Alumni and friends back effort to send law students to work at Tribunals
-By Gilien Silsby
More than a dozen USC Gould School of Law alumni and friends have teamed up to support sending six International Human Rights Clinic students to work at Tribunals in Tanzania, Phnom Penh and The Hague.
This past spring, these USC Law students took part in a unique partnership between an American law school and judges and legal staff hearing cases addressing human rights atrocities perpetrated in Rwanda in the 1990s and Cambodia in the 1970s. While at USC Law, they provided remote assistance for the decision-making process at the Tribunals in order to bring justice to those most responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
More than $35,000 has been donated to USC Law for the effort, which will fully fund the costs of the students’ travel and expenses for continuing their work on-site.
USC Law Board of Councilors member Robert Roth and his wife, Georgia, led the fundraising effort with a $12,000 donation after hearing Hannah Garry, director of the IHRC and USC Law professor, make a presentation on the new Clinic, which launched in January 2011.
LexisNexis followed with support for a Human Rights Fellow,, and recently, more than a dozen USC Law alumni and friends have made donations ranging from $25 to $1,500. In addition, 13 members of the Board of Councilors have made contributions.
“I am so pleased with the support we have received from our alumni and friends,” said USC Law Dean Robert K. Rasmussen. “This is truly a grassroots campaign and we are so thankful to everyone who have helped our students use their clinical experience for assisting the critical work of these Tribunals on the ground.”
Roth said he and his wife have long been interested in justice for Rwanda, in particular.
“This is an extraordinary effort by USC Law and Prof. Garry,” said Roth. “I am proud to be associated with the Clinic and the work that they are doing to make a difference and bring to justice perpetrators of genocide and human rights abuses.”
“We are excited to be part of this outstanding initiative that allows students to both follow their passion for the rule of law and gain exceptional experience in the practice of international law,” said Selene Martin, director of Law School Outreach at LexisNexis. “The Clinic’s Human Rights Fellowship program uniquely contributes to the critical work of legal institutions and advocacy organizations around the world.”
The USC Law students working in the Clinic secured judicial internship positions with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), the Extraordinary Chamber in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Tribunal in The Hague (ICTY).
“I am so proud of our students who are advancing international justice on behalf of the 3 to 4 million people who died in these countries, and the millions more who have suffered grossly inhumane treatment as a result of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide,” said Garry.“We are grateful to the International Tribunals for the opportunity to take part in their important work, and we are truly appreciative to all who have partnered with us financially to make our work with the Tribunals possible.”
The USC Law students selected have a range of experience with many already having worked or studied overseas. Jamie Hoffman ’11, who worked this summer with a Trial Chamber at the Rwanda Tribunal, was a volunteer legal advocate for Asylum Access Tanzania last summer. Hoffman is the first USC Law Clinic student to intern at the Tribunal.
Brian Rifkin, ’11, named a Roth International Human Rights Fellow, is working this fall with the Pre-Trial Chamber at the Cambodia Tribunal. Growing up with stories of the Holocaust, he has studied international and intra-state conflict resolution, particularly justice for victims of human rights abuses, and participated in the Darfur campaign. Seepan Parseghian, ’11, also named a Roth International Human Rights Fellow, is working this fall with a Trial Chamber at the Rwanda Tribunal. A descendant of survivors of the Armenian Genocide, he has conducted field research in the Caucasus on nationalism and created a peace education class for children forcibly displaced in times of conflict.
The LexisNexis International Human Rights Fellow is Shannon Raj, ‘11. She is also working this fall with a Trial Chamber at the Rwanda Tribunal. For the past several years, Raj has traveled to South Africa to work with the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation ("the IJR") and South Africa's Legal Resources Centre in Durban. She has also worked with the United States Mission to the United Nations in New York where she observed Security Council sessions on Darfur.
Trevar Kolodny, ’11, is working this fall with Judge Liu Daqun on the Appeals Chamber at the ICTY in The Hague. Prior to law school, he studied at Cambridge University and traveled to India and Israel. Aysha Pamukcu, ’11, is working this fall with the Supreme Court Chamber at the Cambodia Tribunal. Previously, she worked on the issue of female circumcision, which included travel to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where she researched a situation analysis report and attended the United Nations Global Consultation.
The students plan to report on their experiences and present at a USC Law reception for donors and friends of the Clinic in the spring 2012. To learn more about the work of the students, visit the Clinic’s Facebook Page and website at: http://law.usc.edu/ihrc
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