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The Advocates for Human Rights

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Founded	1983 under the name Minnesota Lawyers International Human Rights Committee Changed name to The Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights in 1992. Adopted current name in 2008.
Type	Non-profit NGO
Location	Minneapolis, MN USA
Fields	Human rights, Law, Education, Social Change
Key people	Robin Phillips, Executive Director
Website	http://www.theadvocatesforhumanrights.org

The Advocates for Human Rights is an international non-governmental organization that conducts human rights education, advocacy, training, and legal services. Founded in Minneapolis, USA in 1983, The Advocates promotes and defends the rights of refugees and immigrants, women, children, and other marginalized communities in the U.S. and globally. With more than 600 active volunteers from diverse professions who contribute an estimated $3.4 million annually of in-kind services, The Advocates leverages direct volunteer service to build the human rights movement.

History

The organization began in 1983 with a group of Minnesota lawyers who sought to educate the public about human rights issues, promote the efforts of lawyers worldwide in establishing judicial systems that protect human rights, and contribute legal expertise in specific instances involving international human rights issues. The group, established as the Minnesota Lawyers International Human Rights Committee, organized and trained local professionals and advocates to use their skills and experience to defend human rights in Minnesota and around the world.

One of the organization’s first projects to receive international recognition was the preparation and publication of The Manual on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-Legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions, known as the “Minnesota Protocol.” This document, adopted by the United Nations, details proper forensic procedures when conducting investigations and autopsies in cases of politically-motivated homicide.

The organization changed its name to Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights in 1992. Then, to better reflect the scope of promoting human rights issues locally, nationally, and internationally, the organization became The Advocates for Human Rights in 2008.

Today, The Advocates continues to elevate the profile of human rights issues worldwide. Over the past 25 years, The Advocates’ work – in countries such as Liberia, Bulgaria, the Republic of Georgia, Albania, Mexico, Uzbekistan, Poland, Nepal, Moldova, Uganda, Peru, Sierra Leone, and the U.S. – has made it a prominent organization in the international human rights movement.

Profile

The Advocates' Work Around the World

The Advocats for Human Rights seeks “to implement international human rights standards in order to promote civil society and reinforce the rule of law.” The Advocates investigates and exposes human rights violations internationally and in the United States, represents immigrants and refugees who are victims of human rights abuses, trains and assists groups that protect human rights, and works through education and advocacy to engage the public, policymakers, and children in human rights and cultural understanding. Adapting traditional human rights methodologies, The Advocates has produced 75 reports documenting human rights practices in 25 countries.

Through Special Consultative Status with the United Nations, The Advocates brings the “local to the global” by participating in human rights mechanisms that focus international attention on human rights concerns in the communities in which it works. Conversely, The Advocates brings the “global to the local” by making human rights education a priority and engaging U.S. audiences in advocacy for people experiencing human rights abuses around the world.

The Advocates’ work is focused on the following issues:

• Human rights education
• Human rights in the United States
• International justice
• Women’s rights
• Refugee and immigrant rights

To engage individuals in meaningful, hands-on human rights work, The Advocates involves volunteers from all backgrounds and professions as part of its mission. The Advocates leverages its cash resources nearly six times over through pro bono assistance; in 2008 The Advocates delivered nearly $10 million in human rights services.

The Advocates has received international recognition for a broad range of programs promoting human rights and preventing the violation of those rights. Every year, The Advocates educates over 8,000 students and community members on human rights issues, and provides legal representation and assistance to over 1,000 disadvantaged individuals and families.

The Advocates is governed by a 27-member Board of Directors, consisting of community leaders in academia, the arts, business, law, and policy, and providing strategic oversight of financial and programmatic decisions. The Advocates employs 28 full-time human rights professionals, including the current Executive Director Robin Phillips.

