Our Work – USC Gould School of Law International Human Rights Clinic

Over-Policing Sex Trafficking: How U.S. Law Enforcement Should Reform Operations

The USC Gould International Human Rights Clinic will release Over-Policing Sex-Trafficking: How U.S. Law Enforcement Should Reform Operations, on Monday, November 15, 2021. The report is one of the first comprehensive reports about U.S. anti-sex trafficking law enforcement operations, jointly coordinated at the federal, state and local levels, and often known as “raids”, “stings” or “sweeps”. They involve law enforcement working undercover or investigating private establishments to identify persons who are sex trafficked (referred to as survivors or victims), and perpetrators. The U.S. government has long used these operations as a primary means for addressing sex trafficking, presenting them as an effective anti-sex trafficking tool through compelling media releases and press conferences. Meanwhile, there is little public data about operations’ outcomes and funding, despite distressing claims that operations harm and retraumatize persons who are sex trafficked, while perpetuating systemic racism as well as discrimination against LGBTQ individuals and undocumented immigrants.

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November 15, 2021

Events / Our Work

EVENT – OVER-POLICING SEX TRAFFICKING: How U.S. Law Enforcement Should Reform Operations

Join a discussion with experts about one of the first comprehensive reports examining the efficacy of anti-sex trafficking law enforcement operations, commonly referred to as "raids," "stings," or "sweeps." Authored by the University of Southern California Gould School of Law’s International Human Rights Clinic, the report centers the voices and perspectives of persons who have been sex trafficked to ask: 1.Whether such operations meet the goals of the 2000 Trafficking Victims Protection Act; and 2.Whether they should remain the primary anti-sex trafficking tool used by the U.S. government.

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November 7, 2021

News / Our Work

Clinic Director Hannah Garry files SCOTUS brief on behalf of torture survivors

Professor Hannah Garry filed a SCOTUS amicus brief on August 20th on behalf of torture survivors in the first case to make it to the Supreme Court on the U.S.’s enhanced interrogation program following 9/11. The case is timely in that it’s being heard on the year that marks the 20th anniversary since the attacks of 9/11.

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August 24, 2021

News / Our Work

Moroccan Journalist Omar Radi Sentenced to 6 Years in Prison

Based on reports from TrialWatch's monitors inside the courtroom, the court’s treatment of evidence was unacceptable throughout the proceedings. Mr. Radi was not allowed to call a number of key witnesses, including Arnaud Simons—the man the prosecution said was Mr. Radi's Dutch intelligence ‘handler’ as part of the national security allegations against him. This was despite the fact Mr. Simons identified himself publicly, volunteered to testify, and said the allegations against Mr. Radi were not true. “The prosecution presented little evidence that Mr. Radi did anything other than journalistic and investigative work. It is hard to see the basis for convicting him of national security offenses,” said Professor Garry. “Further, it is deeply concerning that Mr. Radi has been held in detention before and during trial for nearly a year”.

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July 19, 2021

News / Our Work

Great news on our work in response to systemic racism in U.S. law enforcement

This past academic year, in response to a call for input from Michelle Bachelete, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Laura and Ava took the lead (collaborating with partners at Access Now), in drafting a 24-page submission providing data on U.S. law enforcement’s responses to anti-racism peaceful protests across the U.S. from June-Dec. 2020 in the wake of George Floyd’s killing, including excessive, militarized and discriminatory use of force, arbitrary arrests, detention and cruel treatment, and use of surveillance tactics as well as inflammatory language against protestors, journalists, medics and legal observers. In their submission, Laura and Ava also provided an overview of federal, state and local laws and policies affecting protestors’ rights in the U.S. and the lack of accountability mechanisms for abuse of those rights. Their submission made 41 concrete recommendations for addressing systemic racism in U.S. law enforcement.

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July 16, 2021

News / Our Work

Crisis in Anglophone Cameroon Update: US State Department Announces Visa Restrictions on Those Undermining the Peaceful Resolution of the Crisis in the Anglophone Regions of Cameroon

The International Human Rights welcomes the State Department made an announcement on June 7th "establishing a policy imposing visa restriction on individuals who are believed to be responsible for or complicit in, undermining the peaceful resolution in the crisis in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon." The Clinic calls for all sides of the conflict to immediately put an end to crimes against humanity in Cameroon and to come to the peace table.

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June 9, 2021

News / Our Work

The International Human Rights Clinic, partners, and professors request that U.S. Congress hold Azerbaijan accountable for human rights violations, amend Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act

The International Human Rights Clinic (IHRC), based at the USC Gould School of Law, has joined with a number of institutional partners and professors to request that the U.S. Congress hold Azerbaijan accountable for its grave human rights violations committed during and after its September 2020 attacks on the Nagorno-Karabakh region and Armenia. The Clinic is concerned that continued U.S. military aid has, and will continue to, further embolden Azerbaijan’s alarming behavior. The Clinic requests that further aid be halted immediately, and that Section 907 be amended to add a requirement into the President’s waiver authority to ensure that no funds may be provided to the Government of Azerbaijan unless and until the President certifies to Congress that any security assistance to Azerbaijan is not being used, and will not be used, for offensive purposes against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

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May 25, 2021

News / Our Work

Trial Monitoring with the Clooney Foundation for Justice’s TrialWatch Project: “Pre-Trial Proceedings Against Maâti Monjib in Morocco Raise Concerns”

Excerpt from the statement drafted by Clinic Student Attorney Pablo Das with TrialWatch: "The Clooney Foundation for Justice and the USC Law International Human Rights Clinic announced today that the Clinic intends to monitor criminal proceedings against academic and activist Maâti Monjib in Morocco as part of CFJ’s TrialWatch initiative. Mr. Monjib was arrested late last year on suspicion of money laundering based on allegations that he received funding from foreign sources that he then diverted for his own use. The charges carry a potential sentence of up to 10 years.

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April 6, 2021

Our Work

Ensuring accountability for journalist Omar Radi

In collaboration with the Clooney Foundation for Justice's TrialWatch, IHRC student attorneys Sophie Sylla, Krisha Mae Cabrera, and David Wright worked to focus on countries that weaponize courts against marginalized…

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December 26, 2019

Our Work

IHRC and Access Now urge United Nations to address violations committed against Anglophone Cameroonians

LOS ANGELES, March 6, 2018 – The University of Southern California Gould School of Law’s International Human Rights Clinic (USC IHRC) and Access Now, together with legal counsel, Foley Hoag LLP, are urging the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, to address recent human rights violations committed by the Republic of Cameroon against the country’s Anglophone population.

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March 6, 2018

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