International Human Rights.
Many people
around the world are subject to governmental abuses of authority
and violations of their human rights. Often their best hope of
protection rests on international human rights law, which, though
still comparatively fragile, has been greatly strengthened since
World War II.
If that
process is to continue, there must be greater knowledge and
expertise about the scope and function of human rights standards.
Although some U.S. law schools offer courses in international human
rights law, full-scale programs covering the field are rare. This
year Harvard University Law School was granted $300,000 to
establish a teaching and research program in international human
rights law. Harvard will initiate several new courses covering such
topics as economic and social rights and immigration and asylum,
and it will also expand an internship program that enables students
to work with public interest and human rights groups.
Other
grants were also directed at generating and disseminating knowledge
about human rights throughout the world. For example, the
Foundation granted $200,000 to the Washington, D.C.-based
International Human Rights Law Group. Working through a network of
pro bono publico lawyers, the Law Group pursues a variety of
activities to advance human rights and to increase awareness of
them among public officials, lawyers, and the public. The grant
will also support a new effort to assist human rights legal centers
in developing countries and a study of the independence of the
judiciary in Central America.
Human
Rights Internet (hri)
received funding to continue providing information on human rights
developments to the expanding network of organizations and
individuals active in the field. It publishes HRI Reporter
and a series of directories describing the work of human rights
organizations in various regions of the world. The grant assisted
hri's relocation to
Cambridge, Mass., where it has become affiliated with the new human
rights program at Harvard Law School.
An effort
to improve human rights in Central America is taking shape under
the auspices of Central American University "Jose Simeon Canas" in
El Salvador. With a two-year Foundation supplement of $260,000, the
university is establishing an institute that will organize a
comprehensive program of research and public education on human
rights conditions in the region. A similar effort was supported
with a $150,000 grant to the newly formed Mexican Academy of Human
Rights, which is conducting research to heighten public
understanding of human rights in Mexico and Central America.
One of the
most respected organizations gathering and disseminating knowledge
on the state of human rights is the U.S. Committee to Monitor the
Helsinki Accords, or Helsinki Watch. The Foundation renewed support
for the group's monitoring of human rights practices in the
thirty-five countries that signed the 1975 Accords. Helsinki Watch
strives to maintain an even-handed attitude toward all the
signatories. For example, it will study Soviet press coverage of
the Afghan war and will also look into accusations that
broadcasting by the Voice of