Articles

Around the World With Seymour J. Mansfield

Legal News with an International Perspective

Seymour J. Mansfield
Founding Partner

Weissbrodt On International Human Rights
The Twin Cities: A Mega Center For Human Rights Advocacy

We are pleased this month to present the following column: Human Rights Begin at Home in Minnesota by Law Professor David Weissbrodt and his law student research assistant T. Evan Fisher. David is Regents Professor and Fredrikson & Byron Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota Law School.

Much more than that, he is an esteemed and world renowned legal advocate, teacher and scholar of International Human Rights. From 1996 - 2003, he served as a member of the United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and in 2001 -2002, its elected Chairperson. He served as the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the rights of non-citizens for 2000-03. Since 2005, he has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the U.N. Trust Fund for Contemporary Forms of Slavery, and in 2008, he was elected Chairperson of the Board. He founded the world renowned University of Minnesota Human Rights Center and helped establish the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library online—reputed as the largest international human rights library in the world.

He has represented and served as an officer or board member of the Advocates for Human Rights, Amnesty International, the Center for Victims of Torture, the International Human Rights Internship Program, Readers International, and the International League for Human Rights. In recognition of his lifetime human rights achievements, he has received the Twin Cities International Citizen Award; the University of Minnesota Outstanding Community Service Award, and The Advocates for Human Rights 2003 Human Rights Award. David’s co-author is T. Evan (“Thos”) Fisher, J.D. Candidate 2011, University of Minnesota Law School; M.L.A., Southern Methodist University; B.A., University of Texas at Tyler.

David and Thos are currently working with me on the Le Cong Dinh human rights project, previously reported in this column, http://www.mansfieldtanick.com/CM/Articles/Around-the-World-with-Seymour.asp. The latest news is that, in mid-January, Mr. Dinh was convicted by the Vietnamese Government of antigovernment propaganda (for peacefully expressing the benefits of a democratic multi-party system), and has been sentenced to five years in prison, followed by three years house detention. For more information on the trial, see http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20100120/tap-vietnam-rights-trial-8569f9c.html?printer=1.

Working with leading international human rights advocates from around the world, we had previously secured appeals and formal inquiries from various United Nations bodies and the foreign affairs officials of many countries. We also arranged for several independent trial observers to be at the trial, albeit in a separate room via closed circuit television. Le Cong Dinh’s “star chamber” trial and conviction came as no surprise given the sad history of such political prosecutions in Vietnam. Along with those other human rights advocates, we are now launching our next effort to commute or lessen Mr. Dinh’s sentence.

A founding shareholder of Mansfield Tanick & Cohen, P.A., with 40 years of diverse lawyer experience, Seymour Mansfield now focuses on business, complex and class litigation, mediation, executive employment and employee benefits, trade secrets and restrictive covenants, international business law and acts as legal counsel to emerging medical device companies. He is the firm's primary representative to Lawyers Associated Worldwide (LAW), an association of 109 independent commercial law firms located in 57 countries and 148 key cities, comprising over 3500 lawyers worldwide, and served on LAW's Executive Committee (governing board) from 2002 through 2008. LAW empowers our firm to serve the needs of our clients in domestic and foreign markets worldwide.

Human Rights Begin at Home in Minnesota

David Weissbrodt and T. Evan Fisher

Minnesota Human Rights Organizations Think Globally, But Must Work Locally.

Minnesota is famous for cold winters, outdoor activities, wild rice, and human rights. The state is home to many prominent efforts to encourage the development of international human rights law and protect individuals who have suffered violations of their rights. Groups of public interest lawyers, private sector attorneys working pro bono, academics, and countless volunteers have made an impact in the state and across the globe from their Minnesota offices.

Historically, Minnesota political leaders led the state’s charge in the field of human rights. Former Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen was an author of the U.N. Charter, which enshrined certain guarantees of human rights. In 1948, Hubert Humphrey gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention and challenged his party with the words, “The time has arrived in America for the Democratic Party to get out of the shadow of states’ rights and to walk forthrightly into the bright sunshine of human rights.” Congressman Donald Fraser authored the principal law that linked standards of human rights to U.S. foreign aid. Their examples sparked attention to human rights issues in the domestic and international arenas.

