ECCHR s̓ EduCation PRogRam:suPPoRting tHE FutuRE oF Human RigHts WoRk

Training and neTworking wiTh Lawyers across The worLd Towards a Progressive human righTs aPProach

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4 suPPorTing The FuTure oF human righTs work

6 i. Training The nexT generaTion

10 ii. conTribuTing To buiLding a gLobaL neTwork oF ParTners

16 iii. PromoTing muLTi-disciPLinary aPProaches

19 iv. shaPing The inTernaTionaL human righTs discourse

22 PersonaL noTes

26 imPrinTContEnts

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The Education Program organizes training opportunities and networking events with partners from around the world, in particu­lar with the network of the Bertha Justice Initiative, in order to foster and support a new generation of human rights defen ders with a progressive understanding of the law and a critical political outlook. Thanks to the financial support of the Bertha Foundation, we have been able to significantly advance our Education Program over the last years, as well as to develop various fellowship schemes: the Bertha Fellowships and the Bertha Global Exchange.

»BEing a RadiCal FEmalE laWyER: CHallEngEs and Vision«, ECCHR, oCt. 2014

ECCHR’s vision of lawyering goes be­yond what we learn in law school. We struggle for non­violent and socially just societies, and we consider law to be one of the tools that can help bring this about. Therefore, we pursue a critical, multidis­ciplinary and creative approach to law that takes into account the existing po­litical and economic contexts of human rights violations. Communicating and de­veloping this unique approach is at the heart of ECCHR’s Education Program.

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The educaTion Program works Towards

1. Training The nexT generaTion oF moVEmEnt laWyERs and Human RigHts dEFEndERs, not only in PRoFEssional skills But also in Cutting-EdgE PolitiCal ContExt analysis FoR stRatEgiC lEgal intERVEntion;

2. conTribuTing To buiLding a gLobaL neTwork oF ParTners WHo ExCHangE ExPERtisE and Co-oPERatE on stRatEgiC lEgal intERVEntions to suPPoRt tHE stRugglE FoR Human RigHts and soCial justiCE WoRldWidE;

3. PromoTing muLTi-disciPLinary aPProaches to taCklE ComPlEx PolitiCal and soCioEConomiC issuEs tHat tHE laW alonE Cannot REsolVE;

4. shaPing The inTernaTionaL human righTs dis-course toWaRds a PRogREssiVE intERPREtation oF tHE laW, and disCussing FundamEntal CRi-tiquEs oF tHE laW.

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WoRksHoP on EtHiCal dilEmmas and Human RigHts, aug. 2014

an innovaTive goaL – The vision ThaT comPLemenTs The worktHE CuRRiCulum aims at gEtting tHE PaR-tiCiPants to REFlECt on tHEiR RolE as Human RigHts laWyERs oR dEFEndERs, and to analyzE stRatEgiC litigation FRom a PolitiCal, EConomiC, soCiologiCal, Post-Colonial and FEminist PERsPECtiVE. it mEans undERstanding ouR Vision tHat laW is a PRogREssiVE tool tHat Can suPPoRt soCial CHangE. tHE CuR-RiCulum tHEREFoRE ContRiButEs to sHaPing tHE intERnational lEgal disCouRsE WitH RadiCal analysis.

how?WEEkly lEgal tRaining mEEtings tailoREd PRoFEssional WoRksHoPs stoRytElling WitH REnoWnEd guEsts and PaRtnERs moot CouRts Human RigHts CinEma altERnatiVE Walking touRs

a curriculum in moTion

We provide a unique learning platform – both theoretical and practical – to all our trainees, visiting fellows, volunteers and alumni. The curriculum seeks to encour­age an informed and critical analysis of the pressing legal and socio­political is­sues of our times, and it places the cur­riculum participants at the heart of these processes by getting them involved in the organization and presentation of some of the activities.

At the core is the message that every law­yer can advance human rights by finding creative ways to push the boundaries of law towards social justice.

