * https://aldf.org/case/challenging-factory-farms-exemption-from-pollution-reporting-requirements/ * https://www.humanesociety.org/sites/default/files/docs/public-impacts-factory-farms-on-communities.pdf
Democratizing the Colonial Space of International Law
Discussion with Rachel López on the colonial development of international law and its continuing hierarchical structure. We also discuss the duty to refrain from assisting states in committing grave crimes and its interrelation with the responsibility to protect people from grave crimes under international law. Additionally, we discuss the concept of “gravity” as the counterweight to sovereignty, its development under international law and its ability to be manipulated with its continued malleable counters. We also discuss the problems of humanitarian intervention, both in terms of its selective enforcement, its ability to be used for the opportunistic aims of great powers and its unintended consequences. Finally, we discuss how to democratize the current hierarchical structure of international law and how international law can both support and be supported by grassroots social justice movements.
For More Info:
- https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3246362
- https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2923745
- https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/role-archives-transitional-justice/rachel-lopez
- https://www.americasquarterly.org/content/how-tv-star-triggered-slow-motion-constitutional-crisis
- https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/proceedings-of-the-asil-annual-meeting/article/div-classtitlebeyond-gravity-for-a-politics-of-international-criminal-prosecutionsdiv/2F90D384ED7F377EED5DA38AF151884C
- https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/leiden-journal-of-international-law/article/inescapable-dyads-why-the-international-criminal-court-cannot-win/E6A8911B22AB3850E4BDE3B662349549
U.S. and European Complicity in the Yemeni Conflict
Discussion with Radhya Al-Mutawakel on the war crimes committed in Yemen by all parties, including the indiscriminate bombing and shelling of civilian sites and civilians and the destruction of religious and cultural heritage. We discuss U.S., U.K. and other Western countries’ participation in the conflict through arm sales to the Saudi and Emirati coalition and logistical support. Additionally, we discuss the plague of landmines, the economic blockades and the public health crisis in Yemen, including from starvation and epidemics of cholera and diphtheria. We discuss arbitrary detention, forced disappearances, the recruitment of children into the war and the war’s impact upon women. We also discuss U.S. drone strikes, the civilian deaths and injuries they cause and their futility in serving counter-terrorism.
For More Info:
- The-Degradation-of-History-English.pdf
- Yemen-report-draft_3.5_PDF-w-cover.pdf
- Press-report-En.pdf
- In-houthi-controlled-yemen-silence-exile-or-detent.php
- Concealed-Killer-Report-En.pdf
- Strategies-of-Coalition-in-Yemen-War-Final-20181005-1.pdf
- https://yemendataproject.org/
Incarceration Rates and Sentencing Policies Throughout the United States
Discussion with Nazgol Ghandnoosh on the high rates of incarceration and state differentials of incarceration throughout the United States and their causes, including the “war on drugs”. We discuss racial disparity in arrests and sentences, private prisons and legislative and executive encroachment on the judicial function by the imposition of mandatory sentences. We also discuss the impact of prosecutorial power and plea bargains. Additionally, we discuss the collateral effects of convictions, including disenfranchisement, denial of housing and other benefits and discrimination in employment. We also discuss alternatives to incarceration, including LEAD programs and restorative justice and the need for a criminal justice system focused on rehabilitation rather than retribution.
For More Info:
- https://www.sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Trends-in-US-Corrections.pdf
- https://www.sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Facts-About-Prisons.pdf
- Can We Wait 75 Years to Cut the Prison Population in Half?
- Report to the United Nations on Racial Disparities in the U.S. Criminal Justice System
- https://www.sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Black-Lives-Matter.pdf
- https://www.sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Race-and-Punishment.pdf
- https://www.sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Delaying-a-Second-Chance.pdf
- https://www.sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Private-Prisons-in-the-United-States.pdf
- https://www.sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Still-Life.pdf
- https://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-mauer/88-years-mass-incarceration_b_4474132.html
Loss of Biodiversity, Pollution, Climate Change and Human Rights Abuses from Deforestation
Discussion with Etelle Higonnet on the state of deforestation around the world with a particular focus on commodity agriculture and soy and palm oil in particular. We discuss the contribution to climate change and the loss of biodiversity from clearing wild forests for monoculture plantations. We also discuss the public health impact from polluted water and air for surrounding populations, in particular the haze from Indonesian forest clearing, as well as the egregious labor rights violations of the deforestation industry. We also discuss “paper tigers”, lack of political will and the effectiveness of public campaigns and pro-active and informed public and consumer choices.
For More Info:
- http://www.mightyearth.org
- http://www.mightyearth.org/2015-haze-death-toll/
- http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/11/9/094023
- http://climate.org/deforestation-and-climate-change/
- https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation/
- https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/04/tires-your-car-threaten-asian-biodiversity
- https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0159668
- https://www.theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/Indonesia-palm-oil-expansion_ICCT_july2016.pdf
- https://tropicalconservationscience.mongabay.com/content/v8/tcs_v8i1_95-113_Bitty.pdf
- http://humanityunited.org/pdfs/Modern_Slavery_in_the_Palm_Oil_Industry.pdf
- http://www.laborrights.org/publications/empty-assurances-human-cost-palm-oil
- http://www.ran.org/klk_case_study_2014
- http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-07-18/indonesias-palm-oil-industry-rife-with-human-rights-abuses
- http://www.verite.org/vision/march2014/bottomofthesupplychain
- http://www.verite.org/sites/default/files/images/Palm_White_Paper_May_2013_Final_Draft_0.pdf
- https://www.seafoodwatch.org/-/m/sfw/pdf/guides/mba-seafoodwatch-national-guide.pdf
Family Separation, Mandatory Detention and Denaturalization
Discussion with Paromita Shah on the effective criminalization of immigration and the right to asylum through mandatory detention and unlawful entry and unlawful re-entry prosecutions. We discuss family detainment and separation at the border and the deportation of undocumented parents of US citizen minors. Additionally, we discuss the recent Supreme Court decision of Dimaya, due process in immigration court and Attorney General Sessions’s use of self-referral to make radical changes in our immigration jurisprudence. We also discuss Operation Janus, the De-naturalization Task Force and the intersection of immigration and criminal law.
