2000 Summer Interns
In 2000, ten (10) Indiana University Law Students were placed in 12 different countries to work for human rights at three different levels of organizations: governmental, non-governmental, and inter-governmental. The students worked for 10-12 weeks, in office environments, in various fields of human rights. Their work issues included rights of street children, immigrant and refugee rights, freedom from racial discrimination, and self-determination.
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2000 Interns:
- Jose Rivero (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
- Jenny Sarabia (San Jose, Costa Rica; Managua, Nicaragua)
- Greg Loyd (San Jose, Costa Rica; Tegucigalpa, Honduras)
- Katherine Hendrix (Prague, Czech Republic)
- Ayoade Adewopo (Hong Kong, China)
- Hyo Joon Park (Dublin, Ireland)
- Robert Springston (Belfast, Northern Ireland)
- Edward Queen (Skopje, Macedonia; East Jerusalem, Israel)
- James Bouchard (Manila, Philippines)
- Joshua
Robertson (Geneva, Switzerland)
Mr. Jose Rivero worked
in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for the Movimiento
Ecumenico por los Derechos Humanos. He worked on issues related
to refugee and asylum law, focusing on persons entering Argentina
from neighboring South American countries. He also drafted a report
for distribution to his host organization's constituents, pertaining
to international human rights law as applied in the domestic arena.
Ms. Jenny Sarabia worked for two organizations in Central America. In Costa Rica, she worked for Casa Alianza, a non-governmental organization devoted to the rehabilitation and defense of street children in Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Ms. Sarabia researched the topic of sexual exploitation of children and helped prepare a brief on the issue that was submitted to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. She also compiled statistics on the extra-judicial execution of Honduran children.
Ms. Sarabia
worked with PIHRL Intern Mr. Greg Loyd, in Costa Rica, to create a
presentation for the United Nations Conference "State Violence
against Children." The presentation focused on violations of
children's human rights protected under the U.N. Convention on the
Rights of the Child. She also spent several weeks in Nicaragua at
a field office of Casa Alianza.
Mr. Greg Loyd worked for
two offices of the non-governmental organization Casa
Alianza. In Costa Rica, he prepared chronologies of the "disobedience"
and defamation cases against Casa Alianza Regional Director, Mr. Bruce
Harris. These documents were published on the organization's website.
He also worked with fellow PIHRL intern Jenny Sarabia on a presentation
for the United Nations Conference "State Violence Against Children."
At the Tegucigalpa, Honduras, branch office of Casa Alianza, Mr. Loyd
helped provide legal assistance to street children.
Ms. Katherine Hendrix worked
for the Czech
Helsinki Legal Counseling Center for Refugees in Prague, where
she conducted comparative law research on immigration and asylum law.
She explored legislative solutions to problems with the new Czech
immigration and asylum laws, and prepared lobbying documents. She
also researched country conditions to provide evidence of persecution
in asylum cases. To assist in the asylum seeking process, Ms. Hendrix
interviewed asylum seekers at Czech refugee camps.
Mr. Ayoade Adewopo worked at the Hong Kong Equal Opportunities Commission. Mr. Adewopo contributed to briefs submitted to the Court of Final Appeal (Supreme Court) in two sex discrimination cases involving alleged violations of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Hong Kong Sex Discrimination Ordinance. In addition, he researched and wrote memos on alternative court systems used in the adjudication of human rights violations in several countries, sexual discrimination case law of the United States, and United States ordinances that ban various forms of discrimination.
Mr. Hyo Joon Park worked for the two organizations in Dublin: the Irish Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and Amnesty International. He researched asylum case law and gathered factual evidence to prepare cases for individuals seeking asylum from African countries. Mr. Park also explored civil and political rights of asylum-seekers and racial discrimination issues.
Mr. Robert Springston worked for the Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities (NICEM), a Belfast-based umbrella organization representing minority ethnic groups throughout Northern Ireland. Mr. Springston drafted a report on disparities between Great Britain and Northern Ireland's domestic legislation and the inequality in the judicial process of the two countries. He traveled to Geneva, Switzerland, for the presentation of the report to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Mr. Springston also traveled to London several times to meet with national non-governmental organizations involved in the United Nations and other projects concerning issues affecting ethnic minorities in Northern Ireland.
Dr. Edward Queen held two
internships. He worked for a non-governmental organization in Skopje,
Republic of Macedonia, and for another group in East Jerusalem. In
Macedonia, he analyzed policies, ethnic and religious relations, and
the process of democratization.
In East Jerusalem, Dr. Queen assisted the Palestinian
Human Rights Monitoring Group (PHRMG) in devising communications
division policies. He helped ensure that their draft reports, media
relations, and issues raised were handled adequately and appropriately.
Additionally, Dr. Queen edited several reports published by PHRMG
in their monthly journal The Palestinian Human Rights Monitor.
Mr. James Bouchard worked
at SALIGAN,
a Manila, Philippines, non-governmental organization whose name in
the local dialect means "that which is fundamental and basic."
SALIGAN is dedicated to shifting power from the elite to the people.
Mr. Bouchard worked closely with the Peasant Unit on the case of migrant
workers known as the Mapalads. These farmers are exploited by the
landowners by manipulating the laws protecting migrant farmers' rights.
To help find a solution to the Mapalads' problems, Mr. Bouchard researched
the Philippines Constitution, other Philippines law, United Nations
treaties, and various other international instruments that protect
economic, cultural, and political rights.
Mr. Bouchard worked to develop a guide to using the United Nations
system to advocate for the Mapalad, and to create meaningful change
in Philippine law.
Mr. Joshua Robertson worked
for the United Nations Office of
the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland.
He worked on the mandate of the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Contemporary
Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance.
He also worked on projects of the Secretariat of the World Conference
Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance.
That World Conference was held in Durban, South Africa, in August
2001.
Mr. Robertson researched issues of compensation, restitution, and
rehabilitation of victims of racial discrimination in relation to
the World Conference Against Racism. He also assisted in drafting
the Message for the High Commissioner for Human Rights (Mary Robertson)
to deliver as her opening statement for the World Conference African
Region Expert Seminar held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Jose Rivera (Pre-departure Reception)
Jenny Sarabia (4th from left) with children at Casa Alianza
Jenny Sarabia (Debriefing)
Greg Loyd 
Katherine Hendrix in Prague
Ayoade Adewopo (far right) and colleagues,
Hong Kong
(L-R) Robert Springton and Hyo Joon
Park (De-briefing 2000)
(L-R ) Edward Queen, Ayoade Adewopo
and Dean Norman Lefstein (Pre-departure Reception)
James Bouchard (Pre-departure Reception)
Josh Robertson (De-briefing 2000)