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an insTiTuTionaL goaL – For susTainabiLiTyECCHR sEEks to EFFECtiVEly tRansmit its Ex-PERt knoWlEdgE, PolitiCal Visions, FiEldWoRk and lEgal PRaCtiCE to tHE nExt gEnERation oF laWyERs, BECausE tHEy aRE ouR PaRtnERs oF tomoRRoW and Will CaRRy out tHE Human RigHts WoRk oF tHE FutuRE.

an educaTionaL goaL – criTicaL LearningPaRtiCiPants lEaRn aBout ouR Foundations: to dEEPEn tHEiR knoWlEdgE and ExPERtisE oF tHE lEgal and PolitiCal tHEoRiEs uPon WHiCH ECCHR is BasEd; and ouR PRaCtiCE: to dEVEloP FiEldWoRk and lEgal PRaCtiCE on ouR RECuR-REnt kEy tHEmEs.

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BERtHa FElloWs alumni: annElEn miCus (FElloW 2012-2014) CaRolijn tERWindt (FElloW 2013-2015) niColas BuEno (FElloW 2014-2015)

CuRREnt BERtHa FElloWs: CHRistian sCHliEmann Hanaa Hakiki alEjandRa muñoz ValdEz

BerTha FellowshiPs a unique asseT

Since 2012, the Bertha Founda­tion has enabled ECCHR to offer two­year fellowships to some of our most talented alumni. Our three alumni and three current fellows are part of the Bertha Justice Initiative network, which encompasses over 120 Bertha Fellows in more than 15 countries worldwide, who all work in organizations practicing public interest law and promot­ing movement lawyering.

During their time at ECCHR, the Bertha Fellows work on projects as team members and benefit from the educational and networking opportunities offered by the global network of the Bertha Justice Initiative.

a selecTion oF 2014 educaTion acTiviTies

mooT courTsOn the Tampakan killings in the Philippines, by Lorita Facchini

Responsibility of Mina Aguilar S.A. for 1976 Crimes in Argentina, by Lisa Bausch

Tailored workshoPs (monThly)

Human Rights Lawyering and its Ethical Dilemmas, by Claudia Müller­Hoff

Pesticides and Agrochemicals: Building a Case on Supply Chains, Bottom up, by Robert Goldspink, International Senior Lawyers Project (ISLP)

Beyond reasonable doubt: Creative collection and presen­tation of ECCHR’s evidence for influence, by Gabi Sobliye and Andrea Figari of Tactical Tech­nology Collective

sToryTelling

Michael Ratner, President Emeritus, Center for Constitutional Rights, USA

Alejandra Ancheita, founder of ProDESC, Mexico

Shawan Jabarin, Director of Al­Haq, Manal Hazzan Abu Sinni, lawyer, and Hamdi Shaqqura, Deputy Director of Palestinian Center for Human Rights, Palestine

legal Training meeTings (weekly)

From the Karachi Fire in Pakistan to the Rana Plaza Collapse in Bangladesh: the Labyrinths of Seeking Account­ability, by Philip Wesche

European Border Policy and Frontex, by Matthias Lehnert

School to Prison Pipeline: Mass Incarceration in the USA, by Eric Eingold

human righTs cinema(Bi-monThly)

William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe (Sarah and Emily Kunstler)

Audre Lorde: The Berlin Years 1984 to 1992 (Dagmar Schultz)i

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nExt gEnERation

10 11annual alumni ConFEREnCE 2013 and 2014

quoTes From ParTiciPanTs

»i tHink (oR i Want to BEliEVE) tHat it᾿s not over yet. i hope the idea of a nEtWoRk FoR idEas ExCHangE Will BE REalizEd.«ParTiciPanT oF selF-organized workshoP »inside The sysTem… now whaT?«, 2013 alumni meeTing

»REFlECtions oF long-tERm moVEmEnt laWyERs ansWEREd my quEstions aBout BRidging CRitiCal lEgal tHEoRy and PRaCtiCE. it lEFt mE insPiREd in tHE nEEd to PERsist«ParTiciPanT oF 2013 alumni meeTing

ecchr alumni neTwork

Anyone who undertakes a traineeship, a global exchange or who works or volunteers for ECCHR is seen as a long­term partner for mutual learning. Together they constitute our network of alumni. A steering

committee of alumni is based in Berlin and provides input for program planning. All those in Berlin are invited to attend workshops and lunch talks. Since 2012 ECCHR has held an annual alumni reunion and conference, tailored to the needs and interests of our alumni, who take an active role in organizing and presenting the events and working groups. Past events

focused on building a career in human rights, brainstorming on emerging issues (e.g. whistle­blowers, migration, environ­mental justice), and political vision and practical tools for radical or movement lawyer­ing. Working groups and panels with international expert guests included many colleagues from the Bertha Justice Initiative network.