For More Info:
- http://www.nationalimmigrationproject.org/pract_advisories/gen/2018_19Jun_activists.html
- http://www.nationalimmigrationproject.org/pract_advisories/gen/2018_05Jul_Pereira.html
- http://www.nationalimmigrationproject.org/PDFs/practitioners/practice_advisories/crim/2018_26Apr_sessions-v-dimaya.pdf
- https://cgrs.uchastings.edu/a-b-backgrounder
- https://uchastings.app.box.com/s/57k2hk6rpyjh7bbmebld4195r2wsdzt0
- https://www.dropbox.com/s/lplnnufjbwci0xn/CBP%20Report%20ACLU_IHRC%205.23%20FINAL.pdf?dl=0
- https://theintercept.com/2018/02/14/ice-denaturalization-naturalized-citizen-immigration/
- https://news.vice.com/article/the-us-keeps-mistakenly-deporting-its-own-citizens
- https://www.politico.com/interactives/2018/immigration-zero-tolerance-children-families-limbo/
- https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/06/trumps-child-separation-policy-has-grievously-harmed-parents-deported-without-their-children.html
Religious and Racial Discrimination in the American South and the Escalation of Immigration Detention
Discussion with Azadeh Shahshahani on the work of Project South, which cultivates strong social movements in the Southern United States and supports social justice movements in the Global South. We discuss religious and racial discrimination as well as police collaboration with ICE and the denial of utilities to undocumented persons as well as lawful residents without social security numbers in the southern United States. We also discuss the escalation of immigration detention and a recent report, by a coalition of organizations including Project South, detailing the deplorable conditions at detention centres in Georgia. Additionally, we discuss shadow prisons, the effective criminalization of immigration infractions and attendant forced labour and corporate profit.
For More Info:
- https://projectsouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Imprisoned_Justice_Report-1.pdf
- https://projectsouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Complaint-Barrientos-v.-Core-Civic.pdf
- https://projectsouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/UN-Communication-Re-Detention-Conditions-in-GA-Facilities.pdf
- https://www.detentionwatchnetwork.org/sites/default/files/reports/IceLies_NIJC_DWN.pdf
- https://cis.org/Arthur/Get-Minors-Out-Immigration-Court
- https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/15-1204_f29g.pdf
- https://www.salon.com/2018/04/24/do-immigrants-in-ice-detention-centers-have-any-human-rights-at-all/
- https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opinion-shahshahani-muslim-ban_us_5ae71bf4e4b055fd7fce13e1
- http://law.emory.edu/eilr/content/volume-31/issue-4/article/water-critique-localities-denial-undocumented-immigrants.html
The U.S. Visit by the Special Rapporteur for Extreme Poverty and Human Rights
Discussion with Professor Philip Alston, the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, on the observations and conclusions from his country visit to the United States in December 2017. We discuss the political nature of poverty, its inextricable link to rising inequality in the United States and the overt and covert disenfranchisement of the extremely poor. We also discuss punitive policies towards the poor, including Jane Crow laws and the criminalization of homelessness and the prevalence of caricatured, pejorative narratives of the poor that perpetuate inequality. Additionally, we discuss the effective denial of constitutional rights to those in poverty, including through the criminal justice system.
For More Info:
- http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22533
- http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Poverty/Pages/SRExtremePovertyIndex.aspx
- http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Poverty/Pages/CountryVisits.aspx
- http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/assessing-multidimensional-poverty-%E2%80%93-one-index-global-level
- https://inequality.stanford.edu/
- https://inequality.stanford.edu/publications/20-facts-about-us-inequality-everyone-should-know
- https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press-releases/attachments/2015/03/04/ferguson_police_department_report.pdf
- http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CESCR.aspx
- http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/ccpr.aspx
The Prevalence of Human Trafficking in the United States and the Legal Framework for Bringing Justice to Human Trafficking Survivors.
Discussion with Martina Vandenberg on the work of the Human Trafficking Legal Center and the prevalence and characteristics of human trafficking in the United States. We discuss the international and legal framework, whether the United States is meeting its international obligations and consider particular issues relating to diplomatic immunity when human trafficking is committed by diplomats in the United States. We also discuss prosecutions under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and the application of its mandatory restitution provisions. Additionally, we discuss U.S. government awareness programs such as the Blue Campaign and their effectiveness and the best legislative and litigation strategies for eliminating this egregious crime.
For More Info:
- http://www.htlegalcenter.org/
- https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
- http://law.slu.edu/sites/default/files/Journals/alexandra_levy-martina_vandenberg-article.pdf
- http://www.htlegalcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/FF_SL_AW02_WEB.pdf
- http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/forced-labour/lang--en/index.htm
- https://www.dol.gov/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-of-goods/
- https://www.americanbar.org/groups/domestic_violence/survivor-reentry-project.html
- http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/ProtocolTraffickingInPersons.aspx
- https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/
- https://www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign/awareness-training
- https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/blue-campaign
- https://www.state.gov/j/tip/
- https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/s2308
How Israel Exploits Palestinian Land and Expels the Palestinian Population
Discussion with Amit Gilutz on the human rights work of B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, including its citizenship journalism project. We discuss the human rights impact of the separation barrier and the demarcation of the Palestinian peoples into separate Occupied Territories. We also discuss the Israeli manufactured water and sewerage crisis in the Gaza Strip and the continued exploitation of resources and expulsion of Palestinian communities in the West Bank. In addition, we discuss the dual system of law in the West Bank, the application of military law to Palestinians, the continued use of administrative detention and collective punishment and the lack of accountability for Israel as an occupying power. Additionally, we discuss the need for international pressure upon Israel to end the occupation.
For More Info:
- http://www.btselem.org/
- http://www.btselem.org/publications
- http://www.btselem.org/topic/accountability
- http://www.btselem.org/routine_founded_on_violence
- http://www.btselem.org/topic/freedom_of_movement
- http://www.btselem.org/communities_facing_expulsion
- https://www.un.org/press/en/2016/sc12657.doc.htm
- https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/downloads/201703_UN_ESCWA-israeli-practices-palestinian-people-apartheid-occupation-english.pdf
LGBTI Rights and Freedom of Expression in Serbia
Discussion with Goran Miletić on LGBTI rights in Serbia. We discuss the most recent Pride Parade in Serbia, its previous unconstitutional ban by the government and security issues. We also discuss recent anti-discrimination and hate speech legislation and their weak implementation in the context of a homophobic Balkan culture. We additionally discuss how recent restrictions on freedom of expression impact the LGBTI community and the need for international solidarity.
