With the support of the Mack-Mayerfield and Caldwell Funds, I completed my preliminary dissertation research this past summer in Xela (also known as Quetzaltenango), Guatemala. I learned the basics of K’iche’, a native language in Guatemala, built relationships with new and old friends, and revised and strengthened my dissertation topic, which seeks to understand why, and

Professor Katherine Beckett, UWCHR Steering Committee member and faculty in the Departments of Sociology and Law, Societies, and Justice, has published a piece in The American Prospect, titled “Violence, Mass Incarceration, and the Myth of Monstrosity.” The article draws on work related to the Rethinking Punishment initiative, led by Prof. Beckett and Prof. Steve Herbert. Prof. Beckett

On August 15, 2016, United States Congressional Representatives Jim McGovern of Massachusetts and Norma Torres of California delivered a letter to President Barack Obama, signed by 26 Members of Congress, calling for the declassification of U.S. military and intelligence files relating to forced disappearances and human rights abuses during the Salvadoran civil war. Additionally, Representatives

Thanks to the Osheroff-Clark Fund I was able to work for Human Rights Watch (HRW) in the US Program as a research intern, where I had one of the most humbling and inspiring experiences of my life. The first half of my ten weeks interning was centered on the conditions of detention centers in the

Through the Abe Osheroff and Gunnel Clark Endowed Human Rights Fund I worked on developing a letter writing project connecting people inside and out of the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC), one of the largest immigration detention centers in the country, which in 2004, was built on a Superfund site in Tacoma’s Commencement Bay tidal flats.

ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM AND RECEPTION CELEBRATING HUMAN RIGHTS WORK: This past May, the UW Center for Human Rights hosted its annual spring symposium and awards reception to celebrate the human rights work carried out by students, faculty and community organizations. The theme of this year’s symposium was: “Stories of Migration and Actions for Justice.” The evening

Annual Symposium and Reception Celebrating Human Rights Work This past May, the UW Center for Human Rights (UWCHR) hosted its annual spring symposium and awards reception to celebrate the human rights work carried out by students, faculty and community organizations. The theme of this year’s symposium was: “Stories of Migration and Actions for Justice.” The

In April, the UW Center for Human Rights (UWCHR) joined a delegation of human rights organizations in Washington DC to discuss the fate of El Salvador’s disappeared. In 1993, the UN Truth Commission for El Salvador estimated that some 10,000 Salvadoran civilians were forcibly disappeared during the conflict years, but to this day no meaningful

Monday, 11 April, 2016 — The University of Washington Center for Human Rights will accompany a delegation in Washington D.C. during April 13-15, calling for the release of U.S. government documents regarding human rights abuses in El Salvador. Convened by the Mauricio Aquino Foundation’s Our Parents’ Bones campaign, the delegation of children of men and women

Letter from the Director As you may have seen, in October we filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Center Intelligence Agency in the U.S. District Court in Seattle, alleging that the agency has failed to meet its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). As part of the Center’s mission to conduct research in