since 2008: more Than 300 young ProFessionals From 35 counTries

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BERtHa gloBal ExCHangE FElloWs moHamEd alalami FRom tHE PalEstinian CEntER FoR Human RigHts and mElaniE aEBli FRom tHE assoCiation oF sWiss dEmoCRatiC laWyERs, and ECCHR tEam at ECCHR, dEC. 2014

BerTha gloBal exchange Fellows

A program of »Global Exchange« fellows was made possible by the Bertha Foundation. It enables ECCHR to invite colleagues from partner organizations to join us in Berlin for a direct exchange between equal partners. Global Exchange Fellows stay in our office for two to five months and are actively involved in our casework. Through this program,

ECCHR, as an organization based in the Global North, has built personal trust­based relation­ships for collaborative lawyering and learning with partners from other parts of the world. Fellows usually help develop projects or cases for joint casework. Follow­ing their stay in Berlin, they often become our contact persons for collaboration with their home organizations. Since 2013 we have hosted part­ners from Malaysia, India, China, Colombia, Spain, Switzerland, Palestine and the Philippines.

zHaRmai gaRCia, CEntERlaW, PHiliPPinEs

taHsEEn Elayan, al-Haq, PalEstinE

moHamEd alalami, PalEstinian CEntER FoR Human RigHts, PalEstinE

mElaniE aEBli, dEmokRatisCHE juRist_innEn, sWitzERland

RoCío moREno sánCHEz,

oBsERVatoRio dEsC and BoyE-ElBal y asoCiados, sPain

ViViana RodRíguEz PEña, sisma mujER, ColomBia

sankaR Pani, natuRal justiCE, india

ana maRía moRa aRango, ColECtiVo dE aBogados josé alVEaR REstREPo (CajaR) & CoR-PoRaCión PoPulaR

tEjEdoREs dE dERE-CHos, ColomBia

sVEtlana CoRREya, Human RigHts laW nEtWoRk (HRln), india

qiao CongRui, FoRum FoR intER-national CRiminal and HumanitaRian laW (FiCHl), CHina

sHakuntHala sHun-mugam, PEstiCidE aCtion nEtWoRk asia-PaCiFiC (Pan aP), malaysia

gloBal ExCHangE FElloWs 2013-2015

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WomEn WoRking gRouP oF tHE BERtHa justiCE initiatiVE, FiRst gatHERing in BERlin, ECCHR, oCt. 2014

Building on The BerTha JusTice iniTia-Tive neTwork

The Bertha Justice Initiative brings together 16 organizations that practice public interest and human rights litigation across the world. ECCHR seeks to build on this unique potential for developing joint work and to increase the collaborating capacities amongst all partners.In the last few years, ECCHR has conducted transnational collaborative case work and explorations with members of this network, including the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR, USA), Colectivo de Abogados José Alvear Restrepo (CAJAR, Colombia), the Human Rights Law Network (HRLN, India), Proyecto de Derechos Económicos Sociales y Culturales (ProDESC, Mexico), the Foundation for Fundamental Rights (Pakistan), Center for International Law (CenterLaw, Philippines), the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI, Haiti) / Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR, Palestine).Also on the institutional level, ECCHR is increasingly interconnected with its interna­tional colleagues.

Since 2012, Alejandra Ancheita of ProDESC and Colin Gonsalves of HRLN have been members of ECCHRʼs Advisory Board. ECCHRʼs General Secretary Wolfgang Kaleck, in turn, is a member of the international boards of ProDESC and CAJAR.

»Being a radical Female lawyer« ecchr hosTs BerTha inTerna-Tional educa-Tion exchange

Empowering human rights lawyers via mutual learning is essential in order to better tackle the challenges that women face in a male­dominated profession and in patriarchal, gender norma­tive, capitalist­driven and racist societies.

