June 2012 - American University Washington College of Law

Volume 1, Issue 1
Inter-American Human
Rights Moot Court Newsletter
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY WASHINGTON COLLEGE OF LAW
June2012
2012 Competition
The Seventeenth Annual InterAmerican Moot Court Competition
took place May 20-25 at American
University Washington College of
Law in Washington, DC.
The Competition included the participation of 280 attorneys from around
the world as judges for the written
and oral portions. In addition, the
Competition welcomed a prestigious
honor panel to judge the final round,
This year’s competition was the
which included Diego García Sayán
largest in its history, with a record - President, Inter-American Court
104 teams from 26 different coun- on Human Rights, and Jose de
tries worldwide, involving more
Jesús Orozco Henríquez- Presithan 300 students, professors,
dent, Inter-American Commission on
and human rights professionHuman Rights .
als. Teams largely came from the
Western Hemisphere, but the
The Final Round was held Friday,
competition also welcomed teams May 25 at 9:30, with the Universidad
from Australia, Belgium, Ghana,
Romania, Switzerland, and
Spain.
Marista de Merida representing
the State, and Colegio Mayor de
Nuestra Señora del Rosario
representing the victims. After
much deliberation, the Honor
panel declared Universidad Marista de Merida the winners.
Following the final round, the
Competition held an awards ceremony. A complete list of the 2012
award recipients can be found on
the next page.
“We are proud to offer such a
prestigious and important competition that provides a direct way for
students around the world to
participate in the Inter-American
justice system,” says Claudio
Grossman, dean of American
University Washington College of
Law and chair of the United Nations Committee against Torture.
“As this unique initiative continues
to grow, it fuels the progress of
human rights legal education in
universities around the world.”
Participants of the 2012 Inter-American Human Rights Moot Court Competition during the opening reception on May 20, 2012.
Preparing for 2013: LGBTI Rights
The theme for the 2013 InterAmerican Human Rights
Competition will focus on
LGBTI Rights. This theme
follows closely the recent
work of the Inter-American
System on Human Rights on
this issue, including the development of the Commis-
sion’s working group on
LGBTI rights.
Victor Madrigal, a senior
attorney with the InterAmerican Commission on
Human Rights, and head of
the newly formed LGBTI
Unit, will author the case,
along with a team of Com-
Inside this issue:
Meet the Winners
2
Outstanding Contribution 2012
2
Upcoming Participant Association Vote
2
Best Practices: How UBA chooses its team
3
Call for Entries: Academy Essay Contest
4
Recognition of 2012 Judges
5
Call for Stories!
5
mission attorneys. The case
will be published online in
early December, 2012.
The 2013 Competition will
take place May 19—24, 2013
at American University
Washington College of Law.
Registration will open online
on Nov. 1., 2012.
Winners of the 2012 Competition!
The Inter-American Human Rights Moot
Court Competition is proud to recognize the
winning teams and individuals of the 2012
Competition:
Portuguese: João Victor Mendes de Oliveira ,
Faculdades Integradas Antônio Eufrásio de
Toledo - Presidente Prudente (Brazil)
Best Memorials for the State:
First Place Team: Universidad Marista de
Merida A.C.: Montserrat Peniche Hijuelos
and Maria Fernanda Fitzmaurice Cahluni
(Mexico)
Second Place Team: Colegio Mayor de
Nuestra Señora del Rosario: Natalia Suárez
Sánchez and Natalia Mora-Arbelaez
(Colombia)
English: University of San Diego (USA)
Spanish: Universidad Veracruzana (Mexico)
Portuguese: Universidad Federal de Minas
Gerais (Brazil)
Academy Co-Director Diego Rodriguez Pinzon (center) with the
team representing Universidad Marista de Merida A.C. (left) and
the Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario
Best Memorials for the Victims:
Best Oralists for the State:
Centro Universitario Toledo (Brazil)
English: Gabriel Zalazar, University of Lucerne (Switzerland)
Best Oralists for the Victims
Spanish: Universidad Pontifica Boliviariana
(Colombia)
Spanish: Maria Fernanda Fitzmaurice
Cahluni, Universidad Marista de Merida A.C.
(Mexico)
Portuguese: Moacyr Miguel de Oliveira,
English: Alexandra Bioc, West University of
Timisoara (Romania)
Spanish: Diana Marcela Torres Rojas, Universidad Libre, Seccional Bogota (Colombia)
English: Universiteit Gent (Belgium)
Portuguese: Universidade de São Paulo ( Brazil)
Rookie of the Year (Best New
Team):Universidade Federal do Pará (Brazil)
Congratulations to the 2012 winners!
Outstanding Contribution: 2012
Since 2009, the Participant Association of the
Competition has presented a special award to an
individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the moot court. This year, the Association
was pleased to present two such awards to Aldo
Caliari and Hilaire Sobers for their longtime roles
as judges and panel presidents for the Competition.
