This interdisciplinary symposium consists of hearings by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), as well as a series of thematic panels on the intersection of human rights with democratic institutions and the rule of law, migration, housing justice, sports, gender justice, racial justice, and the environment.
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Hearings
The IACHR, together with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, are the principal human rights organs in the Organization of American States (OAS). Created by the OAS in 1959 with the mission to promote and protect human rights in the American hemisphere, the Commission is composed of seven independent members who hold at least two periods of sessions a year.
Miami, situated at the crossroads of the Americas, is ideally situated to host an IACHR period of sessions. The complex human rights problems of Latin America and the Caribbean are felt intensely in South Florida. Over the past several decades, migrants from across the Americas have settled upon our shores, creating diasporic communities. South Florida also has its share of local human rights issues, many of which are connected to regional human rights dilemmas.
The Human Rights Program (HRP) at the University of Miami School of Law has a long-term relationship with the IACHR. The Human Rights Clinic, HRP’s advocacy arm, has litigated many cases and participated in many hearings before the Inter-American human rights system. HRP faculty affiliates further engage in scholarship and teaching squarely aligned with the IACHR’s priority areas.
Kickoff Event
The Symposium will open the evening of Sunday, November 16 with a welcome reception and featured remarks by Ken Roth, former Executive Director of Human Rights Watch. Roth will deliver the Henkin Human Rights Lecture and discuss his new book, Righting Wrongs. This talk will be followed by a discussion between Roth and Pedro José Vaca Villarreal, the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
Thematic Panels
We are at a critical moment in the field of human rights in the Americas. Despite significant legal developments advancing human rights, geopolitical realities pose increasing threats to human rights in the Americas and worldwide. Authoritarianism, erosion of democratic norms, conflict, and instability systematically continue to undermine the integrity of large parts of the population. A series of thematic panels will examine critical human rights topics each day of the period of sessions. Specific panels would focus on the intersection of human rights with democratic institutions and the rule of law, migration, housing justice, sports, gender justice, racial justice, and the environment.
Art Exhibition
The symposium will feature an art exhibit on the right to housing. Artwork produced by Red Line Service, a community of Chicago artists with lived experience of being unhoused and partner organization of Miami Law’s Human Rights Clinic, illustrate the seven dimensions of the international human right to housing in powerful and concrete ways.
Scholarship
The University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review will capture lessons and reflections from the various symposium sessions. This would include publishing synopsis reports of the hearings and thematic sessions, as well as selected scholarly papers authored by the speakers, deepening discussion.
CLE
Approved Florida CLE - 26.0 General Credits & 26.0 Certification Credits: Civil Trial $299 in-person admission, $220 virtual admission. The symposium video will be provided 30 days after the event should you not be able to attend all the sessions in person.
Symposium Agenda
To download the complete Symposium Agenda, click here
To download the Symposium Speaker Biographies, click here
To view IACHR public hearings schedule, click here
Louis Henkin Lecture on Human Rights & Fireside Chat, followed by Welcome Reception (University of Miami School of Law, Gail Serota Reading Room)
Moderator: Tania Reneaum Panszi, Executive Secretary, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Speakers:
Patricia Sánchez Abril, Interim Dean, University of Miami School of Law; Professor of Business Law, University of Miami Herbert Business School
Caroline Bettinger-López, Professor of Law and Director, Human Rights Clinic; Faculty Chair, Human Rights Program, University of Miami School of Law
Ken Roth, Former Executive Director, Human Rights Watch; Charles and Marie Robertson Visiting Professor and Visiting Lecturer, Princeton School of International and Public Affairs
Pedro José Vaca Villarreal, Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Facilitator: Caroline Bettinger-López, Professor of Law and Director, Human Rights Clinic; Faculty Chair, Human Rights Program, University of Miami School of Law
Speakers:
Patricia Sánchez Abril, Interim Dean, University of Miami School of Law; Professor of Business Law, University of Miami Herbert Business School
José Luis Caballero Ochoa, President and Commissioner, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Daniella Levine Cava, Mayor, Miami-Dade County
Tania Reneaum Panszi, Executive Secretary, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
9:15 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Fireside Chat: Examining the Rule of Law and the Inter-American Human Rights System (Lakeside Auditorium)
Facilitator:Donna Shalala,Trustee Professor of Political Science and Health Policy, University of Miami
Speakers:
Brisa De Angulo, Founder, A Breeze of Hope Foundation; Petitioner, Caso De Angulo v. Bolivia
