KU News Release

Symposium to examine human rights and foreign, domestic policy

LAWRENCE — The International Law Society, Public Interest Law Society and Muslim Law Student Association at the University of Kansas are co-sponsoring a human rights symposium titled “Lessons Learned, Future Paths: A Human Rights Symposium.”

The event will run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, April 11, at 203 Green Hall.

Leading scholars and attorneys in the areas of human rights, immigration and international law will speak at the symposium, which is free and open to the public. Panelists will discuss issues of human rights violations in areas of conflict, the politics of human rights in practice and from a judicial perspective and the status of individual human rights in domestic immigration cases. Panelists include:

— Ali Khan, Washburn University School of Law professor specializing in international law, Islamic law and human rights
— Ahmad Amara, global advocacy fellow with the International Human Rights Clinic in Harvard University’s Human Rights Program
— Anne Goldstein, human rights education director for the International Association of Women Judges
— Lisa Laplante, human rights lawyer, author and co-founder of Praxis Institute for Social Justice
— Emily Haverkamp, immigration lawyer with Mdivani Law Firm in Overland Park
— Jonathan Wilmoth, immigration lawyer with McCrummen Immigration Law Group in North Kansas City, Mo.

“We are excited to have so many prestigious speakers lecturing on diverse areas of law, based on their personal experiences and the latest research,” said Sara Zafar, a third-year law student and communications director for the International Law Society. “We hope that this symposium will encourage students to engage in discussions about the always-changing face of human rights in international and domestic law.”

Organizers hope this will be the first in an ongoing series of global human rights forums.

“If we are able to start a tradition of an annual symposium or event focusing on human rights, we will have done our jobs and contributed to the diversity of the community,” Zafar said.

Zafar is the daughter of Haris and Mueeza Zafar of Wichita. She is a graduate of Wichita Collegiate School and received a bachelor’s degree in history from KU in spring 2005.

Registration and a light breakfast will begin at 8 a.m. outside Room 203. The first panel, “Perforated Borders,” will be from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. The second panel, “Lawyers in Areas of Conflict,” will run from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; and the third panel, “Practice and Politics,” will be from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Each session will include half an hour for questions.

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