University Network for International Training and Engagement for Human Rights

REPORTS, DOCUMENTATION AND PROMOTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS: Over the course of 2024, the University Network for Human Rights continued its work promoting internationally recognized human rights in a dozen countries across the world. Our research and documentation focused on a broad range of issues and countries. The following summaries are representative of our work. Forced disappearances in Mexico: Our work focused on challenging impunity for government officials and organized criminal groups responsible for grave violations. Our team worked closely with civil society organizations and academics to research and publish several analyses and policy proposals (included in academic and journalistic publications) to enhance the efficacy of investigations and prosecutions of those involved in egregious rights abuse. Forced Displacement in Nagorno-Karabakh: Our researchers, together with civil society groups and academics, documented and published several extensive reports on violations committed during the forced displacement of ethnic Armenians from the disputed territory known as Nagorno-Karabakh (or Artsakh, in Armenian). Our team also worked with colleagues to raise international awareness of the issue, presenting findings in Geneva, the headquarters of the United Nations human rights center. Indigenous rights in Panama: Together with a coalition of rights organizations and local community leaders, we assisted in the representation of individuals and groups seeking to defend their traditional lands. The indigenous Ngobe people have been displaced from their lands in the Changuinola river region by a hydroelectric dam. Our legal team and student researchers assisted in presenting the claims of those displaced to Panamanian authorities and to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Housing rights in Connecticut: Our supervisors and students worked with renters in the state of Connecticut to ensure respect for their rights in the context of substandard housing and constructive evictions. This work involved meeting with renters, documenting conditions in their rental units, and advocating with authorities responsible for oversight of housing rights. Over the course of 2024, our team worked with victims and community organizations in a dozen countries. We published several book-length reports and academic articles, and submitted dozens of letters and short reports to oversight bodies. In all this work, our supervisors involved students to the extent of their abilities, developing their capacity to serve as defenders of human rights in the United States and abroad.