Frank Mora, Professor of Politics and International Relations, Florida International University
10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Ecuador: Case 14.407 – People affected by the closing of the Pachamama Foundation (IACHR Case Hearing) (Lakeside Expo Center)
12:45 p.m. – 2:45 p.m
Lunch Panel: Democratic Institutions, Human Rights and the Rule of Law (Lakeside Auditorium)
Moderators:
Viviana Krsticevic, Executive Director, Center for Justice and International Law
Katya Salazar, Executive Director, Due Process of Law Foundation
Speakers:
Monique Clesca, Journalist and Member, Commission to Search for a Haitian Solution to the Crisis
José Miguel Cruz, Associate Professor, Criminology and Criminal Justice; Interim Director, Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center, Florida International University
Jamil Dakwar, Director, Human Rights Program, American Civil Liberties Union
Pedro José Vaca Villarreal, Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Manuel Virgüez, Director, Movimiento Vinotinto
2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Regional: Status of female genital mutilation practices (IACHR Hearing) (Lakeside Expo Center)
6:15 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Film Screening & Discussion Panel: Paper Children + En Manos de Dios (Cosford Cinema)
Moderator:Sui Chung, Executive Director, Americans for Immigrant Justice
Speakers:
Gabrielle Apollon, Director, Haitian Immigrant Rights Project, Global Justice Clinic, New York University School of Law
Alexandra Codina, Director/Producer, Paper Children and En Manos de Dios
Sarah Paoletti, Practice Professor of Law and Director, Transnational Legal Clinic, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School
Andrea Pochak, Commissioner, First Vice-President, and Rapporteur for Human Mobility, Memory, Truth and Justice, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Coffee Panel: Migration and Human Rights (Lakeside Auditorium)
Moderator: Hannah Garry, Clinical Professor of Law, Faculty Director, Gilbert Global Justice & Human Rights Center, USC Gould School of Law
Speakers:
Yannick Gill, Senior Counsel, Refugee Advocacy, Human Rights First
Alejandra Gonza, Director and President, Global Rights Advocates
Andrea Pochak, Commissioner, First Vice-President, and Rapporteur for Human Mobility, Memory, Truth and Justice, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Rebecca Sharpless,Professor of Law and Director, Immigration Clinic, University of Miami School of Law
Juan Pablo Terminiello, Senior Protection and Solutions Coordinator, UNHCR Regional Bureau for the Americas
9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Regional: Recruitment of children and adolescents in a violent context (Ex Officio) (IACHR Hearing) (Lakeside Expo Center)
10:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Regional: Meeting with civil society organizations (IACHR Meeting) (Lakeside Auditorium)
11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Mexico: Right to self-determination of indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples (IACHR Hearing) (Lakeside Expo Center)
12:45 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Lunch Panel: Housing Justice and Human Rights (Lakeside Auditorium)
Moderator: Tamar Ezer, Acting Co-Director, Human Rights Clinic; Faculty Director, Human Rights Program; Lecturer in Law, University of Miami School of Law
Speakers:
Guilherme Camponez, Representative, Movement of People Affected by Dams in Brazil
Javier Palummo Lantes, Special Rapporteur on Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights (REDESCA), Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
David Peery, Founder and Executive Director, Florida Coalition to Advance Racial Equity
Rhoda Rosen, Executive Director, Red Line Service Institute; Adjunct Associate Professor, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Milton Yulán Morán, Land Rights Attorney, Union Tierra y Vida, Ecuador
2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m
Haiti: Arm trafficking and its impact on human rights (Ex Officio) (IACHR Hearing) (Lakeside Expo Center)
4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Guatemala: Case 15.475 Gloria Patricia Porras Escobar and family (IACHR Case Hearing) (Lakeside Expo Center)
6:00 p.m.– 9:00 p.m.
Reception and Cuban Voices: Rights, Reality, & Rule of Law (Cuban Heritage Collection, UM Richter Library)
Moderator:Patricia Sánchez Abril, Interim Dean, University of Miami School of Law; Professor of Business Law, University of Miami Herbert Business School
Speakers:
Candice Balmori, Cuban American Bar Association
José Daniel Ferrer García, Human Rights Activist
Aldo Leiva, Cuban American Bar Association
Rosa María Payá, Founder and Director, Cuba Decide; Incoming Commissioner, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Edgar Stuardo Ralón Orellana, Commissioner and Rapporteur for Cuba, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Arif Bulkan, Commissioner, Second Vice-President, and Rapporteur for LGBTI Persons and Indigenous Peoples, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Roberta Clarke, Commissioner and Rapporteur for Women and for the United States, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Carmen Cecilia Martínez López, Associate Director, Legal Strategies for Latin America and the Caribbean, Center for Reproductive Rights
Yasemin Smallens, LGBT Rights Program Officer, Human Rights Watch
2:15 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.