Outpost of Amnesty

The modern era of human rights efforts in Minnesota could well be traced to the modest beginnings of the first local group of Amnesty International (AIUSA 37) in 1976. Since its inception, this local group has worked to support Amnesty’s earliest objective of working for the release of prisoners of conscience – men, women, or children imprisoned for the peaceful expression of their beliefs or because of their race, gender or other personal characteristics, many of whom were never charged with a crime.

Although other Minnesota chapters of Amnesty International have followed the lead of AIUSA 37, that single chapter has assisted prisoners held in nations around the world, from Argentina to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and worked on efforts to help death row inmates in southern states of the U.S. As of December 2009, Amnesty International listed 21 different Amnesty International chapters in Minnesota.

Homegrown Efforts

In 1983, the Minnesota Lawyers International Human Rights Committee began working to protect human rights around the world. The group, a Minnesota-based organization founded by Samuel Heins and other local attorneys, was identified from 1992-2009 as Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights and is now known as The Advocates for Human Rights (The Advocates). During the 1980’s, the organization focused on overseas fact-finding and educational missions, sending Minnesota lawyers and other trained volunteers to Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America, and to immigrant detention centers in the southern United States. By 2008, the organization had produced 75 reports documenting human rights abuse in 25 countries. Under the leadership of Robin Phillips and Jennifer Prestholdt, the Advocates is now best known for defending asylum seekers in Minnesota, focusing on the rights of refugees and migrants, and campaigning against domestic violence in Central and Eastern Europe. The Advocates has consultative status with the United Nations and has assisted the development of an international protocol to investigate suspicious deaths, which was formally adopted by the U.N. Economic and Social Council in 1989.

The Advocates’ most recent work on transitional justice involved assisting with U.S. hearings of the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission in St. Paul and other American cities. Additionally, the organization now manages volunteer Minnesota lawyers in handling over 200 asylum cases a year and provides legal services to over 500 clients through the Walk-In Legal Clinic Project, while also submitting amicus briefs on key immigration cases and assisting legislative reform efforts. The Advocates’ educational outreach trains teachers, attorneys, and community leaders as human rights educators and supports a school in Nepal for students who would otherwise be compelled to work as child laborers.

During the early days of the Minnesota Lawyers International Human Rights Committee in 1985, several leading members, including Samuel Heins and Barbara Frey, helped to establish the Center for Victims of Torture (CVT) as an independent non-governmental organization devoted to providing medical, psychological, and rehabilitative care to victims of torture. The first such facility in the United States, CVT has assisted victims both in Minnesota and abroad - in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Jordan, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

Today, CVT is led by Douglas Johnson and Ruth Barrett Rendler and operates with a budget of over $9 million dollars and a staff of over 200 in several nations. In addition to aiding 2,500 victims of torture in 2009 alone, it has actively campaigned against the use of torture by all nations, including the United States. CVT was instrumental in encouraging President Obama to pledge on his second day in office that his administration would not use torture or other ill-treatment against detainees.

Another Minnesota-based organization, the American Refugee Committee (ARC), was founded in 1979 to assist refugees in Southeast Asia, with Stan Breen as its first director. Today, ARC’s programs in Africa and Asia provide health care, shelter, clean water, legal aid, and other services to refugees who are victims of war and civil conflicts. For example, ARC works in refugee camps in war-torn southern Sudan and Darfur, where volunteers provide medical care, clean food and water, and agricultural development assistance.