Issues

Human Rights Education

The Advocates for Human Rights works to educate students, new Americans, policymakers, lawyers, teachers, and the general public by bringing international human rights principles to the community and the classroom. The Advocates’ educational approach utilizes traditional and creative tactics to promote human rights locally in Minnesota, nationally in the U.S., and internationally. The Advocates: 1) develops and distributes curricular resources, publications, and reports; 2) conducts presentations, lectures, film series, conferences, Continuing Legal Education (CLE) and Continuing Education Unit (CEU) sessions, and public forums; and 3) provides resources online. The Advocates educates students and community members on topics such as immigration, post-9/11 human rights violations, asylum, the death penalty, torture, child labor, women’s rights, and transitional justice.

Among The Advocates for Human Rights’ signature domestic human rights education projects is the Building Immigrant Awareness and Support (B.I.A.S.) Project. Since 1994, the B.I.A.S. Project has been providing education, training, and advocacy on issues relating to immigrants and refugees for a wide variety of audiences, from teachers and advocates to rural Minnesota communities and new Americans. This project helped to inspire the Energy of a Nation: Immigrants in America teaching guide and corresponding website. The website is a resource for comprehensive and timely information about immigration issues and provides fact sheets, curricula, quizzes, action alerts, policy updates, and immigration-related news and events.

The Advocates also established the Discover Human Rights Institute, a website that aims to advance international human rights standards by providing educational resources to help people apply these standards to their daily lives, families, workplaces, and communities.

The Advocates newest curriculum is The Road to Peace, containing lesson plans on transitional justice and conflict resolution.

The Advocates also runs the Nepal School Project, a collaboration with community leaders in the village of Sankhu, Nepal to combat child labor by educating more than 240 of the region’s poorest students at the Sankhu-Palubari Community School.

Human Rights in the U.S.

In 1991, The Advocates created the Death Penalty Project as an outgrowth of its opposition to the death penalty. The project was organized to recruit Minnesota attorneys to represent death row inmates in their post-conviction appeals. The project continues to provide education and advocacy on death penalty issues.

In 2008-09, The Advocates joined the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, a 95-member international organization that seeks to strengthen the international dimension of the struggle against capital punishment. The Advocates also continues to serve as the Minnesota State Affiliate for the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

In September, 2008, The Advocates published "Sex Trafficking Needs Assessment for the State of Minnesota" – the first comprehensive report on human sex trafficking in the state – after being selected by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Office of Justice Programs to conduct the review. Following the publication of the Needs Assessment, The Advocates led efforts at the Minnesota Legislature, in coalition with the Statewide Human Trafficking Task Force, to draft a bill to strengthen Minnesota’s sex trafficking law. The Legislature unanimously passed the bill and Governor Tim Pawlenty signed it into law on May 21, 2009. The provisions of the “Bill for an Act to Combat Trafficking in Minnesota” provide a stronger deterrent for those who sell human beings for sex and a better tool for those enforcing the state law.

The Advocates for Human Rights' Post-9/11 Project seeks "to bring the voices of individuals directly affected by the post-9/11 environment into the policy debate about recalibrating the balance between national security and civil liberties in the United States." The Advocates' report "Voices from Silence: Personal Accounts of the Long-Term Impact of 9/11" details the impact of 9/11 on the lives of immigrants, refugees, and religious minorities in Minnesota. The report documents personal stories of fear and discrimination in a post-9/11 environment and contextualizes them with an overview of laws and policies that have affected these communities.

International Justice

Opening ceremonies of the Liberian TRC U.S. Public Hearings

The Advocates works to develop practical and sustainable strategies to assist post-conflict countries in moving toward peace and accountability. The Advocates holds consultative status with the United Nations and participates in monitoring and reporting to UN human rights bodies on issue areas in which it holds expertise.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia Diaspora Project was launched by The Advocates for Human Rights on June 22, 2006. The Advocates collaborated with the TRC of Liberia to develop a new model for involving diaspora populations in truth and reconciliation processes. The Advocates trained and coordinated the work of hundreds of volunteer statement takers in 8 U.S. cities, the United Kingdom, and Buduburam Refugee Settlement in Ghana. The Advocates also coordinated the Diaspora public hearings of the TRC of Liberia held in St. Paul, MN in June 2008 – the first time that a truth commission held hearings outside of the country of conflict. Published in 2009, A House with Two Rooms: Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia Diaspora Project documents the experience of the Liberian diaspora during Liberia's tragic civil conflict. It is based on an analysis of more than 1600 statements, fact-finding interviews, and public hearings testimony collected by The Advocates during three years of work with the Liberian diaspora in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Ghana. Through the TRC of Liberia Diaspora Project, volunteers provided more than $10.5 million in pro bono services and in-kind contributions to the TRC.