For More Info:
- http://www.rs.undp.org/content/dam/serbia/docs/Our%20Projects/SocialInclusion/UNDP_SRB_USAID%20SOW%20Being%20LGBT%20in%20Eastern%20Europe%20Final%20.pdf
- https://www.rferl.org/a/first-gay-pride-information-center-opens-belgrade-serb/28704450.html
- http://www.equaldex.com/region/serbia
- http://www.lgbti-era.org/content/serbia
- https://www.civilrightsdefenders.org/
- http://www.civilrightsdefenders.org/region/serbia/
The Roma, Cultural Relativism, Autonomy and Community Empowerment
Discussion with Danilo Ćurčić on the discrimination and segregation faced by the Roma in Serbia, in particular with respect to employment and housing, including forced evictions from informal Roma settlements. We discuss the need to move away from the discourse of providing humanitarian assistance to the enforcement of human and constitutional rights. We also discuss the conflict in addressing human rights violations within the Roma community while respecting the community’s autonomy and explore issues with the discourse of cultural relativism. Additionally, we discuss the need for community empowerment for the Roma across Europe.
For More Info:
- https://www.praxis.org.rs/index.php/en/praxis-in-action/discrimination/item/426-discrimination-against-roma-living-in-container-settlements-formed-after-forced-evictions
- http://www.unhcr.rs/media/UNHCR_Roma_IDPs_Needs_Assessment.pdf
- http://www.osce.org/mission-to-serbia/309536
- http://www.amnesty.eu/content/assets/Doc2011/Serbia_Roma_Report_070411(2).pdf
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDJ-YtLi2NA
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TsxCxft_h8
- https://www.praxis.org.rs/images/praxis_downloads/Child_Early_and_Forced_Marriages_are_Not_a_Private_Family_Matter.pdf
- https://www.praxis.org.rs/images/praxis_downloads/Protecting_Roma_Against_Discrimination.pdf
- https://www.praxis.org.rs/images/praxis_downloads/Report_right_to_adequate_housing.pdf
- https://www.praxis.org.rs/images/praxis_downloads/praxis-persons-at-risk-of-statelessness-in-serbia.pdf
- https://rs.boell.org/en/2016/11/30/moving-out-poverty-waste-picking-sustainable-mobility
Asylum, Criminal Justice and Media Freedom
Discussion with Nikola Kovačević on the right of asylum in Serbia, the limited acceptance rate and the “ping-pong” currently being played by European countries with refugees. We also discuss criminal justice issues, including the right to counsel, pre-trial detention, the independence of the judiciary and overcrowding and other problems of prison conditions. Additionally, we discuss the impact of recent media privatization and the government’s increasing hostility towards critical investigative journalism. Finally, we discuss government criticism of human rights activists and instilling a vibrant civic culture respecting civil and political rights during prolonged economic turmoil.
For More Info:
- http://www.bgcentar.org.rs/bgcentar/eng-lat/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Human-Rights-in-Serbia-2016.pdf
- http://www.bgcentar.org.rs/bgcentar/eng-lat/right-asylum-republic-serbia-2016/
- http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CCPR/Shared%20Documents/SRB/INT_CCPR_CSS_SRB_26659_E.pdf
- http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-%2f%2fEP%2f%2fTEXT%2bREPORT%2bA8-2017-0063%2b0%2bDOC%2bXML%2bV0%2f%2fEN&language=EN
- http://en.yucom.org.rs/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/YUCOM-2015-Annual-Report.pdf
- http://www.prisonstudies.org/country/serbia
- https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2017/serbia
- https://serbia.mom-rsf.org/en/findings/inidicators/#!9fed61067e34232006ff7dcd0ed479d0
- http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2017/02/06/the-age-of-total-lies/
Exonerating the innocent in northern California
Discussion with Northern California Innocence Project's (NCIP) Linda Starr and Todd Fries on the causes of wrongful conviction in California, including but not limited to problems with eyewitness testimony, preservation of evidence, coerced confessions, paid informants, ineffective assistance of counsel and prosecutorial and police misconduct and mistakes. We discuss policy reform to ameliorate and eradicate the main causes of wrongful convictions. We also discuss the death penalty, parole and compensation for wrongful convictions. Additionally, we discuss the case work and policy advocacy of NCIP and its transformative justice retreats.
For More Info:
- http://law.scu.edu/ncip/causes-of-wrongful-conviction/
- http://law.scu.edu/ncip/policy/
- http://law.scu.edu/ncip/exonerations/
- http://innocencenetwork.org/
- https://www.youtube.com/user/NorCalInnocenceProj
- https://www.instagram.com/norcalinnocence/
- https://twitter.com/NorCalInnocence
The Refugee Situation in Serbia Following Border Closures on the Balkan Route, the Work of Refugee Aid Serbia and Disrupting Hostile Discourse on Displaced Persons
Discussion with Felix Thomson on the refugee situation in Serbia and how it has changed since border closures along the Balkan route severely restricted access to Northern and Western Europe. We discuss the treatment of refugees in Serbia, the issue of unaccompanied children, sexual exploitation, smuggling and current legal avenues still available to enter countries in Northern and Western Europe. We also discuss the contemporary hostile discourse concerning displaced persons in Europe and the need to foster engagement between the local and refugee populations. Additionally, we discuss the humanitarian and educational work of Refugee Aid Serbia and its social engagement work, including the Routes Festivals and its upcoming documentary, The Odyssey Project, that seeks to disrupt the current hostile discourse towards displaced persons and produce a more emphatic, welcoming approach.