Building on the potential of the Bertha Justice Initiative, ECCHR organized an education exchange in October 2014 and hosted a group of 15 female lawyers of that network, many of them Bertha Fellows, hailing from 9 countries across 5 different con­tinents. During this gathering, we created the »Women Working Group« of the Bertha network.

ECCHR’s Education Program presented the group with a mix of professional training, theore­tical debates, public discussion panel, safe­space talks and tours, in order to better advance cutting­edge gender issues in our casework and work life, both at a personal and professi­onal level.

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we examined 36 representative cases of sexualized violence that occurred in Colombia between 2002 and 2011. The conclusion: sexual assaults carried out in the course of the armed conflict are not isolated incidents but instead form part of the military strategy and are crimes against humanity . ECCHR, Sisma and CAJAR maintain that investiga­tions by the ICC could serve to strengthen the peace process in Colombia.

amicus BrieF suPPorTing hrln’s liTigaTion in india

ECCHR is supporting a public interest petition by HRLN to the Indian Supreme Court regarding the responsibility of clinical trial sponsors. Carolijn Terwindt, Bertha alumna, who leads the project, researched and drafted the amicus brief that was sub­mitted in February 2014.

Background: in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh 24,000 girls aged 10–14 were vaccinated against the human papilloma virus (HPV), which can cause cervical cancer. The vaccines were provided by the phar­maceutical companies Glaxo­SmithKline (UK) and Merck (USA). A parliamentary inquiry committee concluded that they were conducted without proper informed consent or monitor­ing. Women’s health activists are now seeking accountability and HRLN has brought a public interest petition to the Court on their behalf. The case gives the Indian Supreme Court the opportunity to address the obli­gations of the trial sponsors and manufacturers.In August 2014, the Indian Supreme Court admitted ECCHR’s amicus brief to the proceedings and issued notice

to the pharmaceutical companies asking for specific details on the trials.

cenTerlaw and ecchr PeTiTion For comPensaTion For sexual slavery during wwii

Since 2004 our partner organiza­tion CenterLaw has represented 70 members of the Malaya Lolas, a survivors’ organization of women who were forced into prostitution in the course of the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during World War II. The Malaya Lolas are calling on the Philippine government to support their compensation claim against Japan.ECCHR and CenterLaw submit­ted a petition to the Philippine Supreme Court in August 2013, calling for individual compensation. In August 2014, however, the Supreme Court of the Philippines denied this petition, without addressing obligations under international law in this regard. ECCHR and CenterLaw are currently con­sidering to further support the Malaya Lolas in bringing their claim to the UN level.

exPerT oPinion in suPPorT oF haiTian cholera vicTims rePre-senTed By Bai / idhJ

In October 2014, ECCHR and other experts presented amicus briefs on the limits of the United Nation’s legal immunity as part of oral hearings in New York. The Southern District Court is examining a case taken by a group of Haitians, represented by Bertha Justice Initiative partners Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI) and Insti­tute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), who are accusing the international community

of triggering the outbreak of cholera in Haiti and are call­ing for compensation. In the opinion, ECCHR and European academics explain that in the European legal sphere, inter­national organizations are not entitled to unlimited immunity before national courts.

sTanding By our colleagues

aleJandra ancheiTa: marTin ennals laureaTe 2014

»Together, we discussed what we, as Alejandra Ancheita’s international colleagues, could do to support her work and pro­tect her: Alejandra has suffered death threats and a concerted campaign of vilification because of the work she has been doing with ProDESC, a Bertha Justice Initiative partner organization, with migrants, workers and in­digenous communities in Mexico. The Bertha Justice Initiative endorsed the nomination and we are all thrilled that Alejandra was selected as the 2014 Martin Ennals Laureate,« said Wolfgang Kaleck when Alejandra Ancheita of ProDESC received the Martin Ennals Award in 2014. She was nominated by Wolfgang Kaleck, as a result of discussions with her, with colleagues at ECCHR – Alejandra is a member of ECCHR’s Advisory Board – and with partners within the Bertha Justice Initiative.

