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Research Programs

Human Rights Program

  • On DACA, questions top answers

    On DACA, questions top answers

    September 19, 2017

    Jason Corral, staff attorney, Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical program, participated in a panel discussion at Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics on the Trump administration's recent announcement that it intended to upend the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals program.

  • Crowd of international children

    A Professor’s Portfolio

    August 7, 2017

    For more than a half-century at HLS, Professor Emeritus Henry Steiner ’55 has focused on international human rights, including as the founder of the school’s Human Rights Program; he has also focused his camera on countries around the world, and is now sharing his deep passion for photography in a new book, “Eyeing the World.”

  • Outside of the Adams Courthouse, Boston

    In Crimmigration Clinic victory, Supreme Judicial Court rules state law enforcement lacks ‘detainer’ authority

    August 1, 2017

    In a victory for Harvard Law School’s Crimmigration Clinic, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled that state authorities cannot detain someone for a U.S. immigration violation based solely on a Detainer.

  • A Disarming Leader: Docherty recognized for contributions to human rights 2

    A Disarming Leader: Docherty recognized for contributions to human rights

    July 19, 2017

    Over the course of her career, as Bonnie Docherty ’01 has emerged as an international expert on civilian protection in armed conflict, she has also mentored scores of clinical students, from field researchers in conflict zones to advocates inside the halls of the U.N. in Geneva.

  • inside of NW Corner Building at Harvard Law School

    Human Rights Clinic calls on ICC to investigate Chiquita Brands for complicity in crimes against humanity

    May 23, 2017

    On May 18, on behalf of affected Colombian communities, a coalition of human rights groups including the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School called on the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the complicity of executives at Chiquita Brands International in crimes against humanity.

  • Mana Azarmi '17 in London

    Mana Azarmi wins CLEA’s Outstanding Clinical Student Award

    May 22, 2017

    Mana Azarmi ’17 is the winner of the Outstanding Clinical Student Award from the Clinical Legal Education Association (CLEA) of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), presented annually to one student from each law school for his/her outstanding clinical coursework and contributions to the clinical community.

  • Anna Crowe portrait

    Stuck in legal limbo

    February 24, 2017

    Anna Crowe, clinical instructor at Harvard Law School's Human Rights Program, traveled to Jordan to interview Syrian refugees about the difficulties of obtaining legal documentation and the precarious existence of living and traveling without papers.

  • In the wake of executive orders restricting immigration, HLS clinic provides legal support and advocacy

    February 1, 2017

    The Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program has been addressing the legal concerns of Harvard students, faculty, staff, and individuals affected in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts by recent executive action on immigration.

  • Top view of a student walking across a snowy campus filled with footprints in the snow

    Harvard Law School: 2016 in review

    December 22, 2016

    A look back at 2016, highlights of the people who visited, events that took place and everyday life at Harvard Law School.

  • Henry Steiner: Eyeing the World

    Henry Steiner: Eyeing the World

    December 16, 2016

    Professor Emeritus Henry J. Steiner recently spoke to a standing room only crowd at Harvard Law School about his new book 'Eyeing the World,' which features photos taken by Steiner, a human rights scholar and the founder of the law school’s Human Rights Program, over the last 50 years during his travels around the world.

  • Mary Robinson

    Another ‘Angry Granny’ on Climate Justice

    November 18, 2016

    In a recent conversation at HLS with Dean Martha Minow, Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and U.N. special envoy on El Niño and climate change, told the story of how she came to be an “Angry Granny” on the topic of climate change, starting with her discussions with people in the most deeply affected communities.

  • HLS faculty maintain top position in SSRN citation rankings

    Celebrating National Pro Bono Week at HLS

    October 25, 2016

    In late October Harvard Law School celebrated National Pro Bono Week with a number of events to honor the outstanding work of lawyers who volunteer their time to help people in their communities.

  • 4 attendees standing beside an HLS Thinks Big sign

    Big ‘thinks’ come in small packages: HLS Thinks Big

    July 1, 2016

    In late May, four Harvard Law faculty — Scott Brewer, Gerald Neuman '80, Esme Caramello '99, and Urs Gasser LL.M. '03 — shared snapshots of their latest research with the Harvard Law School community as part of the HLS Thinks Big speaker series.

  • Outside of the supreme court stone columns

    Harvard Law human rights experts react to Supreme Court deadlock, deportation risk

    June 24, 2016

    Deborah Anker and Phil Torrey weigh in on the 4-4 Supreme Court tie that dealt a major blow to President Obama’s executive actions to grant relief from deportation to undocumented immigrants living in the U.S.--putting, according to Anker, 'hundreds of thousands of people at risk of deportation, including parents of U.S. citizens or legal residents.'

  • Human Rights Clinic report calls for meaningful human control of weapons systems

    April 18, 2016

    In a report issued last week, the Harvard Law School International Human Rights Clinic and Human Rights Watch call for countries to retain meaningful human control over weapons systems and ban fully autonomous weapons, also known as 'killer robots.'

  • Lessons from a post-9/11 world: Law School instructor advocates for torture survivors

    April 15, 2016

    Clinical Instructor Deborah Popowski '08 has led the effort to hold psychologists accountable for their involvement in torture of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

  • Fighting for disarmament: Docherty calls for stronger regulation of incendiary weapons

    January 2, 2016

    For Bonnie Docherty, a lecturer on law and a senior instructor at the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School, the battle to protect civilians from suffering caused by armed conflicts continues.

  • cover of Righting Wrongs? report showing an illustration of many people walking

    Company’s remedies for rape in Papua New Guinea deeply flawed

    December 4, 2015

    A controversial process created by one of the world’s largest gold mining companies to compensate women for rapes and gang rapes in Papua New Guinea was deeply flawed, said human rights investigators and legal experts at Columbia and Harvard Law Schools in a study released in November.

  • Patrick Weil lecturing

    For French scholar, hope survives terror

    November 19, 2015

    It was with tragic timeliness that Professor Patrick Weil discussed “After the Paris Attacks: What Is the Future for French Society?” on Wednesday, November 18 at Harvard Law School.

  • Don't Look Away: Images of Systematic Torture in the Syrian Regime panelists

    Torture through a viewfinder: Photo exhibit at HLS shines light on Syrian government

    October 26, 2015

    As the humanitarian crisis in Syria deepens, a panel at Harvard Law School explores the role of photography in documenting and raising international awareness about torture, mass killings, and other atrocities committed by the Assad regime.

  • Myanmar: New report finds police used excessive force during crackdown on protesters in Letpadan

    October 14, 2015

    Myanmar police officers used excessive force during a crackdown on protesters and arrested more than 100 individuals in Letpadan, Bago Region in March, according to a new report released today by Harvard Law School International Human Rights Clinic and Fortify Rights.