For More Info:
- http://reliefweb.int/report/serbia/unhcr-serbia-update-22-28-may-2017
- http://azil.rs/en/refugee-situation-in-serbia-in-june-2017/
- https://refugeeaidserbia.org/
- https://odysseyvanproject.com/
- https://www.youcaring.com/refugeeappeal-853380
- https://twitter.com/odysseyvanpro
- https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/crd0510_brochure_low_0.pdf
The Double Standard in U.S. Labor Laws That Fails to Protect Children Working in Agriculture
Discussion with Zama Neff on the double standard in U.S. Federal and State labor laws which allows for children at younger ages to work in agriculture and provides them less protections in their working conditions. We discuss the type of agricultural work children are employed in, the effects of the long and strenuous work on their education and the potential for chronic injury resulting from their use of dangerous machinery and pesticide exposure. We also discuss the particular hazard faced by children employed in tobacco farming. Additionally, we discuss the demographic of child laborers and the problems undocumented migrant workers may face with enforcement of current labor laws. We further discuss American agricultural exceptionalism and the failure to close the gap for children working in agriculture and provide them equal protections. Finally, we discuss how we can close the gap legally as well as practically by affecting company behavior through consumer action.
For More Info:
- https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/crd0510_brochure_low_0.pdf
- https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/12/09/teens-tobacco-fields/child-labor-united-states-tobacco-farming
- https://www.dol.gov/whd/state/agriemp2.htm
- https://www.congress.gov/bill/112th-congress/house-bill/2234/cosponsors
- https://campaignforchildren.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2011/06/CAREAct.pdf
- https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/974
- https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/1848
- http://afop.org/cif/#tab-id-2
- https://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/whd/WHD20111250.htm
- http://www.floc.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/A-Smokescreen-for-Slavery-Human-Rights-Abuses-in-the-Supply-Chains-of-UK-Tobacco-Companies.pdf
Holding the IFC Accountable for Aiding and Abetting Murder and Terrorization of Honduran Farmers and Financing the Pollution of the Kutch Coast in India
Discussion with Marco Simons on Doe v. IFC in which the IFC is alleged to have knowingly profited from financing the murder and terrorization of Honduran farmers by Dinant, a land grabbing palm corporation. We also discuss Jam v. IFC and the IFC's alleged negligence and failure to abide by its own internal procedures in financing a coal power plant in Gujarat, India, that has resulted in dire environmental consequences and impeded the local community's traditional way of life. Additionally, we look at the structure and mandate of the IFC and its lack of accountability. We also discuss the legal and policy issues concerning the IFC's claim of immunity in these matters and the importance of holding our international organizations accountable.
For More Info:
- http://www.courthousenews.com/
- ifc_tata_mundra_complaint.pdf
- https://www.earthrights.org/node/2686
- https://www.earthrights.org/media/honduran-farmers-sue-world-bank-group-human-rights-violations
- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/honduran-farmers-to-the-world-bank-group-see-you
- https://www.earthrights.org/blog/north-east-south-west-palm-oil-kills-around-globe
- http://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/2014/01/ifc-fails-act-human-rights-abuses-honduras/
- http://www.worldbank.org/en/about/leadership/votingpowers
- https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/mar/08/farmers-sue-world-bank-lending-arm-ifc-over-alleged-violence-in-honduras
- http://lta.reuters.com/
- http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Honduran-Campesinos-Take-World-Bank-to-Court-for-Financing-Murder-and-Terror follow #exposeIFC thread on Twitter
Selection Bias, Confirmation Bias and the Feedback Loop of Predictive Policing Algorithms, the Black Box Problem of Proprietary Algorithms and Lack of Accountability
Discussion with Kristian Lum and William Isaac on how machine learning algorithms work and how seemingly neutral police data can perpetuate systemic and institutional prejudices and produce predictive systems that predict police enforcement rather than future crime. We explore the creation and conclusions of their Oakland case study on the bias of police data sets and how selection bias can produce confirmation bias and a feedback loop, leading to over-policing of communities already overexposed to police activity. We also discuss the lack of transparency and accountability of the current proprietary predictive models and best practices for input data and implementation of predictive systems into future police work.
For More Info:
- https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/policing/spotlight/2016/12/02/predictive-policing-violates-more-than-protects-column/94569912
- http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1740-9713.2016.00960.x/full
- https://www.teamupturn.com/reports/2016/stuck-in-a-pattern
- https://www.nij.gov/topics/law-enforcement/strategies/predictive-policing/Pages/welcome.aspx
- http://directives.chicagopolice.org/directives/data/a7a57bf0-1456faf9-bfa14-570a-a2deebf33c56ae59.html
- http://www.law.nyu.edu/bernstein-institute/conference-2016
- https://mathbabe.org
- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/predictive-policing-reform_us_57c6ffe0e4b0e60d31dc9120
- http://www.theverge.com/2014/2/19/5419854/the-minority-report-this-computer-predicts-crime-but-is-it-racist
Jailing Children for Failure to Pay Administrative Fees and Costs, Life without Parole, Solitary Confinement, Juvenile Sex Offender Registration, Expungement of Juvenile Records and the "Kids for Cash" Tragedy
Discussion with Marsha Levick on the various administrative fees and costs imposed by the juvenile justice system and the practice of incarcerating impecunious youth. We discuss the institutional racism of the juvenile criminal justice system with youth of colour more likely to be convicted and more likely to be sentenced to detention than their white peers. We also discuss the reprehensible practices of sentencing juveniles to life without parole and the use of solitary confinement. We further discuss hurdles associated with the expungement of juvenile records, transfers to the adult criminal justice system and issues associated with the registration of juvenile sex offenders. Additionally, we discuss the tragedy in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania of the bribery of judicial officials by the owner of a private detention facility to increase the number of children being sent there and the length of their stay.
For More Info:
- http://www.expungephiladelphia.com/
- America’s Juvenile Injustice System | Marsha Levick | TEDx
- http://debtorsprison.jlc.org/documents/JLC-Debtors-Prison.pdf
- http://www.sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Racial-Disparities-in-Youth-Commitments-and-Arrests.pdf
- http://jlc.org/luzerne-county-kids-cash-scandal
- https://chronicleofsocialchange.org/news-2/california-bill-to-end-crippling-administrative-fees-for-juveniles-in-the-justice-system/25522
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB190
- http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/kalief-browder-1993-2015
- http://www.takepart.com/feature/2014/05/09/skip-school-go-to-jail
Canadian Aboriginal and Treaty Rights and the Duty to Consult, Environmental Deregulation and the Environmental and Human Rights Footprint of the Tar Sands
Discussion with Robert Janes and Karey Brooks on the environmental, climate and human rights footprint on the Alberta tar sands, in particular its impact on indigenous rights. We discuss the Beaver Lake Cree First Nation’s claims against the Alberta and Canadian governments for infringement of their treaty rights as a result of the cumulative development of the tar sands and ancillary projects. We further discuss the rise in treaty rights and aboriginal title cases in Canada and their impact on environmental law in Canada, including discussing the Mikisew First Nation’s claims against the Canadian government for deregulating various environmental laws without consulting First Nations. We also discuss the successful legal claims by the Gixtaala against the Northern Gateway Pipeline, the potential impact of the Kinder-Morgan and Keystone Pipelines and the importance and utility of grassroots action outside of the court room.