JoinT case work

ccr-ecchr: Ten years oF acTion againsT us TorTure

For more than a decade, CCR, ECCHR and – before ECCHR was established – Wolfgang Kaleck, have worked to bring perpetrators of torture in the context of the so­called »war on terror« to justice in European courts. We filed and prepared individual criminal complaints against high­ranking US offi­cials, including former President George W. Bush, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and former CIA Director George Tenet, in Germany, Switzerland and France, and we are involved in pending legal proceedings in Spain and France concerning Guantánamo.

In a case seeking to hold US of­ficials accountable for the torture and other serious mistreatment of three French citizens formerly detained at Guantánamo, the Chambre de l’instruction de la Cour d’appel de Paris ordered a lower court in April 2015 to summon former Guantánamo Commander Geoffrey D. Miller to explain his role in the abuse. ECCHR and CCR are supporting the appeal, which was filed by our colleague William Bourdon on behalf of the former detainees.

Spain has drastically limited the scope of universal jurisdic­tion over the past years. This led to the suspension of the investigations into torture at the US detention center in Guan­tánamo. In these proceedings, ECCHR represents German­born Murat Kurnaz, an innocent man detained at Guantánamo for five years. We closely coordinate our work with CCR, who represent other former detainees, and with

our colleague Gonzalo Boyé, who handles ECCHR and CCR cases locally. On October 19, 2015, ECCHR hosted former Guantánamo detainees Murat Kurnaz and Mourad Benchellali, together with their lawyers and representatives from the CCR, Amnesty International, and Hu­man Rights Watch. The purpose of the workshop was to discuss litigation strategies and the status of ongoing proceedings in Spain, France and Germany. Kurnaz from Bremen (Germany) and Benchellali from Lyon (France) were detained and tor­tured in Guantánamo for several years. They have since been seeking accountability for those responsible for their suffering.

challenging imPuniTy in colomBia wiTh caJar and ParTners

In 2012, CAJAR, the Colombian national trade union confedera­tion CUT, and ECCHR submitted a joint communication to the In­ternational Criminal Court (ICC). In the petition, we analyzed the systematic persecution and killing of human rights defen ders in Colombia and came to the conclusion that it amounts to a crime against humanity. One em­blematic case is that of Luciano Romero, Nestle worker and trade unionist, who was killed by paramilitaries in 2005, after being labelled a »guerrillero« by the local Nestle subsidiary.

The ICC has for some time been conducting preliminary investigations in Colombia, and in April 2015 we also brought the topic of sexual­ized violence in the country to the Court’s attention. ECCHR, together with the Colombian organizations Sisma Mujer and CAJAR, submitted a commu­nication to the ICC, in which

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legal Traineesalgeria, argentina, armenia, austria, australia, Bolivia, Chile, Cyprus, germany, France, greece, united kingdom, iran, ireland, italy, Cameroon, Canada, Colombia, mexico, new zealand, netherlands, norway, Poland, Russia, sweden, switzerland, slovakia, spain, sri lanka, south africa, tajikistan, usa, uzbekistan, Venezuela

gloBal exchangeChina, Colombia, india, malaysia, Palestine, Philippines, spain, switzerland

inTernaTional Business & human righTs workshoP ParTiciPanTs and ParTnersargentina, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Cameroon, Chad, Colombia, Congo Brazzaville, ghana, guatemala, Honduras, india, indonesia, malaysia, mexico, nicaragua, Peru, Philip-pines, sierra leone, south africa, zambia

BerTha JusTice iniTiaTiveBertha Foundation, uk - Bai/ijdH, Haiti – CajaR, Colombia – Center for applied legal studies, south africa - Center for Constitutional Rights, usa - Centerlaw, Philippines - Earth Rights international, usa - Equal Education law Center, south africa - Foundation for FundamentalRights, Pakistan – Human Rights law network, india – legal Resources Centre, south africa - PCHR, Palestine - Palestinian Center for Human Rights, mexico – socio- Economic Rights institute, south africa

cooPeraTing universiTiesleiden university law Clinics, netherlands - Emory school of law, usa - goldsmiths university, Centre for Research architecture, uk - Hertie school of governance, germany - Humboldt university law Clinics, Berlin, germany

