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Human Rights Program
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Home : Projects & Research

Projects & Research

Horn of Africa
The Horn of Africa, the easternmost projection of the African continent, struggles with bouts of armed conflict and human rights violations committed under diverse governmental arrangements that have been in place since independence from colonial powers. Read more...

Grave Desecrations
This project has centered on actions occurring at Wat Tham Krabok, a Buddhist temple in Thailand's central Saraburi province. For over twenty years this temple hosted a makeshift refugee camp for Hmong people who had fled Laos and feared forced repatriation. In the past couple of years all but a few hundred of these refugees have been resettled in the United States, with 4,000 coming to Minnesota in 2004. Read more...

Small Arms & Light Weapons
The human cost of the proliferation of small arms and light weapons has been increasingly evident in the post-Cold War era. In the past decade, there has been significant diplomatic activity to strengthen international laws that curb the transfer of small arms, culminating in the July 2001 UN Conference on the "Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons." Read more...

Scribes for Human Rights
The Human Rights Program and the Creative Writing Program inaugurated the "Scribes for Human Rights" fellowship in January 2006. The fellowship supports a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) student to work with the Human Rights Program as a writer-in-residence. The Scribe learns the issues and meets the players involved in the Program’s public human rights work, then uses this experience to write an article for publication for a large audience. Read more...

Workers' Rights
The Human Rights Program in conjunction with Nebraska Appleseed and the Midwest Coalition for Human Rights is working to investigate and make meatpacking a safer job. With an injury rate more than twice the national average, meatpacking is one of the most dangerous jobs in America.Read more...

Trafficking
Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. One of the consequences of easy and cheap global travel is an increase in the sexual exploitation of children in tourist destinations. Read more...

Other Projects
HRP is actively involved in other projects. Read more...

Upcoming Events

Outside Events

  • Gender Transition and Conflict

    The Freeman Center for International Economic Policy sponsors the Global Policy Seminar/Workshop series every other Tuesday from 12:45 to 2:00 pm. All sessions are held in the Stassen Room (Room 170) of the Humphrey Center. The next talk is:

    December 8 - John Freeman on American Political Attitudes and Globalization

    Freeman Center for International Economic Policy,
    Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, presents a
    Workshop on Global Policy

    Professor Fionnuala Ní Aoláin

    Law School

    will speak on:

    Gender, Transition and Conflict
    12:45 - 2:00 pm
    Tuesday, November 24
    170 HHH - Stassen Room
    Humphrey Institute, West Bank Campus

    Professor Ní Aoláin will draw on a book in progress to discuss the ways in which women experience

    transitions from conflicted and violent societies. The book and the talk will examine the multiple forms of
    violence that pervade conflicted societies and how legal sanction often fails to fully capture its effects for women.

    The discussion will also focus on a number of the dimensions that are engaged in transitional societies
    including Amnesty, Security Sector Reform, Reparations,
    and Rule of Law transformations.

    All are welcome!

    Beverages and cookies will be served

     11/23/09

  • Frontrunner

    Wednesday, December 2, 2009 at 7:00 p.m.
    Arlington Hills Branch Library
    1105 Greenbrier St., St. Paul

    "Frontrunner" tells the heroic story of Massouda Jalal, a medical doctor and mother of three, who defied the Taliban regime and ran for President of Afghanistan. Discussion hosted by Cheryl Thomas, Director of the Women's Human Rights Program, to follow.

    11/17/09

  • Brown Bag Lunch: Legal Reform on Violence against Women in the Republic of Georgia: Recent Successes and Challenges

    Tuesday, November 24, 2009 from 12:00-1:00 p.m.
    Fredrikson & Byron, P.A. Minnetonka/Tamarack Room
    200 South Sixth Street, Suite 4000, Minneapolis

    Presenters: Robin Phillips, Executive Director, and Cheryl Thomas, Director of the Women's Human Rights Program.

    11/17/09

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