For More Info:
- https://raventrust.com/tar-sands-trial/
- http://www.beaverlakecreenation.ca/upload/documents/statementofclaim.pdf
- http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view.php?id=76559
- https://www.desmogblog.com/top-10-facts-canada-alberta-oil-sands-informatio
- http://www.nationalobserver.com/2016/02/04/news/scientists-trace-cancer-linked-pollutant-oil-sands-stockpile
- https://www.nrdc.org/stories/dirty-fight-over-canadian-tar-sands-oi
- https://www.desmogblog.com/2016/12/21/justin-trudeau-donald-trump-keystone-xl-exxon-tar-sand
- http://wcel.org/sites/default/files/publications/Legal%20comment%20on%20Save%20the%20Fraser%20Declaration.pd
- https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/06/26/supreme_court_grants_land_title_to_bc_first_nation_in_landmark_case.html
- http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/fct/doc/2014/2014fc1244/2014fc1244.html
John Doe et. al. v Nestle et. al., Forced Child Labour in the Cacao Industry, the Alien Tort Claims Act, Koibel and Corporate Accountability for Human Rights Abuses
Discussion with Terry Collingsworth on John Doe et. al. v Nestle et. al, the prevalence of child slavery in the cacao industry in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire and the assistance provided to farms that enslave children by confectionary conglomerates. We also discuss the history and jurisprudence of the Alien Tort Claims Act (or Alien Tort Statute/ATS), its potential to hold corporations accountable for human rights violations and the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision in Koibel on the future of ATS litigation against corporate human rights abuses. Additionally, we discuss corporate accountability under international human rights law and the feasibility of establishing an international instrument for corporate accountability in the current political climate. We also look at the feasibility of consumer class actions as an avenue of human rights litigation and the effectiveness of public campaigns and consumer boycotts against corporate human right abusers.
For More Info:
- Nestle Class Action Lawsuit
- iradvocates.org
- truthinadvertising.org/McCoy-v-Nestle-complaint.pdf
- http://childlaborcocoa.org/
- https://www.dol.gov/ilab/issues/child-labor/cocoa/
- http://childlaborcocoa.org/images/
- https://www.youtube.com
- https://www.truthinadvertising.org
- http://www.rugmarkindia.org/rugmark/index.htm
Cultural Genocide, Water Protectors and Oil
Discussion with Martin Wagner on the human rights violations associated with the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Standing Rock Sioux, Cheyenne River Sioux and the Yankton Sioux’s petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. We discuss the environmental impact of the construction of the pipeline and potential oil spills as well as the cultural impact on the Sioux tribes, including the destruction of spiritual and sacred sites. We further discuss U.S. legal obligations under international human rights law as well as relief under domestic law. We also discuss the water protectors at Sacred Stones’ Camp, police violence and media intimidation and the future of the pipeline under the impending Trump administration.
For More Info:
- Standing Rock - Cheyenne River - Yankton Sioux Tribes - Request for Precautionary Measures
- http://www.ohchr.org/
- http://earthjustice.org/
- http://earthjustice.org/
- http://earthjustice.org/
- https://www.democracynow.org/breaking_riot_charges_against_amy_goodman
- http://standwithstandingrock.net/sioux-tribal-chairman-responds-governors-executive-order/
- https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/
- http://www.commondreams.org/
State Hacking, Cyber Surveillance and Targeted Killings Within the Digital Panopticon
Discussion with Scott Gilmore regarding the human rights implications of technology, including cyber surveillance of human rights activists and journalists and state authorized hacks. We discuss the legal and policy issues respecting Western companies selling technology to states that are known as pervasive human rights abusers and holding foreign states accountable for cyber surveillance and hacking of their dissidents on U.S. soil through the tort exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. Additionally, we discuss Syria’s Electronic Army, its avowed crusade against the media, both foreign and domestic and Scott’s current suit against Syria under the terrorism exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act for the targeted killing of war correspondent Marie Colvin in 2012. We also discuss the benefits of technology for social activism and human rights investigations and prosecutions.
For More Info:
- http://hrlr.law.columbia.edu
- https://www.justsecurity.org/
- https://www.law.cornell.edu
- http://surveillance.rsf.org
- https://citizenlab.org
- http://www.thewire.com
- http://www.thewire.com/
- http://www.theatlantic.com/
- http://www.alternet.org/
- http://www.slate.com/
- https://www.eff.org/
- https://www.eff.org/
- http://motherboard.vice.com/
- http://www.humanrightsfirst.org
Art, Activism, Water Shut Offs, School Closures, Detroit's Restructuring, Urban Redevelopment as Code for Racial Discrimination, Community Cooperation and Urban Farming
Discussion with artist and activist Antonio Cosme concerning his prosecution by the recently established Detroit Graffiti Task Force for writing “Free the Water” on a decommissioned water tower to protest the continuing water shut offs occurring in his neighborhood. We discuss the water shut offs and school closures and their impact on the community as well as the overall impact and reasons for Detroit’s restructuring, which has disproportionality affected the city’s black population. Additionally, we discuss the city’s diversion of overstretched resources to fund policing of water shut offs and prevent political graffiti and other protest. We also discuss the revitalization of the community and urban space through urban farming and the production of local, organic produce.