Human Rights Work at the University of Minnesota

Several of the state’s important efforts to expand protection of international human rights are based in the University of Minnesota. Under the leadership of Arvonne Fraser, the International Women’s Rights Action Watch (IWRAW) was established in 1985 to promote the advancement of the rights enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Elimination against All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the defense of rights for women under other international human rights treaties. Through IWRAW’s shadow reporting and educational publishing and conferences, it has taken a leading role in pressuring governments around the world to respect the rights of women and empowered other non-governmental organizations to join the cause. In 1993, the Minnesota-based group established a sister organization, IWRAW Asia Pacific, which carries the cause of protecting women’s human rights under CEDAW and other sources of international human rights law forward from its headquarters in Malaysia. Under the current leadership of Dr. Marsha A. Freeman, IWRAW is based at the University of Minnesota Law School and is affiliated with the University’s Human Rights Center.

The University of Minnesota Human Rights Center (HRC) was formed in 1988 to provide valuable research tools, training, and support for lawyers and other human rights professionals as well as volunteers from its on-campus Law School offices. Boasting a world class online library (http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/) of human rights treaties and other documents, the HRC provides top-notch research support to human rights activists and organizations around the world. For example, the HRC organized a group of Minnesota lawyers and students to assist with the defense of Guantánamo detainees. In addition, it offers fellowships to students, lawyers, teachers, and community leaders to undertake practical experiences in human rights organizations in Minnesota and around the world. Seymour Mansfield and his family, through The Albert & Anne Mansfield Foundation, are no strangers to supporting the cause of international human rights. They helped fund several seminal projects for The Advocates for Human Rights, including its investigation and report over 15 years ago on the human rights and genocidal abuses in former Yugoslavia—which were helpful in establishing the United Nation’s International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia. Nor are they strangers to the University HRC, having regularly for nearly two decades supported the work of the Center with their time and generosity. The Mansfield Foundation also has for many years funded the HRC human rights fellowships for law students. Most recently, Seymour Mansfield and Prof. Weissbrodt, in collaboration with a team of University law students, have continued to spearhead worldwide efforts to assist Le Cong Dinh, a prominent Vietnamese lawyer unjustly imprisoned by his government for peacefully engaging in pro-democracy speech. See Vietnamese Lawyer Detained and Disbarred For Pro-Democracy Activities, (Summer 2009).

Other University-based human rights activities include the Human Rights Program at the Institute for Global Studies, actively directed by Barbara Frey; the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, founded by the late Steven Feinstein and now headed by Interim Director Ellen J. Kennedy; and the Program in Human Rights and Health.

Protecting Housing Rights from Duluth

Although most international human rights efforts in Minnesota are based in the Twin Cities, the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) chose to expand its international organization by establishing its only United States’ office in Duluth. Founded in the Netherlands and headquartered in Switzerland, COHRE’s advocacy focuses on assisting victims of unlawful or unfair evictions and helping those with inadequate housing, insecure housing, or a lack of basic domestic utilities. In addition to its Swiss headquarters and Duluth branch, COHRE has offices in Africa, South America, Australia, and Asia.

Some of COHRE’s worldwide efforts have included fact-finding missions, strategic litigation on behalf of victims of rights violations, educational efforts, and promotion of legislative changes. From its Duluth office, COHRE advocates argue for changes in domestic law and promote acceptance of housing as a basic human right both in the United States and around the world.

More than Minnesota Nice

While outside characterizations of Minnesotans might evoke images of lumberjacks, hockey players, and colorful politicians like Jesse Ventura and Al Franken, the state can boast of a humanitarian spirit in which many people generously volunteer their time and donate their money to defend the human rights of others at home and across the globe. In addition to the efforts described in more detail above, other Minnesota human rights organizations or more specialized activities include Books for Africa, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Project Tandem, Minnesota International Health Volunteers (WellShare International), and Resource Center for the Americas.

From the defense of death-row inmates and the representation of asylum seekers to efforts to protect rights through legislative efforts and by drafting international norms, Minnesotans have channeled their concerns through effective local organizations to make a difference in the world beyond the borders of the state. International human rights and the civic value of advocacy for the disadvantaged are as much a part of Minnesota culture as ice fishing, apple picking, and eating too much at the Minnesota State Fair.