Apprenticing at the ABA Center for Human Rights

From left to right: Maya Martin Tsukazaki and Rachel Geagea, the two summer/fall 2020 interns for CHR.

By: Maya Martin Tsukazaki and Rachel Geagea

Each semester the American Bar Association Center for Human Rights (CHR) hosts interns from law schools across the U.S. to assist CHR’s work in providing legal assistance to justice defenders globally. CHR greatly benefits from the assistance provided by interns and the students are provided with opportunities to practice human rights advocacy in real terms. If you’re interested in interning with CHR, contact justicedefenders@americanbar.org.

This summer and fall, we worked for the ABA Center for Human Rights (CHR), specifically working with Senior Staff Attorney Waris Husain on projects in South and Southeast Asia. As law students, we were expecting to gain practical experience in research and writing, hoping to explore what it means to practice human rights law. What we gained from this experience exceeded our expectations, as we learned of the variety of methods that can be used to fight for human rights and justice around the globe. During our internships, we were able to work on reports that were presented to governing bodies and sit-in on meetings with stakeholders working with CHR, even in an unusual, remote environment impacted by COVID-19. With research projects spanning five countries and an opportunity to be published in the ABA Journal, it is fair to say that our internships will be a highlight in our law school careers.

Maya Martin Tsukazaki

Having some background in Hindi and South Asian anthropology from my undergraduate degree, I came to this internship with a desire to learn more about human rights work in South Asia. However, I am coming away from this opportunity with a much deeper understanding about specific issues in South and Southeast Asia, as well as effective international advocacy efforts, that I hope to apply in future work and advocacy.

One project I assisted with this fall was editing and contributing to a report on union organizers in Cambodia. Many union activists and organizers are experiencing intimidation tactics from the Cambodian government to deter laborers from unionizing. The ABA Center for Human Rights has been working to inform European decision-makers assessing Cambodia’s trade preference status with the European Union in relation to its respect for human rights. Through this approach, rather than using traditional human rights methods to advocate on behalf of labor unionists, the Center hopes to use economic incentives to pressure the Cambodian government to stop punishing union organizers. This experience showed me how economic incentives and trade sanctions are powerful means of fighting international human rights violations. This project also made me interested in learning more about international labor law in the future, especially in the context of international human rights. Researching changes that have occurred since the onset of COVID-19 was also eye-opening, as laborers and factory workers are particularly vulnerable to the health and economic challenges of the pandemic. I was also able to learn about governance and demographics of Cambodia and the Mekong subregion more broadly.

I have enjoyed my experience as an intern with the Center for Human Rights and the unique work which I have helped create and edit. I admire and appreciate the CHR’s theory of change, which emphasizes giving the support and resources to individuals so that they can utilize their own voice for change, rather than displacing those local voices. After observing other international organizations that focus on imposing agendas or becoming a “voice for the voiceless,” I appreciate that the Justice Defenders program only provides support for human rights defenders who request assistance. The work of CHR empowers individuals to speak from their own lived experiences, helping civil society organizations and human rights defenders reach the channels and platforms necessary to bring about change. Additionally, through this internship, I have also gained substantive knowledge of international human rights mechanisms, as well as issues facing some vulnerable populations in South and Southeast Asia. I hope to utilize the tools and knowledge from this internship in future research and advocacy.

Rachel Geagea

As an intern for CHR, I worked primarily on the Justice Defenders’ South and Southeast Asia portfolio. Coming from an undergraduate background of International Studies from the University of California at San Diego and continuing my education in law school at the University of San Diego, this internship has provided me with invaluable insight of the intersection of public interest and international relations. I feel immensely grateful and more informed because of it.

I was first introduced to the work of the Center during my externship program in DC, where Waris Husain discussed the Center’s workload in Asia and its priorities as a guest speaker in our international law course. Following up on this in-class discussion, I was able to connect with the senior staff attorney to discuss my interests and eventually became an intern for the Center. My work with the Center was primarily research based, providing substantive research for three reports pertaining to the discrimination of the Dalit Caste in Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, as well as cite-checking for a report on bonded labor in the sandstone supply chain in India. Through my assignments, I learned a great deal about the challenges of the Dalit Community in this part of the world. Facing discrimination and persecution in many ways, Dalits, Dalit Lawyers, and Human Rights advocates are confronted with threats of false imprisonment, prejudice in their workplace, unfair prosecutions and trials, and much more.

This learning experience is exactly what is so significant about the work at the ABA’s Center for Human Rights. Education and advocacy are key mediums for lasting change in the field of Human Rights. In order to maintain its position as a reliable source of legal analysis and research, the work that the ABA publishes must be of the highest quality. As an intern, the kinds of projects I was assigned directly fed into the credibility of CHR and its publications.

Through my assignments, I also gained an understanding of the work beyond just providing research for publication. The CHR’s publications are submitted to foreign governments, ambassadors, representatives of key government agencies, and various stakeholders in the private sector who have the power to put an end to human rights violations. In many cases, the CHR reports are the initial incentive to get the ball rolling—not only does the Center engage in “naming and shaming” wrongdoers through these reports, but also pursues a strategy of private negotiations and encouragement for governments to create change based on the report and to protect the rights of human rights defenders. As an intern, I was able to see that up-close—how conversations surrounding the CHR reports are the starting point for meaningful discussions with key players who can initiate change. This crucial, behind-the-scenes work that goes into implementing change is truly making a difference in the lives of countless individuals around the world. Having provided work that contributed to these crucial discussions surrounding the Dalit community is an experience that I will take pride in for the rest of my law school career and beyond.

Conclusion

Change rarely occurs overnight, and most attorneys recognize that justice for human rights violations can be difficult to achieve. In our internships, we learned that the advocacy of human rights attorneys without the involvement of those affected can only go so far. We learned that it is important that attorneys using their platforms and resources to amplify the voices of those in need, the voices of those who have been systemically silenced. We also learned that attorneys in this field use varied and unique strategies in the fight to help justice defenders. Whether it be through more traditional tools like official reports, inter-governmental advocacy, public outreach, or more unique strategies like engaging private corporations in upholding labor standards in governments around the world, forms of human rights advocacy needs to be as diverse as the problems it faces. Effective human rights advocacy uses these varied tools to attack the issue from all angles and works toward the same goal: the protection of human rights defenders around the globe. It is fair to say that our internship experience has exceeded our expectations and has provided us with invaluable knowledge to utilize in our future careers.

About the Authors

Maya Martin Tsukazaki is a 2L at American University Washington College of Law and a first-year M.A. student at AU’s School of International Service. She holds a B.A. from the University of Washington. Maya is particularly interested in labor rights and migrant rights, and she hopes to spend her post-law school career working on the intersection of these issues domestically or internationally.

Rachel Geagea is a 3rd year law student at the University of San Diego School of Law set to graduate in 2021. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree, Cum Laude, in International Studies - History from the University of California, San Diego. When not working as an intern for CHR, Rachel is active in extracurriculars serving as Vice President of USD’s St. Thomas More Society as well as Secretary of USD’s Middle Eastern Law Students Association. Rachel is also a Comment Editor for the San Diego International Law Journal where her comment on antiquities, cultural heritage destruction, and terrorism will be published in the next issue. After law school, Rachel plans to continue working as an advocate for those in need by pursuing public interest law.