Blog Post by IHRC Graduate Fellow Zsea Beaumonis
The International Human Rights Clinic is heading to Washington D.C. for two thematic hearings next week before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. In partnership with other law school clinics and human rights organizations from Costa Rica and Puerto Rico, IHRC will present several issues of human rights violations in the two countries, including access to clean water, education for children with disabilities, human trafficking, and the death penalty.
On Monday, March 16th, IHRC will participate in an historic hearing before the Commission on the issues of women’s rights, children’s rights (namely the rights of children with disabilities and human trafficking), LGBTTIQ rights, migrants’ rights, and the death penalty in Puerto Rico. This will be the first time the Commission has held such an event in which civil society organizations from PR and representatives from the local and federal Departments of Justice and State, as well as a representative from the White House, will participate.
On Friday, March 20th, the Clinic will also present the ongoing struggle of rural communities in Costa Rica to access clean water, as agrochemicals used in nearby pineapple plantations have contaminated their traditional sources of water. Community members and other experts will travel to D.C. to inform the Commission about Costa Rica’s failure to provide them with access to clean water, and about the damaging effects this situation has had on their health, economy, and quality of life.
Both hearings will be live-streamed at www.cidh.org, the Puerto Rico hearing on March 16th at 10:15am EST, and the Costa Rica hearing on March 20th at 4:30pm EST.
These thematic hearings are the result of years’ worth of research, investigation, and collaboration of IHRC students and partners in Costa Rica and Puerto Rico. Last spring break, Clinic students traveled to Puerto Rico to investigate the state of special education for children with disabilities. Earlier this month, IHRC traveled to Costa Rica to visit areas affected by contaminated water and to participate in a joint press conference with the President of Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly and members of the community. IHRC’s advocacy has been recognized nationally and internationally, even making it onto the front-page news in Puerto Rico [Spanish].
Following the hearing on Monday, IHRC will join American University, Washington College of Law in a conversation about human rights in Puerto Rico at 4 PM. Details about the event can be found here.
