Sunday, April 13, 2008

Human Rights Two contributions to the study of human rights have been posted to the internet recently. Georgetown University Law Center hosted the Samuel Dash Conference on Human Rights: The Future of Human Rights on April 8, 2008 — video (Quicktime) and audio (mp3) recordings of the event are available-no transcript. The program took place over a whole day, but the recordings are available by theme. One keynote address was delivered by Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. One hour and a half panel discussions covered "How the U.S. Should Deal with Human Rights Abuses of Allies and Partners" and "Introducing Social and Economic Rights into U.S. Policy" Another event which takes up the theme of economic and social rights is a debate organised by the University of Virginia on April 9, 2008— Four participants examined the resolution "Americans have a fundamental right to health care, and it is the obligation of government to secure that right." JudyAnn Bigby, MD, Secretary of Health and Human Services for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and Regina Herzlinger, Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, spoke in favor of the resolution. Dick Armey, Chairman of FreedomWorks and former House Majority Leader, and Richard Epstein, Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School, argued against. 1 hour - Windows Media Player, Quicktime, RealPlayer, .mp3. Transcript available.