Gravity Fm

Forced Sterilization, the Work of the International Justice Resource Center and the Election of the New U.N. Secretary General.Discussion with Lisa Reinsberg on the incidence of forced sterilization throughout the Americas and around the world and the International Justice Resource Center's (IJRC) petition in I.V. v Bolivia to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights arguing for the need of a reformulation of forced sterilization as an autonomous core human rights violation with a need for positive measures imposed upon medical staff to ensure proper consent is provided for any sterilization procedure. We also discuss the new election process of the U.N. Secretary General. Lisa is the Executive Director of the IJRC. Before founding the IJRC, Lisa was an attorney with Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts and Rómulo Gallegos fellow at the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights where she worked on complaints of torture, extra-judicial executions and violations of criminal due process. Earlier, she repre

Health Impacts of Crowd Control Weapons Increasingly Used by Police and Security Forces Around the World.Discussion with Dr. Rohini J. Haar on the main crowd control weapons used by police and security forces and their health impacts and potential lethality. We also discuss the insufficiency of police training in the use of weapons and insufficient regulation of their manufacture leading to unintended injuries, as well as police abuse of weapons. Additionally, we look at the absence of conflict management training of police forces and their increased militarization, increased restrictions on the right to peaceful assembly throughout the world and whether weapons aimed at crowds can ever de-escalate a situation. Rohini co-authored “Lethal in Disguise”, the first paper assessing the injurious effects of crowd control weapons and presented the report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva. Dr. Haar is a research fellow at the Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley where she teaches a multidiscipl

TRAPS, the Hyde Amendment, Criminalization of Self-Induced Abortion and Increasing Restrictions on Reproductive Rights in the United States.Discussion with Jill E. Adams and Melissa Mikesell on Whole Women's Health v Hellerstedt and the constitutionality and impact of TRAPS (targeted regulations of abortion providers) and increasing criminalization of self-induced abortion. We also look at increased violence at clinics, parental consent laws and the particular plight of indigent women resulting from family welfare caps on the one hand and the Hyde Amendment and Harris v McRae on the other, as well as discussing their constitutionality. Additionally, we discuss the patriarchial basis of the denial of reproductive rights to women. Jill is the founding Executive Director of the Center for Reproductive Rights and Justice at Berkeley Law, an organization dedicated to advancing reproductive rights. She is the Executive Editor of “Cases on Reproductive Rights and Justice”, the first legal textbook on reproductive r

Human Rights Violations of Nicaraguan Indigenous and Afro-Caribbean Communities in the Expropriation of Their Ancestral Lands for the Development of an Environmentally Disastrous Canal Linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through Nicaragua.Discussion with Professor Thomas Antkowiak on the development of the Nicaragua Canal which would link the Pacific and Atlantic oceans through Nicaragua and the concessions provided to the Chinese company HKND over the traditional lands of Afro-Caribbean communities without their informed consent and in denial of their human rights. We discuss their pending petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, indigenious rights as interepreted by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and their development in international law. Thomas teaches international public law and international human rights law at Seattle University's Law School. He is the Director of its Latin America Program and its International Human Rights Clinic and is currently arguing on behalf of N

Lack of Affordable Housing and the Criminalization of Homelessness and Food Sharing Throughout the United States.Discussion with Eric Tars respecting the lack of affordable housing and incidence of homelessness throughout the United States, the criminalization of homelessness and food sharing in numerous counties and the constitutionality and impact of these laws. We also discuss housing as a human right, the particular effects of homelessness on children and the need for more effective public policy measures to ensure adequate housing for all. Eric is the Senior Attorney of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, an organization dedicated to ending homelessness in the United States through policy advocacy, public education, impact litigation and advocacy training and support. Eric’s work focuses on human rights and children’s rights programs. He currently serves as the Chair of the US Human Rights Network’s training committee and on the Steering Committee of the Human Rights at Home Campaign. Er

Curtailment of Freedom of Expression, Political Opposition and Advocacy in Russia.Discussion with Bach Avezdjanov on human rights violations and restrictions on political opposition in Russia. We discuss the use of the Foreign Agents Law to shut down “undesirable NGOs” working for human rights advocacy, restrictions on media, including limitation of foreign ownership and the “two strikes and you are out" rule, subjecting bloggers to registration and control as media entities, the use of the Anti-Extremism Law to discriminate against religious minorities, the “Gay Propaganda” Law and increasing discrimination and violence against LGBT people, increased restrictions on public assembly, Russia's increasingly strained relationship with the European Court of Human Rights, the future of Russian grassroots activism and opposition to Putin. Bach is currently the Program Officer for Columbia's Global Freedom of Expression initiative which seeks to advance freedom of expression globally, monitors changing internationa

Health and Human Rights, Their Intersection with Trade Law and the Work of the Lawyers Collective. Discussion with Gabriel Armas-Cardona on health and human rights, including justiciabiility, enforcement, access to medicine and intersection with trade law. We also look at the work of the Lawyers Collective, an Indian legal organization that runs a global health and human rights database and litigates in the service of health and human rights, including access to medicine.Gabriel is a human rights lawyer that has worked for the Armenian Human Rights Ombudsman and was a Legal Officer at the Lawyers Collective where he helped run its global health and human rights database. For More Info: https://thegravity.fm/#/episode/4

A Critical Look at the Antiquated Immigration System of the United States.Discussion with Jasmin Singh and Amanda Emerson on asyulum, refugees, undocumented workers and employment law violations and state action on immigration. Jasmin is an immigration at Arrufat Garcia, PLLC and has presented immigration issues on several radio stations, including La Mega FM, Amor FM and WADO AM. Amanda is an immigration attorney with Yarden Law Group, LLC.For More Info: https://thegravity.fm/#/episode/3

International Food Security and Developments in Permaculture.Discussion with Mark Notaras on increasing international food security from our growing population, increased meat consumption around the world, climate change, soil erosion, depleted freshwater resources and the unsustainable practices of Big Ag. We also look at issues of international conflict between riparian countries and the possibilities for greater international cooperation in management of shared resources, advancements in permaculture and its current application in Timor-Leste and ways to change our food habits for a sustainble future and greater food security. Mark is an Agricultural Training Designer at Development Associates International and currently works for the Dezenvolve Agricultural Comunitária project in Timor-Leste to develop the horticulture value chain and improve the livelihood of its famers. Mark has previously worked with several NGOs as well as with AUSAID for both sustainable development agricultural projects as well as c

Gender Based Crime in Haiti and the Work of the Rape Accountability and Prevention Project.Discussion with Meena Jagannath on gender based voilence in Haiti, its socio-economic contex, the legal and institutional obstacles in obtaining convictions and the work of the Rape Accountability and Prevention Project. Meena was a legal fellow at the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI) and coordinator of its Rape Accountability and Prevention Project from April 2011 through September 2012 for which she directed legal representation as well as national and international advocacy and organization of women’s grassroots groups in Haiti. Meena worked as a Staff Attorney for the Community Justice Project of Florida Legal Services in Miami before she co-founded the Community Justice Project in 2015 which advocates for racial and economic justice both through litigation and capacity building for grassroots organizing.For More Info: https://thegravity.fm/#/episode/1