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The Program in International Human Rights Law at IU McKinney will speak at the United Nations Human Rights Council hearing on March 15. Two 3Ls, Elizabeth Halodik, and Analiese Smith, have been nominated by the program to present statements on alleged human rights violations of the U.S. at Guantanamo Bay during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 The first report was written by students in Professor Edwards’ Fall 2020 International Criminal Law class, along with students and faculty from Chulalongkorn University Faculty of Law in Bangkok, Thailand, and the Auckland University of Technology School of Law in Auckland, New Zealand. Students in Professor Edwards’ Spring 2021 International Criminal Law class worked with the same international partners to file a shadow report February 1 regarding the prisoners’ treatment. A third report is set to be filed by the group on February 24, leading up to the March 15 hearing.

All three reports allege the United States has committed and continues to perpetrate six specific human rights violations against Guantanamo Bay prisoners, including arbitrary prolonged detention, torture, denial of health rights, interference with privacy and family life, denial of a fair trial, and denial of remedies for human rights violations.  The reports allege the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these violations.

The three reports are submitted as part of a UN processed called the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). Every five years, each UN member country must report to the Human Rights Council about how their country is complying with its international human rights law obligations. The U.S. is appearing for its third UPR, also known as the 2020 cycle; the first two cycles were in 2010 and 2015. The council can use these reports as it formulates questions for U.S. government officials about the country’s human rights practices, and as the council makes recommendations related to human rights conditions.

Preparation for the 2020 reporting cycle began in 2019 and hearings were to have taken place in 2020. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020 and hearings were postponed to November 2020 because of the crisis. This gave Professor Edwards’ students’ reports the opportunity to include findings related to COVID-19 in their reporting on conditions for Guantanamo Bay prisoners.

Professor Edwards noted the students taking part in this project are learning while making a contribution. “While working on this Guantanamo project, students from Thailand, New Zealand, and Indiana develop research, writing, and oral presentation skills, all of which are important parts of a legal education,” he said. “This experiential work – providing students valuable practical law experience – also benefits other stakeholders, such as victims of human rights violations. Our students’ reports inform governments, who may accept the suggestions our students make, and inform the UN as it oversees human rights compliance in countries around the globe. This experiential project builds on other Guantanamo work performed by our students and faculty from Thailand, New Zealand, and Indiana. We have had Guantanamo-related filings before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and for U.S. military commission held at Guantanamo, and have prepared manuals as part of the projects that appear on our Gitmo Observer website – https://gitmoobserver.com/.”

The U.S. hearing, which will take place via Zoom, is scheduled for 9 a.m. to noon EDT on March 15, which is 3 to 6 p.m. in Geneva, Switzerland, where this hearing will be based at the UN European Headquarters.