Defending the Defenders: Building an Advocacy and Scholarship Agenda to Protect Clinic Partners and Allies from Reprisals

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Session Type: Workshop

Session Capacity: N/A

Location: N/A

Room: Harborside Ballroom B

Floor: Fourth Floor

This workshop will examine the responsibilities of clinics partnering with human rights defenders and movements facing threats and reprisals. According to the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, “Human rights defender” (HRD) is “a term used to describe people who, individually or with others, act to promote or protect human rights in a peaceful manner.” All over the world—including in the United States—human rights defenders face threats, criminalization and judicialization (including Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation), stigmatization, surveillance, and violent reprisals for their activism. Many law school clinics partner with human rights defenders who may be facing significant risk in connection to their advocacy. This workshop will create an opportunity for clinicians to think together about how to leverage our institutional positionality and resources to defend human rights defenders. During the workshop, we will examine the responsibilities of clinics partnering with human rights defenders and movements facing threats and reprisals. Questions to be explored include: At 25 years since the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, what is the state of global recognition and guarantee of the right to defend rights? How can clinics help defend partners at risk? What strategies have clinics adopted and what new strategies may be employed? How should clinics balance rapid response with long term objectives? What role can and should clinics and students play in rapid response work? What role can and should clinics and students play in longer term and more systemic advocacy addressing violence against defenders and social movements, including documentation, reporting, campaigns, and policy advocacy? How can we build a collaborative scholar-activist agenda that contributes towards improving protection for human rights defenders and social movements?