{"id":6662,"date":"2022-03-02T16:50:19","date_gmt":"2022-03-03T00:50:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/humanrights\/?p=6662"},"modified":"2022-03-14T15:48:36","modified_gmt":"2022-03-14T22:48:36","slug":"maria-chacon-and-johanna-mora-research-human-rights-violations-in-immigrant-detention-centers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/humanrights\/2022\/03\/02\/maria-chacon-and-johanna-mora-research-human-rights-violations-in-immigrant-detention-centers\/","title":{"rendered":"Mar\u00eda Chac\u00f3n and Johanna Mora Research Human Rights Violations in Immigrant Detention Centers"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the support of the Abe Osheroff and Gunnel Clark Endowed Fund<\/a>, during the last summer, Mar\u00eda Fernanda Chac\u00f3n Santana and Milta Johanna Mora Hern\u00e1ndez, graduate students of the Sustainable International Development, LL.M. at the UW School of Law, along with Alejandra Gonza, Executive Director of Global Rights Advocacy, worked on the project: Migrants Rights Initiative: Freedom and Dignity<\/em>. This project aimed to highlight the role of corporations in violating the human rights of immigrants detained in detention centers, initially at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, WA. To do this, we created an advocacy toolkit to trigger accountability for human rights violations before international human rights bodies such as the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UN WGAD). This project had different stages:<\/p>\n

First, we did our research on the Inter-American System and UN Special Procedures, including the UN WGAD and the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants. Then, since there are many mechanisms to protect human rights, we selected two tools for each organization that are the most relevant, practical, and beneficial for the current immigrants detained. Likewise, we identified the categories of arbitrary detention, found similar cases, and extracted the most relevant arguments that immigrants can use for their individual cases. For example, Global Rights Advocacy submitted an urgent action on behalf of the detainees at the Northwest Detention Center. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention decided on behalf of the detainees. Finally, we identified those arguments that the current immigrants could use for their situations.<\/p>\n

Second, we worked on the elaboration of the toolkit. Based upon this research, we realized there was a lot of information we needed to organize clearly and easily accessible for all people. Following Professor Gonza’s guidelines, we decided to focus on the UN Special Procedures, including the UN WGAD and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants. The main reason is that individual complaints and urgent appeals are more accessible and specialized mechanisms for those who want to report arbitrary immigration detention in the United States.<\/p>\n

Third, to organize this information, we follow this structure:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The right to migrate and the personal freedom of the migrant<\/li>\n
  2. International protection of migrant freedom<\/li>\n
  3. United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention<\/li>\n
  4. What is the UN WGAD?\n