For More Info:
- http://freethewater313.org/
- https://vimeo.com/132829920
- http://ncac.org/blog/detroit-artists-face-felony-charges-for-protest-graffiti
- https://soundcloud.com/soufy313/pay-to-be-poisoned-ft-zebra-octobra-lisa-brunk-prod-by-native-keyz
- http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2016/06/29/judge-tosses-case-against-street-artist-shepard-fairey-city-appeal/86523206/
- http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=15188
- http://www.naacpldf.org/files/case_issue/LYDA,%20et%20al.%20v.%20Detroit-Brief%20in%20Support%20of%20Plaintiffs'%20Motion%20for%20Temporary%20Restraining%20Order.pdf
- http://www.mchr.org/2015/03/congressional-briefing-on-water-in-detroit-and-us-stories-of-shutoffs-and-possible-solutions/
- http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/special-features/2014/08/140822-detroit-michigan-water-shutoffs-great-lakes/
- http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-detroit-fees-idUSBRE9AK01S20131121
- http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/detroit-bankruptcy/2014/11/12/duggan-bankruptcy-fees/18889949/
The U.N.'s Egregious Negligence in Causing the Cholera Epidemic in Haiti and its Refusal to Accept Responsibility and Provide Redress and the Legal and Political Issues Surrounding the U.N.'s Assertion of Diplomatic Immunity
Discussion with Brian Concannon Jr. on the U.N.'s actions in causing, covering up and refusing to accept responsibility for the cholera epidemic in Haiti. We discuss the legal and policy issues behind the U.N.'s diplomatic immunity, including the Second Circuit's decision in Georges et. al. v. the U.N., the U.N. Charter, the 1946 Convention of the Privileges and Immunities of the U.N. and the Status of Forces Agreement with Haiti. We also discuss the U.N.'s obligations under the Convention and the Status of Forces Agreement and its refusal to perform its obligations of providing redress in Haiti and throughout its other peacekeeping missions. Additionally, we look at the application of customary international law and international human rights law to the U.N.'s actions, the problems of limiting standing to member states dependent on the U.N. for the U.N.'s violations as well as issues respecting the accountability of foreign N.G.O.s on the ground in Haiti and best practices for the future. Brian Concannon, Jr., is a human rights attorney and represents the plaintiffs in Georges et. al. v the U.N. He has represented numerous plaintiffs in front of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights as well as aided the prosecution of the Raboteau massacre. Brian is currently the Executive Director of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH). Before founding IJDH, Brian co-managed the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI) and worked for the United Nations as a Human Rights Officer. He is a member of the Editorial Board of Health and Human Rights.
World Bank and IMF SAPS, Water Privatization, Public-Private and Public-Public Partnerships, Cochambabinos' Resistance, North-South Cooperaton and South-South Solidarity
Discussion with Marcela Olivera on water privatization and resistance in South America and the establishment of public-public partnerships for community owned and organized water services. We discuss the water privatization conditions tied to World Bank and IMF loans, the Cochabambinos' victory over the privatization of their water services by Bechtel, the Bechtel suit against Bolivia in the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes and the success of North-South cooperation in imposing public pressure on Bechtel to drop the suit. We also discuss South American constitutonal amendments recognizing a right to water, grassroots action to solidify such rights and South-South solidarity, as well as the challenges and successes of autonomous water sourcing by different communites in South America. Marcela Olivera was one of the leaders of Coodiadora de Defense de Agua y la Vida leading the Cochabambinos’ resistance to Bechtel and helped develop the Red Vida citizens’ network as part of her work with the Water for All Campaign for Food and Water Watch, which aims to establish community owned and operated water servies throughout South America.
For More Info:
- http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/corporate/HDR/2006%20Global%20HDR/HDR-2006-Beyond%20scarcity-Power-poverty-and-the-global-water-crisis.pdf
- http://www.commondreams.org/views/2009/06/20/thirst-profit-corporate-control-water-latin-america
- https://www.globalpolicy.org/social-and-economic-policy/global-public-goods-1-101/46052-the-struggle-for-latin-americas-water.html
- https://depts.washington.edu/chid/intersections_Spring_2012/Thomas_Coleman_Water_Conflicts_in_Latin_America_and_Water_Law.pdf
- http://www.bafg.de/GRDC/EN/01_GRDC/13_dtbse/database_node.html
- http://www.alternet.org/story/84145/latin_america%3A_why_there's_a_water_crisis_in_the_most_water-rich_region
- http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2007/ClimateChangeinLatinAmerica.aspx
- https://www.icij.org/projects/waterbarons/promoting-privatization
Drought, surface and groundwater in California, the Human Right to Water Act, the environmental impact of the Delta Tunnels Project and Center for Biological Diversity, Nestle's water permit in the San Bernardino National Forest.
Discussion with Courtney A. Davis about the impact and severity of the drought and the legal and regulatory framework respecting the allocation of surface and groundwater in California, the Human Right to Water Act, the environmental impact of the Delta Tunnels Project and Center for Biological Diversity et. al. v United States Forest Service et. al. respecting Nestle's permit for diverting and transmitting water from the West Fork of Strawberry Creek in the San Bernardino National Forest. Courtney A. Davis is an Associate with Allen & Matkins practicing water, land use and energy law. Courtney's water practice includes regulatory compliance, water rights permitting and basin management planning.
For More Info:
- http://www.communitywatercenter.org/state_water_board_adopts_resolution
- http://www.communitywatercenter.org/human_right_to_water
- http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/public_lands/pdfs/NestleComplaint_10-13-2015.pdf
- http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/
- http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Home/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?CA
- http://waterinthewest.stanford.edu/groundwater/overview/index.html#chapter-1
- http://www.stopthetunnels.org/about/
- https://www.propublica.org/article/as-one-of-its-chief-sources-of-water-dries-up-california-eases-restrictions
The Contamination of Flint's Water, the Plight of Undocumented Immigrants and Emergency Financial Managers in Michigan.
Discussion with San Juana "Juani" Olivares on the water supply in Flint, Michigan, which had its water contaminated by lead, bacteria and carcinogenic disinfection byproducts with a focus on the particular effects on the non-English speaking Hispanic-Latino community and undocumented immigrants, who were and still are the worst affected. Juani is the first President of the Genesee County Hispanic Latino Collaborative which serves the immigrant Hispanic-Latino communities of Flint and surrounding Genesee County. She is also the President of the Hispanic Technology and Community Center of Greater Flint, a committee member for Small Neighborhood Grants at the Community Foundation of Greater Flint and a board member of Michigan Alianza Latina para Mejoramiento y Avance (MiALMA). POST SCRIPT: While this interview concerns Flint, Michigan, many municipalities in the United States expose the population to harmful concentrations of lead through contaminated drinking water, paint and soil and require major infrustructure improvements to alleviate this crisis.