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rights lawyers. in these writings they deconst-ruct the strict parame-ters of their profession

to build a personal and multilayered approach that explains their po-litical vision and why they do the work they do. they let the lawyer speak to the politician, the victim to the per-petrator, the human rights defender to her daughter.«

human righTs cinema and walking Tours

Our Human Rights Cinema is an expression of our commitment to a multi­disciplinary approach to human rights work. Where the law is at a loss, films may be a viable medium to draw atten­tion to an issue, and the emerging debate then has the potential to channel forces for creative solutions. Legal trainees often initiate debates or training meet­ings around a chosen documen­tary or feature film. ECCHR is also setting up regular alterna­tive city walking tours tailored around progressive topics such as anti­colonialism, workers and protest movements, women activists, or lobby control.

The Power oF FilmECCHR produces and colla­borates on the production of short films, often together with the Education Program and its alumni.

»aBouT us«, ecchr, 2015

ECCHR’s »About Us« video was realized with the contributions of 27 individuals who represent ECCHR’s community: its staff, board members, cooperating attorneys, legal trainees, alumni, Bertha fellows and Global Ex­change fellows.

»a huB For human righTs lawyering«, By chris PaTz and ecchr, 2015

Berlin serves as a passionate hub where ECCHR’s communi­ty of partners, including lawyers of the Bertha Justice Initiative and ECCHR’s growing network of alumni, reflect together on the purpose and challenges of pursuing social justice, as well as the political and personal meanings of »human rights lawyering«.

moHamEd alalami (PCHR, PalEstinE), and taHsEEn Elayan (al Haq, PalEstinE)

luis guillERmo (CajaR, ColomBia), and alEjandRa anCHEita (PRodEsC, mExiCo)

Colin gonsalVEs (HRln, india) and VinCE WaRREn (CCR, usa)

andREa dini modigliani, ClaiRE tixEiRE, qiao CongRui, miCHaEl RatnER, mElaniE aEBli, WolFgang kalECk

Forensic archiTecTure

One of ECCHR’s most experi­mental collaborations so far has been with experts from Forensic Architecture, a research project at the Faculty of Architecture at Goldsmith University London, which assembled a multidiscip­linary group of spatial prac­titioners – architects, artists, and filmmakers. Together they undertook research that gathered architectural evidence within the framework of international humanitarian law and human rights. The project created a visualization of a drone strike in Pakistan, which ECCHR handled as a legal case, and used computer animation to reconst­ruct the strike with the support of the widow of a man killed in the attack, represented by ECCHR. The project sought to explore the potential that foren­sics might offer to independent organizations when it comes to investigating and presenting injustice in its broader political context. The virtual reconstruc­tion of the event was part of the Forensis exhibition in the Haus

der Kulturen der Welt, a historic cultural venue in Berlin. The exhibit was accompanied by a series of expert talks, including with ECCHR, on the use of forensics to challenge global power structures.

unBowed: Poems and leTTers By women oF The BerTha JusTice iniTiaTive

Lawyers writing poems and letters and publishing them as a collective of women was made possible in this ECCHR­coordi­nated publication of the Bertha Justice Initiative’s Women Working Group. The bilingual English­Spanish collection »Unbowed – Erguida« includes contributions from the London­based Bertha Foundation, CALS in South Africa, CAJAR in Colombia, CenterLaw in the Philippines, EarthRights Interna­tional Peru, LRC in South Africa, ProDESC in Mexico, SERI in South Africa and ECCHR.

»the authors decided to form their own collec-tive. they expressed the need to stop putting specific things in specific boxes. Human rights law belongs to law. gender oppression belongs to gender issues. Political vision belongs to poli-tics. music belongs to art. love, pain, fear, joy usually remain priva-te. But we are whole and we are complex. We don’t always want to compart-mentalize what we are looking at or who we are, for that is limiting. this publication is an effort to do away with these boxes and to give a more authentic testimony.the authors are human

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ParTnering universiTies

Since the foundation of the or­ganization, we have consistently expanded our collaboration with universities in the spheres of education and project develop­ment. Our knowledge­sharing efforts are centered on joint lectures, seminars and symposia. We also co­organize a number of projects in which law students prepare dossiers for ECCHR or complete the practical element of their Law Clinic studies with us.

