News Archive

May 19 will be an evening of celebration at Inlow Hall. IU McKinney’s Program in International Human Rights Law (PIHRL) will celebrate its 26th anniversary, the Guantanamo Projects will mark their 20^th anniversary, and the law school family will honor Professor George Edwards who retires at the end of the 2022-2023 academic year.

Founded in 1997 by Professor Edwards, the program has embarked on an extraordinary range of global activities, including over 250 intern placements in more than 75 countries on six continents. Students work with private human rights organizations, governmental bodies, and the United Nations. In addition, dozens of McKinney students, faculty, staff, and alumni have gone to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Ft. Meade, Maryland, to monitor Guantanamo Military Commission hearings.

Professor Edwards said he hopes PIHRL’s work continues after his retirement. “Our IU McKinney students, faculty, staff, and graduates have touched so many lives here at the law school, on our campus, at Indiana University, in Indianapolis and in our state of Indiana, across the United Nations, and indeed around the globe.”

Among the many projects PIHRL has undertaken are:

• 21 official Shadow Reports to the United Nations. Many IU McKinney students have presented such reports on the floor of United Nations meetings in New York City.
• Working on teams representing persons charged before international criminal tribunals, such as Slobodan Milosevic at the ICTY; and David Hicks, and Omar Khadr at Guantanamo Bay.
• Missions to monitor trials at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Ft. Meade, Maryland; Ft. Belvoir, Virginia; and the Pentagon.
• Drafting fair trial manuals.
• Providing legal assistance on a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Professor Edwards received a commendation from Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett in honor of PIHRL’s anniversary and his retirement.

“At its height, the Program in International Human Rights Law had a transformative impact on the lives of IU McKinney students and the communities they served,” said Dean Karen E. Bravo. “The law school community wishes Professor Edwards a fruitful retirement.”

Some of Professor Edwards’ former students reflected on their time as part of the Program in International Human Rights Law.

Sukrat Baber, J.D. ’14, is senior legal counsel at Ferrara Candy Company in Chicago, where he leads litigation, compliance, data privacy, and employment matters. Baber was an intern for BABSEA CLE, an NGO in Thailand whose mission was to create and support free legal clinics in law schools. He took part in a Guantanamo Bay Military Commission Observation Project hearing in April 2023 after several previous attempts to attend a proceeding. His work with PIHRL, Baber said, “cemented my desire to participate in human rights work throughout my life. It also motivated me to be a good citizen and to do meaningful pro bono work. Also, the program instilled in me a desire to finish my career, or, ‘soft retirement,’ working exclusively in human rights or related humanitarian fields. One day!”

Mark Shope, J.D. ’12, is assistant professor of law at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University School of Law in Taiwan. He first met Professor Edwards in Taiwan before enrolling at IU McKinney. “I think it was at that moment,” Shope said, “I wanted to have involvement in the program.” During his time as a law student, Shope went to Geneva, Switzerland, for a human rights internship at the Centre for Civil and Political Rights.

Sheila Willard, J.D. ’19, works for the Department of the Interior. She works remotely for the Rocky Mountain Region, on detail to the Office of the Solicitor General as attorney-advisor in real estate matters for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service. During her time in law school, Willard observed hearings as part of the Guantanamo Bay project, and took part in internships in Lisbon; Portugal; Prague, Czechia, where she worked with asylum seekers; in Edinburgh, Scotland, with Amnesty International; and Suva, Fiji, where she worked with UNICEF. “My greatest takeaway from those experiences was an overwhelming sense that there is a lot to do to improve the world for underserved people, but that there are a lot of good people from around the world dedicating their lives to the cause,” Willard said. “I also learned a lot about myself and what I wanted--and ultimately what I did not want--out of a career.”