Panama: Situation of indigenous territories (IACHR Hearing) (Lakeside Expo Center)
4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
When corruption affects us: Participation of victims and civil society organizations in the fight against corruption (IACHR Parallel Event) (Lakeside Auditorium)
4:15 p.m. – 5:45 p.m.
Argentina: Situation of the freedom of expression (IACHR Hearing) (Lakeside Expo Center)
6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Film Screening & Discussion Panel: Brisa (Lakeside Auditorium)
Moderator: Rosie Hidalgo, Senior Consultant and Co-Director of the Mosaic Initiative, Battered Women’s Justice Project; Visiting Senior Research Scholar, University of Miami School of Law Human Rights Program
Speakers:
Brisa de Angulo, Founder, A Breeze of Hope Foundation; Petitioner, Caso De Angulo v. Bolivia
Rosa Celorio, Dean for International and Comparative Legal Studies, Burnett Family Professorial Lecturer in International and Comparative Law and Policy, The George Washington University Law School
Jessica Lenahan, Human Rights Activist; Petitioner, Jessica Lenahan v. United States
Coffee Panel: Racial Justice and Human Rights (Lakeside Auditorium)
Moderator: Denisse Córdova Montes, Assistant Professor, Department of Legal Studies, University of Central Florida
Speakers:
Zoë Craig-Sparrow, Vice-President, Justice for Girls
Laritza Diversent, Executive Director, CubaLexCo-Executive Director, We Count!
Gloria Monique de Mees, Commissioner and Rapporteur for People of African Descent, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Claudia Navarro, Co-Executive Director, We Count!
Carlos Quesada, Executive Director, International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights
9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Peru: Impacts of organized crime on citizen security (IACHR Hearing) (Lakeside Expo Center)
11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Regional: Transactional responses for the protection of children in human mobility (IACHR Hearing) (Lakeside Expo Center)
11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Report: Violence against indigenous peoples and Afro-descendants on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua (IACHR Parallel Event) (Lakeside Auditorium)
12:45 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Lunch Panel: The Environment and Human Rights (Lakeside Auditorium)
Moderator: Ileana Porras, Senior Lecturer, University of Miami School of Law
Speakers:
Talbert Cypress, Chairman, Miccosukee Business Council
Charles Jalloh, Professor of Law, Richard A. Hausler Chair, University of Miami School of Law
Marcos Orellana, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights; Assistant Professor at American University Washington College of Law
Javier Palummo Lantes, Special Rapporteur on Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights (REDESCA), Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Gabriela Valentín Díaz, Staff Attorney, Earth Rights International
2:15 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.
United States: Impact of fiscal policies on access to housing (IACHR Hearing) (Lakeside Expo Center)
4:15 p.m. – 5:45 p.m.
Colombia: Situation of the territories in Chocó (IACHR Hearing) (Lakeside Expo Center)
6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Closing Panel (Lakeside Auditorium)
Moderator: Tamar Ezer, Acting Co-Director, Human Rights Clinic; Faculty Director, Human Rights Program; Lecturer in Law, University of Miami School of Law
Speakers:
Andrea Pochak, Commissioner, First Vice-President, and Rapporteur for Human Mobility, Memory, Truth, and Justice, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Robert Robinson, Senior Advisor, Partners for Dignity and Rights; Lecturer, Parsons New School University
Katya Salazar, Executive Director, Due Process of Law Foundation
Sophia Ward, Editor-in-Chief, University of MiamiInternational & Comparative Law Review
Regional: Situation of lawyers (IACHR Hearing) (Lakeside Expo Center)
11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Regional: Fiscal and economic policies to address poverty and structural inequality (Ex Officio) (IACHR Hearing) (Lakeside Expo Center)
2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Brazil: Situation of indigenous LGTBI people (IACHR Hearing) (Lakeside Expo Center)
4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Venezuela: Follow-up on precautionary measures for detained and disappeared persons in the post-electoral context (IACHR Hearing) (Lakeside Expo Center)