universiTy oF dresden

In spring 2015, ECCHR provided a seminar to students of Dresden University in Germany on »Strategic human rights litigati­on from a practitioner’s perspec­tive« where ECCHR staff gave firsthand impressions of strategic human rights litigation and the difficulties and challenges involved. In the course of the seminar they »took the law out of the books« and explored how different legal mechanisms can be used by legal practitioners to obtain redress for victims and to promote structural changes. The participants worked on case stu­dies arising from ECCHR’s work in our programs on »International Crimes and Accountability« and »Business and Human Rights.«

herTie school oF governance, Berlin

Since February 2015 Dr. Miriam Saage­Maaß, Vice Legal Direc­tor at ECCHR and coordinator of the »Business and Human Rights« Program, together with Prof. Dr. Anke Hassel, has been running a course at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin on »Strategies for Legal Intervention for Social Change

in Global Supply Chains«. The weekly course offers students an overview of working conditions and abuses in the textile industry, an introduction to transnational legal intervention as well as practical training.

leiden universiTy, kalshoven-gieskes Forum on inTernaTional humaniTarian law

In March 2015, Leiden Law Clinic finalized the case note »IHL violations in Israel and Gaza during Operation Protective Edge (8 July–26 August 2014)« for ECCHR. The 145­page document provides thorough research and legal analysis of the alleged violations of the laws of armed conflict committed by both sides during Operation Protective Edge, the latest offensive conducted in the Gaza Strip by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), from 8 July to 26 August 2014, which resulted in an unprecedented death toll.

euroPean universiTy insTiTuTe (eui), Florence

Two ECCHR alumni, Vivian Kube and Cécile Bénoliel, who are currently pursuing PhDs at the EUI in Florence, Italy, are also active members of the EUI Subgroup on Clinical Legal Edu­cation and Strategic Litigation (the »CLE Project«). The aim of the CLE Project is to establish a strategic litigation law clinic at EUI. In March, Wolfgang Kaleck traveled to Florence to give an expert talk at the EUI campus on »Clinical education, strategic litigation and business and human rights«.

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»women. radical. lawyers«, By chris PaTz and ecchr, 2015

In this film, we are let into the Bertha network female lawy­ers’ hearts and minds and their efforts to empower women in the human rights and legal profession. We learn how they live and understand feminism, apply it in their work, and align it with their political vision. This film was shot in Berlin by ECCHR alumnus and filmmaker Christopher Patz during the first gathering of the Bertha Justice Initiative’s Women Working Group in October 2014.

lisa CHamBERlain (Cals, soutH aFRiCa) and EtHEl aVisado (CEntERlaW, PHiliPPinEs)

»Tackling The accounTa-BiliTy gaP«, 2015

This film provides a practical guide to the legal tools available to hold pesticide companies accountable for health and environmental damage caused by the indiscriminate use of their products. Shot in Dehra­dun, India, in March 2015, the film shows lawyers, activists, doctors, scientists and farmers

reflecting their experiences and discussing which national and international mechanisms can be used to demand changes in the pesticide industry.

CHRistian sCHliEmann, ECCHR BERtHa FElloW and CaRolijn tERWindt, BERtHa FElloW alumna, ECCHR staFF

iii. PRomoting

multi-disCiPlinaRy

aPPRoaCHEs

FaRmER in PunjaB (india)

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struggled for, imagined in new ways.«david kennedy: The inTernaTional human righTs movemenT – ParT oF The ProBlem?

»Can the subaltern speak? What must the elite do to watch out for the conti-nuing construction of the subaltern?«gayaTri chakravorTy sPivak: can The suBalTern sPeak?

