Oct. 26 Event: Mario Joseph, BAI & Nicole Phillips, IJDH Speak at Congressional Briefing on Enforcing the Rights of Haiti’s Poor Majority — Washington, DC
On October 26, 2011 / 2pm-4pm/ 2456 Rayburn Congressional Office Building, Washington, DC, Keenan Austin, Senior Advisor to Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson, along with Congresswomen Yvette Clark and Maxine Waters, will host a briefing with human rights advocates and Haitian grassroots activists about current concerns facing Haiti.
Mario Joseph will speak about human rights and the rule of law at the Haiti Fund at the Boston Foundation the following day.
According to the invitation to the Congressional briefing, activists will address “the many challenges the U.S. government faces in its attempts to promote respect for human rights and dignity in Haiti,” where nearly 600,000 Haitians still live without homes and unlawful and violent evictions are escalating within the tent camps. “The impact of ongoing deportations of Haitians (from the U.S.) to post-earthquake Haiti will be discussed, as will a framework for a rights-based approach to U.S. assistance… (which is) critical to sustainable rebuilding, and includes transparency, accountability, community participation, and non-discrimination,” stated Austin.
Panelists will include:
Nicole Phillips, Staff Attorney with Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) and Assistant Director for Haiti Programs, University of San Francisco School of Law.
Mario Joseph, Managing Attorney, Bureau des Avocats Internationaux.
Etant Dupain, Director of Bri Kouri Nouvèl Gaye, a Haitian grassroots organization that is a partner of TransAfrica’s Let Haiti Live Project.
Laura Raymond, International Human Rights Associate of the Center for Constitutional Rights.
Gueter Aurelien, Law Student, University of Miami Law Clinics.
Mary Beth Gallagher, Advocacy Officer of RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights
For more information contact: Keenan Austin at x5-4506 or keenan.austin@mail.house.gov.
On October 27, 5:30-7:00, Mario Joseph, Esq. will be a featured speaker at the Haiti Fund at the Boston Foundation. Bureau des Avocats Internationaux and the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti are 2011 grantees of the Haiti Fund.