Our Voices
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Peru: International organizations support the IACHR recommendation to create an Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts to support investigations of serious human rights violations
Tags Share Joint Statement Peru: International organizations support the IACHR recommendation to create an Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts to support investigations of serious human rights violations Washington, DC, May 15, 2023- On May 3, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) released the report, Situation of Human Rights in Peru in the Context of…
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This Mother’s Day, I Cherish My Mother’s Strength and the Gift of Time
Tags Share Written by Kerry Kennedy. One of my earliest childhood memories is piling into our family’s convertible in the early 1960s—seven kids then, plus a couple of dogs and a football—and my mother driving us to the Department of Justice where my father worked as Uncle Jack’s attorney general. After visiting my father, we…
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A Mother’s Love: The Resilience of an Immigrant
Tags Share My mom immigrated to the United States in 1997. She worked a series of jobs between the time she arrived and the day she had me six years later. At work, colleagues and customers disrespected her because of her thick accent and initially low capability to speak English. Little did people know that…
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Four-Year Sentence of Anti-Corruption Leader Deals a Blow to Guatemalan Democracy
Tags Share At 10 p.m. on April 19, we received a text message from Claudia González —the leading attorney representing Virginia Laparra— confirming that we had been authorized to visit Virginia at the Matamoros military prison the following day. Her text included a warning: “Don’t forget to wear a skirt or you won’t be allowed…
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Black Minnesotans Tell UN Panel of Harms Committed by Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Authorities
Tags Share Speaking with The Imprint, our staff attorney Delia Addo-Yobo highlights the physical and mental health repercussions of solitary confinement. Joined by partner organizations and directly impacted individuals, Delia recently traveled to Minnesota to present before UN delegates on the devastating ramifications of solitary. Read the full article for more information about RFK Human…
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Education as a Pathway to Reconciliation of Historical Harm: The Case of Korean Comfort Women
Tags Share In our most recent Human Rights Defender speaker series event, Dr. Jongwoo Han, President of the Korean War Veterans Digital Memorial Foundation, shared the history of comfort women during World War II, emphasizing education as an important way to heal historical harm and end conflict-related sexual violence. Lead educator Mona Al-Hayani, a history…
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After its first trip focused on addressing climate change, how Emerging Leaders is preparing students to become human rights activists
Tags Share When 12 students from Bangor, Maine, arrived in Washington, D.C. for Speak Truth to Power’s Emerging Leaders trip on April 16, they arrived ready to engage. The Emerging Leaders Trip is an opportunity for students from our partner schools to connect with a human rights issue. This year’s was centered around environmental justice…
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RFK: Personal Anecdotes 55 Years on
Tags Share May 1968 was Robert F. Kennedy’s last full month of campaigning for president before he was killed in June. While he is remembered more broadly for his vision of a more just and peaceful world, it is, perhaps, the anecdotes that best illustrate his character and a place to draw inspiration. Kevin Khadavi…
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Paul Rusesabagina’s Homecoming
Tags Share We were honored to celebrate Paul’s homecoming with the Rusesabagina family yesterday. Thank you to everyone who supported the #FreeRusesabagina campaign!
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Jerry Springer
Tags Share There was the Jerry Springer of the infamous TV show. And there was Jerry Springer who- especially in his earlier life- held great hope for our country and always respected our freedoms – as a campaign worker, a public servant and a journalist. He looked to Robert Kennedy as a hero who drew…
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Human Rights Education inspiration Prejean talks social justice, activism, on her 84th Birthday
Tags Share On her 84th birthday, Sister Helen Prejean showed few, if any, signs of slowing down. Prejean – the subject of a Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Speak Truth to Power lesson plan that has reached roughly 5 million students since 2000 – is the nun who wrote the best-selling book Dead Man Walking…
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