»to what extent do our depictions and actions marginalise or silence these groups and mask our own complicities? What social and institutional power relationships do these representations, even those aimed at ›em-powerment‹, set up or neglect?[…]although done with the best intention in the world, the ›global apartheid‹ – on one side white knowledgeable ex-perts and on the other side black victims who need saving – re-enacts and perpetuates the ci-vilizing mission of the past centuries.«TshePo madlingozi: on TransnaTio-nal JusTice enTrePreneurs and The ProducTion oF vicTims

arTicle exTracT

»towards genuine trans-national Collaboration between Human Rights activists from the glo-bal north and the global south« By aleJandra ancheiTa, Prodesc (mexico) and caroliJn TerwindT, ecchr (neTherlands / germany), ForschungsJournal soziale Bewe-gungen, ForThcoming January 2016

the authors maintain that to build genuine colla-boration, it is neces-sary to reflect on the perpetuation of colonial attitudes, to construct a common framework despite different cultural under-standings, and identify the inequality of those in different positions. […]However when not enough attention is paid to the obstacles to genuine collaboration it leaves scholars, practitioners and organizations funding transnational collabora-tion with a false im-pression that such things are easy and simple to achieve. the contrary is true. Counterparts invol-ved in transnational work face many challenges. understandably, issues of personal and structural power and privilege are generally rather conve-niently ignored within such coalitions, instead of addressed openly in potentially uncomfor-table discussions. this article is opening up one such discussion on these challenges. While we do not claim to have any fi-nal answers, this article

aims to be a start; pro-posing concrete sugges-tions for addressing the challenges ahead.[…]it is suggested that to achieve a more egalitarian, democratic, sustainable and effective transnational collabora-tion, a constant negot-iation of understanding is needed, to identify inequalities between coa-lition partners, identify their different political and institutional inte-rests, and to construct a common framework.

The TheoreTical criTique – From classics To conTemPorary

As an organization based in Europe that works closely with partners from around the world, ECCHR’s internal discussions are guided by considerations of global (im)balances of power. In our struggle we use the law as a tool, and the injustices we confront are a reflection of the current social order based on neoliberal capitalism and hege­monic structures that continue to be influenced by colonialism and patriarchy. Thus, in order to devise successful strategies, it is important to look both at and beyond the law. This task requires an ongoing exchange on our part that brings together experiences from different socio­cultural contexts and input from disciplines other than law.

In November 2014, to mark our alumni reunion and week of events, the Education Program put together a 270 page reader presenting classical and con­temporary writings that provide ECCHR with a framework for debate around the boundaries and possibilities of law and joint interventions. It includes works from Gayatri Spivak, Makau Mutua, David Kennedy, Martti Koskenniemi, B.S. Chimni, Sonja Buckel and Andreas Fischer­Lescano, and Tshepo Madlingozi, as well as a list of further recommended readings, from Karl Marx to Rasulov Akbar and Angela Davis.

The selected readings were designed to give an overview of political and economic theories that have influenced ECCHR’s analysis as well as of

legal scholarly articles that offer critical views on the system we operate in. The more recent articles look concretely at inter­national law from postmodern or deconstructivist, postcolonial, and feminist angles.

»Between equal rights, force decides«, said karl marx, describing the antinomy of law in antagonistic situations of capitalist produc-tion relations, in which ›law (stands) against law‹. He here addresses a question that lies at the centre of all criti-cal legal theories: what violence is blurred in the medium of the conce-alment mechanism called ›law‹?«sonJa Buckel and andreas Fischer-lescano: gramsci reconsidered – hegemony in gloBal law

»the human rights mo-vement is marked by a damning metaphor. the grand narrative of human rights contains a sub-text that depicts an epochal contest pit-ting savages, on the one hand, against victims and saviors, on the other.«makau muTua: savages, vicTims and saviours – The meTaPhor oF human righTs

»[…] the international human rights movement often acts as if it knows what justice means, always and for every-one – all you need to do is adopt, implement, interpret these rights. But justice is not like that. it must be built by people each time,

iV. sHaPing tHE

intERnational Human

RigHts disCouRsE

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son

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maRiE BadaRnE

BadaRnE@ECCHR.Eu

+49 (0)30 40 60 71 57

ClaiRE tixEiRE

tixEiRE@ECCHR.Eu

+49 (0)30 40 63 75 20

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imPr

inT Published by:

European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights e.V. (ECCHR) General Secretary Wolfgang Kaleck (accountable in accordance with German Press Law) Zossener Str. 55–58, Aufgang DD ­ 10961 BerlinTel: +49 (0) 30 40 04 85 90Fax: +49 (0) 30 40 04 85 92info@ecchr.euwww.ecchr.eu

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