Bertha Oliva: The Search for Truth and Justice in Honduras

Marquette University Law School was very fortunate to have several international law events last week. The third of three international law speakers was Bertha Oliva, who spoke to an audience of law students and Marquette University undergraduate students on Wednesday, October 6, 2010.

Bertha Oliva is the General Coordinator of the Committee of Families of the Detained and Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH). COFADEH is a Honduran non-governmental organization committed to fighting human rights violations. Ms. Oliva, along with others, founded COFADEH in 1982 to seek justice for the individuals who were detained, disappeared, and killed by Honduran death squads. COFADEH now investigates and documents human rights violations, represents victims of human rights violations, and educates the public on human rights issues.

Ms. Oliva spoke about the ongoing human rights violations in Honduras, particularly the violations that occurred (and continue to occur) after the coup d’etat last June. She described daily violence and threats that she, members of COFADEH, and other members of the resistance movement face because they oppose the post-coup government. Specifically, Ms. Oliva told about the rape of women, forced kidnappings, and the murder of resistance movement members that have become commonplace in Honduras. Additionally, resistance movement groups, including COFADEH, have been the victims of tear gas raids and attacks. 

Continue ReadingBertha Oliva: The Search for Truth and Justice in Honduras

A Spontaneous International Law Week at MULS

This week, you will notice, is chock-full of talks and events related to international law and human rights, thanks to the efforts and interest of MULS student organizations.

Today  (Monday, October 4th) the National Lawyers Guild student chapter hosted human rights attorney Eric Sirotkin to give a talk on “Lawyering for Human Rights in the 21st Century:  Journey from Soweto to Pyongyang.” Mr. Sirotkin’s inspiring talk about his own work in Latin America, Africa, and Asia communicated the important role of lawyers in peacemaking around the globe.   As Executive Director of the Ubuntuworks Peace Education Project, he was able to offer students practical advice on how to use their legal skills to be compassionate advocates.   Mr Sirotkin will be dining with MULS students this evening to continue the dialogue on how to work with and for people around the world seeking peace.

Tomorrow (Tuesday, October 5, at noon)  the Dispute Resolution Society & the Association for Women in Law will host Lucy Reed, a partner at the international law firm Freshfields Bruckaus Deringer and head of their international arbitration group, to hear her talk “Women & Negotiation:  Lessons Learned From Around the World.”

Finally, on Wednesday (October 6, also at noon), the International Law Society will host Bertha Oliva, General Coordinator of the Committee of Families of the Detained and Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH), who will be sharing her story of three decades of searching for truth and justice following the disappearance of her husband.

In many ways this spontaneous ordering of events amounts to a thematic international law week, with the fortunate result of the world coming to MULS.

Continue ReadingA Spontaneous International Law Week at MULS

Lincoln in Liberia

On August 26, MULS welcomed the Class of 2013, hosting a welcome mixer in the atrium of Eckstein Hall, the new home of the law school.  During this event, Dean Joseph Kearney unveiled a portrait of Abraham Lincoln created by visual artist Don Pollack.  A few days later, the painting was hung in the Aitken Reading Room on the third floor of the new building.

The portrait uniquely places Lincoln reading the newspaper within a horizontal vista next to stacks of books which represent the learned man on his campaign trail many days before he became the sixteenth president of the United States.  Professor Michael McCrystal explains that MULS commissioned this painting of Lincoln to symbolize the importance of reading: “Although we mean the building to be very contemporary in most respects, the intent of the reading room is to draw on strong academic and legal traditions to inspire students to serious work, and a Lincoln portrait seemed to serve this theme.”

The image seeks to capture Lincoln the great lawyer and the great reader.  It also serves as a reminder that the former president spoke of the importance of reading when on September 30, 1859 he addressed the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, right in the same spot where the Marquette campus now sits.  On that day, Lincoln remarked,

“A capacity, and taste, for reading, gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others. It is the key, or one of the keys, to the already solved problems. And not only so. It gives a relish, and facility, for successfully pursuing the [yet] unsolved ones.”

Continue ReadingLincoln in Liberia