For More Info:
https://www.crowdrise.com/watercrisisinflint
http://www.gchlc.org/
http://flintwaterstudy.org
https://www.c-span.org/video/?404078-1/hearing-contaminated-drinking-water-flint-michigan
http://www.ecowatch.com/these-33-cities-cheated-on-lead-contamination-tests-similar-to-flint-m-1891160461.html
https://www.edf.org/health/lead-pipes-threat-kids-across-america
http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2016/06/dozens_of_portland_schools_had.html
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/02/flint-lead-poisoning-america-toxic-crisis
https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/2631/text
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/s2588/summary
http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/human_right_to_water.shtml
International Environmental Law and Environmental Hazards of the Nicaragua Canal.
Discussion with Professor Daniel Magraw on the environmental consequences of the Nicaragua Canal, which planned path will cut through some of the most biologically diverse areas in the world as well as Central America's largest freshwater lake, Lake Nicaragua, the country's main freshwater supply. We will also look at whether Nicaragua is violating its obligations under international law, including numerous environmental treaties it is a party to in developing the canal through such biologically diverse territory and for failing to provide an adequate environmental impact assessment of the consequences of its construction. Daniel teaches international environmental law at John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and has previously taught at the University of Colorado, the University of California, Berkeley and Georgetown University Law Center. Before joining SAIS faculty, Daniel was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Center for Environmental Law (CIEL) and continues to work on substantive matters with CIEL. Before joining CIEL, Daniel was the Director of the International Environmental Law Office at the U.S. Environment Protection Agency. Daniel lectures extensively on international environmental law, has written numerous articles and books on the subject and regularly consults with the UN, including serving as an expert adviser to UNEP on the Montevideo IV Programme of Action for the Development of Environmental Law and as an expert on UNEP’s project on access to justice.
For More Info:
- http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/new-canal-through-central-america-could-have-devastating-consequences-180953394/?no-ist
- http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?p1=3&p2=3&case=152
- http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?p1=3&p2=3&case=150
- https://www.proyectoallas.net/documents/161716/190300/Executive+Summary+of+the+Study+GCIN+-+English-1.pdf/4bb1dfb6-b3b6-48ff-897e-07cdf2ee9c27
- https://treaties.un.org/
Forced Sterilization, the Work of the International Justice Resource Center and the Election of the New U.N. Secretary General.
Discussion with Lisa Reinsberg on the incidence of forced sterilization throughout the Americas and around the world and the International Justice Resource Center's (IJRC) petition in I.V. v Bolivia to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights arguing for the need of a reformulation of forced sterilization as an autonomous core human rights violation with a need for positive measures imposed upon medical staff to ensure proper consent is provided for any sterilization procedure. We also discuss the new election process of the U.N. Secretary General. Lisa is the Executive Director of the IJRC. Before founding the IJRC, Lisa was an attorney with Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts and Rómulo Gallegos fellow at the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights where she worked on complaints of torture, extra-judicial executions and violations of criminal due process. Earlier, she represented people seeking asylum in the United States at the Cabrini Center for Immigrant Legal Assistance of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. POST SCRIPT: Pedro Pablo Kuczynski has been elected Peru’s President and will take office on July 28, 2016. The United Nations Security Council will begin deliberations on the new Secretary General on July 21, 2016. The September 23, 2016 training session for “The Human Rights of Migrants: Challenges and Opportunities in California” is now available for registration.
Health Impacts of Crowd Control Weapons Increasingly Used by Police and Security Forces Around the World.
Discussion with Dr. Rohini J. Haar on the main crowd control weapons used by police and security forces and their health impacts and potential lethality. We also discuss the insufficiency of police training in the use of weapons and insufficient regulation of their manufacture leading to unintended injuries, as well as police abuse of weapons. Additionally, we look at the absence of conflict management training of police forces and their increased militarization, increased restrictions on the right to peaceful assembly throughout the world and whether weapons aimed at crowds can ever de-escalate a situation. Rohini co-authored “Lethal in Disguise”, the first paper assessing the injurious effects of crowd control weapons and presented the report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva. Dr. Haar is a research fellow at the Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley where she teaches a multidisciplinary course on Health and Human Rights. Dr. Haar is also part of the clinical faculty at the Department of Emergency Medicine at Highland General Hospital and the Kaiser Medical Center in Oakland, California.
For More Info:
- Lethal in Disguise: The Health Consequences of Crowd-Control Weapons
- Practical Recommendations For The Management Of Assemblies
TRAPS, the Hyde Amendment, Criminalization of Self-Induced Abortion and Increasing Restrictions on Reproductive Rights in the United States.
Discussion with Jill E. Adams and Melissa Mikesell on Whole Women's Health v Hellerstedt and the constitutionality and impact of TRAPS (targeted regulations of abortion providers) and increasing criminalization of self-induced abortion. We also look at increased violence at clinics, parental consent laws and the particular plight of indigent women resulting from family welfare caps on the one hand and the Hyde Amendment and Harris v McRae on the other, as well as discussing their constitutionality. Additionally, we discuss the patriarchial basis of the denial of reproductive rights to women. Jill is the founding Executive Director of the Center for Reproductive Rights and Justice at Berkeley Law, an organization dedicated to advancing reproductive rights. She is the Executive Editor of “Cases on Reproductive Rights and Justice”, the first legal textbook on reproductive rights and serves as advisor to numerous reproductive rights associations, including being the Vice President of the California Coalition for Reproductive Freedom and Board Treasurer of Reproductive Health Technologies Project. Melissa is the Center’s Supervising Attorney and the Director of the Self-Induced Abortion Legal Team. Before joining the Center, Melissa was the Senior Counsel and West Coast Director of Alliance for Justice. Her legal practice includes advocacy for clients in reproductive, social, economic and environmental justice as well as campaign compliance.
