Musings on law, tech, chess & other topics by a geek

Legal systems exist to enable other systems to deliver basic human rights – Don Horowitz:

Access is key to this project not just access to the first world but also access to the people in Rwanda and to the rest of the world – Batya Friedman

After opening remarks we viewed a short clip from a one of the early UN investigators followed by a discussion of the multiple interperations and communities can .  10,000 people a day died in the 1994 genocide, ending with a total of nearly 800,00 deaths.  The genocide also created an enormity refugee problem.

Next there was short clip from Washington Supreme Court Justice Robert Utter disscussing the impact on international law.

A little more about the project 10 people from the Seattle legal and academic community left in September and spent 4 weeks in Rwanda collecting 70 to 80 hours of interviews.  49 interview were conducted during these weeks.  They started the interviews with 3 questions Where where you in 1994? When and how did you hear about the genocide?  When did you chose to join the Genocide Tribunal?

This was the first Genocide tribunal to recognize rape as a form of genocide.  Unfortunately with limited resources the crime of rape was the first charge that was dropped.

The nest set of clips brought up a very difficult problem, one of the witness a lawyer was working with ran into a tough ethical and professional issue problem:

Lawyer: are you ready to go forward and testiy?

Witness: I have one problem?

Lawyer: What is the problem?

Witness: I never told my husband I was raped.

Lawyer: Why did you not tell your husband?

Witness: If I told my husband I would not have a husband.

How do you deal with this ethical issue, do you risk her family and home to prosecute genocide?

“Judges don’t give blessings they need blessing to do justice” – Don Horowitz

One of the the interviews, with an Assistant UN General, pointed out that lots of resources have been spent on the criminals but very few resources have been spent on the victims. Furthermore our mission is not complete until we help the victims.

Note: The “s are paraphrase for main points not exact quotes

I just launched a new website for the Seattle Human Rights Network.  It is a simple wordpress site with several student bloggers.  Please check it out and send me feedback.

Most Recent Post:

Urgent Action Needed- Stop the Execution of Troy Davis

September 20, 2008 @ 4:21 pm · Filed under Action Item, Death Penalty

The State of Georgia is scheduled to execute Troy Anthony Davis on September 23, despite strong evidence suggesting his innocence.  There is no physical evidence against Mr. Davis, no weapon has been found,  and the entire case against him was based on witness testimony.

Seven out of nine of the witnesses who testified against Mr. Davis have recanted their testimony, many stating that they were pressured or coerced to testify against Mr. Davis.  Multiple witnesses have said that one of the two witnesses who has not changed his testimony, Sylvester “Redd” Coles, has admitted to the killing.

To date, no federal court has reviewed the evidence against Mr. Davis.  The United States Supreme Court is scheduled to make a decision on whether to hear Mr. Davis’ appeal on September 29th: 6 days after he is executed.

On September 12th, the Board of Clemency denied clemency for Mr. Davis, even after stating last year that they would “not allow an execution to proceed in this State unless and until its members are convinced that there is no doubt as to the guilt of the accused.”

Seattle University faculty member Rob Smith is in Georgia gathering evidence to support a stay of Mr. Davis’s execution.  More information will be posted about this case in the coming days, but your urgent action is needed to ensure that Georgia does not wrongly execute Mr. Davis.

Click here to contact the Board of Clemency and urge them to reconsider their decision.

Click here to learn more about the case of Troy Davis

More about the Seattle Human Right Network:
The Seattle Human Rights Network is an independent student led organization that focuses on activism in the area of international human rights law. The network promotes human rights activism and awareness by organizing or sponsoring forums, debates, films and inviting guest speakers. The Seattle Human Rights Network also works actively to build the local human rights community through education and outreach.

Disclaimer: I am a proud Board member of the Seattle Human Rights Network.