The Future of Human Rights

The Samuel Dash Conference on Human Rights

April 8, 2008, 8:30am – 4:30pm

About This Event

With the impending presidential election and start of a new administration, the time is ripe for a reexamination of key issues in human rights and the role of the United States in the promotion of human rights around the world. This conference promises to provide the signal opportunity to engage in that reflection with major figures in the fields of international relations and human rights as well as politics, journalism, and academia.

This year's Samuel Dash Conference on Human Rights is co-sponsored by the Center for American Progress and Georgetown University Law Center. This daylong event will include Secretary Albright's insights into how the United States can best advance human rights and ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo speaking on "The Role of the International Criminal Court in Preventing Mass Atrocities." It will also mark the launch of a new book, The Future of Human Rights: U.S. Policy for a New Era, designed to provide a blueprint for the next President's human rights policies.

Keynote address, Introduction and Welcoming Remarks

"Restoring America's Credibility: Human Rights Policy for a New Administration"
Honorable Madeleine Albright, Principal, The Albright Group; former U.S. Secretary of State

• Read Madeline Albright's full remarks (pdf)

John D. Podesta, President and Chief Executive Officer, Center for American Progress
Bill Schulz, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress

 

Panel I: How Should the U.S. Deal with the Human Rights Abuses of Partners and Allies?

Discussants:
Steve Coll, President and CEO, New America Foundation
James Sasser, former U.S. Ambassador to China
John Shattuck, CEO, John F. Kennedy Library Foundation; former U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic
Jennifer L. Windsor, Executive Director, Freedom House

Moderated by:
Brian Katulis, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress

• Read the full transcript of this panel (pdf)

 

Lunch Discussion

 

Keynote address:

"The Role of the International Criminal Court in Preventing Mass Atrocities"

 Introduction by: Justice Richard Goldstone

Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court

• Read Luis Moreno Ocampo's full remarks (pdf)

 

Panel II: Introducing Social and Economic Rights into U.S. Policy

Discussants:
Raymond Offenheiser, President, Oxfam America
Leonard Rubenstein, President, Physicians for Human Rights
Margaret Roggensack, Policy Director, Free the Slaves
Eric Schwartz, Executive Director, Connect US

Moderated by:
Jane Stromseth, Professor of Law and Director of the Human Rights Institute, Georgetown University Law Center

•  Read the full transcript of this panel (pdf)

Special Tribute to Representative Tom Lantos (D-CA)

 

Location

Georgetown University Law Center
Hart Auditorium
600 New Jersey Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20001
Please use 2nd St. entrance

The annual Samuel Dash Conference on Human Rights was established in honor of the late Professor Samuel Dash by his family and friends, Georgetown Law alumni, and the law firm of Cozen O'Connor to honor Professor Dash's contributions to the protection of human rights and civil liberties. Professor Dash, who joined the Georgetown Law faculty in 1965, served on the board of directors of the International League of Human Rights and, in this capacity, carried out human rights missions to Northern Ireland, the Soviet Union, and Chile. He was the first American permitted by South Africa to visit Nelson Mandela in prison and was involved in the mediation efforts that eventually led to Mandela's release. In addition, Professor Dash was chief counsel of the Senate Watergate Committee. The annual Samuel Dash Conference on Human Rights is a cornerstone project of Georgetown University Law Center's Human Rights Institute.

Georgetown University Law Center is one of the world's premier law schools. It has the largest full-time faculty in the nation and is pre-eminent in several areas, including constitutional, international, tax, and clinical law. Drawing on its Jesuit heritage, it has a strong tradition of public service and is dedicated to the principle that law is but a means, justice is the end. With this principle in mind, Georgetown Law has built an environment that cultivates an exchange of ideas and the pursuit of academic excellence. It brings together an extraordinarily varied group of teachers, scholars and practitioners, as well as an outstanding student body representing more than 60 countries. For more information about the Law Center, visit www.law.georgetown.edu.

Georgetown University Law Center's Human Rights Institute coordinates and promotes the Law Center's diverse human rights-related programs and activities. Among other things, it brings prominent scholars and practitioners to the Law Center to present their work, organizes major human rights symposia, convenes off-the-record discussions between human rights leaders and governmental decision-makers, supports student advocacy initiatives, and coordinates fellowships for students interested in human rights. It works closely with the Law Center's distinguished faculty, excellent human rights clinics, student-led human rights groups, and journals that publish on human rights topics. The Human Rights Institute is delighted to be able to organize and host the annual Samuel Dash Conference on Human Rights. For more information on the Institute's work, see www.humanrightsinstitute.net.