For More Info:
- SIA Legal Team Primer,
- SIA Legal Team Brochure
- SIA Legal Team Infographic
- Harris v. McRae law journal article
- Welfare family caps issue brief
Human Rights Violations of Nicaraguan Indigenous and Afro-Caribbean Communities in the Expropriation of Their Ancestral Lands for the Development of an Environmentally Disastrous Canal Linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through Nicaragua.
Discussion with Professor Thomas Antkowiak on the development of the Nicaragua Canal which would link the Pacific and Atlantic oceans through Nicaragua and the concessions provided to the Chinese company HKND over the traditional lands of Afro-Caribbean communities without their informed consent and in denial of their human rights. We discuss their pending petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, indigenious rights as interepreted by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and their development in international law. Thomas teaches international public law and international human rights law at Seattle University's Law School. He is the Director of its Latin America Program and its International Human Rights Clinic and is currently arguing on behalf of Nicaragua's indigenous and Afro-Caribbean communities in various human rights fora, including submitting their petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Thomas’s previous positions include being the Senior Attorney at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of the Organization of American States and Director of the Access to Justice Program at the Due Process of Law Foundation.
For More Info:
- International Human Rights Clinic joins fight to stop Nicaragua canal
- Rights, Resources, and Rhetoric: Indigenous Peoples and the Inter-American Court
Lack of Affordable Housing and the Criminalization of Homelessness and Food Sharing Throughout the United States.
Discussion with Eric Tars respecting the lack of affordable housing and incidence of homelessness throughout the United States, the criminalization of homelessness and food sharing in numerous counties and the constitutionality and impact of these laws. We also discuss housing as a human right, the particular effects of homelessness on children and the need for more effective public policy measures to ensure adequate housing for all. Eric is the Senior Attorney of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, an organization dedicated to ending homelessness in the United States through policy advocacy, public education, impact litigation and advocacy training and support. Eric’s work focuses on human rights and children’s rights programs. He currently serves as the Chair of the US Human Rights Network’s training committee and on the Steering Committee of the Human Rights at Home Campaign. Eric's previous work includes being a Fellow with the Global Rights’ U.S. Racial Discrimination Program and consultation with Columbia University Law School’s Human Rights Institute and the US Human Rights Network.
For More Info:
- National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty - Materials
- TNational Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty - Human Rights Resources
- National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty - Reports
Curtailment of Freedom of Expression, Political Opposition and Advocacy in Russia.
Discussion with Bach Avezdjanov on human rights violations and restrictions on political opposition in Russia. We discuss the use of the Foreign Agents Law to shut down “undesirable NGOs” working for human rights advocacy, restrictions on media, including limitation of foreign ownership and the “two strikes and you are out" rule, subjecting bloggers to registration and control as media entities, the use of the Anti-Extremism Law to discriminate against religious minorities, the “Gay Propaganda” Law and increasing discrimination and violence against LGBT people, increased restrictions on public assembly, Russia's increasingly strained relationship with the European Court of Human Rights, the future of Russian grassroots activism and opposition to Putin. Bach is currently the Program Officer for Columbia's Global Freedom of Expression initiative which seeks to advance freedom of expression globally, monitors changing international and domestic laws on freedom of expression and maintains a database of global freedom of expression case law. Bach previously worked for Freedom House and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Kyrgyzstan where his work focused on torture prevention and strengthening public assembly, minority and women’s rights. Bach has also worked with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Sudan where he monitored and protected the rights of refugees.
For More Info:
- The Prosecutor General of Moscow v. The Russian Consumer Rights Protection Society
- The Case of “Prayers to God: its purpose and place in Islam” book
- First activist jailed for breaching public assembly rules in Russia
Health and Human Rights, Their Intersection with Trade Law and the Work of the Lawyers Collective.
Discussion with Gabriel Armas-Cardona on health and human rights, including justiciabiility, enforcement, access to medicine and intersection with trade law. We also look at the work of the Lawyers Collective, an Indian legal organization that runs a global health and human rights database and litigates in the service of health and human rights, including access to medicine.Gabriel is a human rights lawyer that has worked for the Armenian Human Rights Ombudsman and was a Legal Officer at the Lawyers Collective where he helped run its global health and human rights database.
For More Info:
- Articles
- @GArmasCardona
A Critical Look at the Antiquated Immigration System of the United States.
Discussion with Jasmin Singh and Amanda Emerson on asyulum, refugees, undocumented workers and employment law violations and state action on immigration. Jasmin is an immigration at Arrufat Garcia, PLLC and has presented immigration issues on several radio stations, including La Mega FM, Amor FM and WADO AM. Amanda is an immigration attorney with Yarden Law Group, LLC.
International Food Security and Developments in Permaculture.
Discussion with Mark Notaras on increasing international food security from our growing population, increased meat consumption around the world, climate change, soil erosion, depleted freshwater resources and the unsustainable practices of Big Ag. We also look at issues of international conflict between riparian countries and the possibilities for greater international cooperation in management of shared resources, advancements in permaculture and its current application in Timor-Leste and ways to change our food habits for a sustainble future and greater food security. Mark is an Agricultural Training Designer at Development Associates International and currently works for the Dezenvolve Agricultural Comunitária project in Timor-Leste to develop the horticulture value chain and improve the livelihood of its famers. Mark has previously worked with several NGOs as well as with AUSAID for both sustainable development agricultural projects as well as conflict prevention. He was previously a researcher at the Institute of Peace & Sustainability at the United Nations University in Tokyo and the editor of its publication, Our World, from 2009 through 2012.
For More Info:
- Our World
Gender Based Crime in Haiti and the Work of the Rape Accountability and Prevention Project.
Discussion with Meena Jagannath on gender based voilence in Haiti, its socio-economic contex, the legal and institutional obstacles in obtaining convictions and the work of the Rape Accountability and Prevention Project. Meena was a legal fellow at the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI) and coordinator of its Rape Accountability and Prevention Project from April 2011 through September 2012 for which she directed legal representation as well as national and international advocacy and organization of women’s grassroots groups in Haiti. Meena worked as a Staff Attorney for the Community Justice Project of Florida Legal Services in Miami before she co-founded the Community Justice Project in 2015 which advocates for racial and economic justice both through litigation and capacity building for grassroots organizing.
For More Info:
- Truth Out.org
- AlterNet
- Common Dreams.org