The Advocates also monitors United States' compliance with the international human rights treaties it has ratified. Because government reports on compliance often focus on legislation passed rather than on implementation of those laws, The Advocates provides treaty body committee members with information and examples of problems with implementation and areas of government non-compliance. These reports are often called “shadow reports” because they correspond with the government’s report.

The Advocates recently participated in submitting shadow reports on U.S. compliance with international human rights treaties to the Committee Against Torture (CAT), the Human Rights Committee (HRC), and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD).

Women’s Rights

thumb|100px|Stop Violence Against Women Campaign The Advocates works to improve the lives of women and girls by using international human rights standards to advocate for women's rights in Minnesota, the U.S., and around the world. Using research, education and advocacy, the program has partnered with local organizations overseas and in the United States to document domestic violence, rape, employment discrimination, sexual harassment in the workplace, and trafficking in women and girls. Local educational events include the Women’s Human Rights Film Series, which includes monthly screenings and post-film discussions.

The Women’s Program has published 19 reports on violence against women as a human rights issue, consulted extensively with advocates who are drafting and beginning to implement new laws on violence against women, and presented numerous trainings on domestic violence legal reform.

Internationally, The Advocates participated in 2008 in United Nations expert group meetings on good practices in legislation to address harmful practices against women in Vienna and Ethiopia. The Advocates also traveled to Kazakhstan at the invitation of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights to provide further comments on Kazakhstan’s draft law on domestic violence.

The Advocates also traveled to Tajikistan to comment on draft legislation and provide trainings and to Morocco to meet with and train representatives from women’s rights NGOs and members of the Moroccan Parliament.

Refugee and Immigrant Rights

The Advocates works for the protection of the rights of refugees and immigrants in the United States, offering free legal services to asylum seekers, immigration detainees, and immigrants in the Upper Midwest and providing free legal representation, consultations, and services in over 1,000 cases annually. Hundreds of trained volunteers, supported by expert staff, work with victims of human rights abuses as attorneys, mentors, medical and psychological experts, and interpreters.

The Advocates is a partner in the Minnesota Detention Project, a coalition of local legal service providers which provides legal representation to immigrant detainees. In the 2008 fiscal year, The Advocates worked to respond to dramatically increasing numbers of people appearing in detained court, including a half-day training to recruit additional volunteers from the private bar. The Advocates’ representation of immigration detainees provides direct service to immigrants facing deportation proceedings without counsel. In addition, The Advocates’ immigration walk-in clinic, held every Thursday afternoon, serves over 500 people annually through a volunteer lawyer panel.

In June, 2009, The Advocates launched its newest legal advice clinic in New York City, bringing its Minnesota volunteer model to Staten Island, where Liberians in the Park Hill neighborhood will now receive legal services in the form of brief advice and referrals. The initiative is an outgrowth of The Advocates’ collaboration with Fried Frank Law Firm and African Refuge through the Liberian TRC Diaspora Project.

Online Resources

• Discover Human Rights Institute
• StopVAW
• Energy of a Nation

Publications

With the help of hundreds of volunteers, The Advocates has produced more than 80 reports documenting human rights practices in 22 countries. The Advocates publishes educational materials and resources on topics such as "Refugee, Immigrant and Asylum Issues" and "Issues Affecting Women".

• The Road to Peace: A Teaching Guide on Local and Global Transitional Justice
• Liberia Is Not Ready: A Report of Country Conditions In Liberia and Reasons the United States Should Extend Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians
• Sex Trafficking Needs Assessment for the State of Minnesota
• Domestic Violence in Tajikistan

External Links

• The Advocates for Human Rights (official website)