Aldo Caliari is the Director of the Rethinking Bretton Woods Project at the Washington DC-based
Center of Concern, where he has worked since
2000 focusing on issues of global economic governance, debt, international financial architecture,
human rights in international economic policy. He
has been a judge with the Inter-American Moot
Court since 1999.
Hilaire Sobers is a human rights specialist with
the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights,
where he has been since 2004. Before coming to
the IACHR, he worked for many years in the field
of human rights in Jamaica, where he served as
Executive Director of the Independent Jamaican
Council for Human Rights, the oldest human
rights organization in the Caribbean. Hilaire will
celebrate his tenth year as a Competition judge in
2013.
The Competition organizers and the Participant
Association send a warm thank you to both Aldo
and Hilaire for their long-time contributions to the
Competition.
Competition Coordinator Catherine Rochon presents the
Outstanding Contribution Award on behalf of the Participant Association to Hilaire Sobers at the IACHR.
Participant Association Vote 2012-2013
The Participant Association of the
IA Moot Court Competition will be
holding elections for the Board of
Directors the week of July 16,
2012. As such, the current Board
is calling for nominations.
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
candidates. The person who
receives the most votes will
serve as President, the
second highest vote recipient will be named First Vice
President, then Second
Vice President, Secretary
and Treasurer.
To present your name or the
Current Participant Association President To be elected, the person
name of a fellow association
Namiko Matzumoto Benitez
must be a member of the
member, please send an email to
Participant Association,
participantassociation@gmail.com by July 11,
present his/her name within the designated time,
2012. Those nominated will appear on a list of
not have served on the Board in the previous two
Page 2
years, and no more than 2 members from a particular
country may be voted into a position. To register to be
part of the participant association, please visit the
Competition website and click on the Participant
Association tab. Elections will take place online the
week of July 16, and the winners will be announced in
late July.
Please direct any question regarding the process or
the role of the Board to Namiko Matzumoto Benitez,
sitting president, at participantassociation@gmail.com
I N T E R - A M E R I CA N H U M A N R I G H T S M O O T C O U R T N E W S L E T T E R
Best Practices: How to Select a Team—Universidad de Buenos
Aires, Argentina
The selection process of a moot court team
varies from university to university. The
How does your university select its moot
Competition would like to highlight a few best
court team? Send your stories to
practices in team selection in the coming
months. This edition we will focus on the
iamoot@wcl.american.edu!
process used at Universidad de Buenos
Aires (UBA) in Argentina. If you would like to
share your practices or ask questions about eight-course theoretical workshop on interthis issues featured university, please send
national human rights in light of the jurispruan email to iamoot@wcl.american.edu.
dence of the Inter-American Court of HuTo broaden the student participation in the man Rights. Previous participants in the
selection process and to extend the benefits WCL Competition mentor interested students in the workshop, helping them draft
of the Competition to prepare a larger numbriefs and prepare oral arguments. The
ber of students, UBA developed an inuniversity competition of as a mechanism to Competition alumni give classes in public
select the students who would represent the speaking, persuasion, image, dress and
attitude for all the workshop participants.
law school in the upcoming edition of InterAmerican Human Rights Moot Court Compe- The alumni also help in the implementation
of the UBA competition itself, which contition.
sists of both a memorial and an oral arguThe in-school competition consists of an
ment phase.
The former team members also share with
the workshop participants a guide for the
drafting of briefs and a guide for the preparation of oral arguments. UBA then collects
and systematizes these documents, compiling the experiences of the teams over the
years.
In addition to participating in the selection,
training and preparation of teams participating in the human rights competitions, all
workshop students work in different areas
of human rights (Attorney General, civil
society, the Executive, etc. ) and are engaged in human rights teaching and research. Students in the workshop have
developed a yearly publication entitled
“Current Problems of Human Rights” which
includes contributions and articles from
team members.
Images from the 2012 Competition
Visit http://www.wcl.american.edu/hracademy/mcourt/photo_ g allery.cfm?lang=en for more pictures from the 2012 Competition!
Academy on Human Rights Essay Contest 2013
The Academy on Human Rights is
pleased to announce that the theme for
the 2013 Essay Contest will be The
Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and
Transgender Peoples and International
Human Rights Law.
The Human Rights Essay Award is an
annual competition sponsored by the
Academy and seeks to stimulate the production of scholarly work in international
human rights law. Participants have the
flexibility to choose any subject related to
that year’s theme. The essay has to be a
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1
legal article.
The Academy will grant two Awards, one
for the best article in English and one for
the best article in Spanish.
The Award in each case will consist of:
• a scholarship to the Program of Advanced Studies in Human Rights and
Humanitarian Law
• travel expenses to Washington D.C.
• housing at the university dorms
• a per diem for living expenses
The best articles may be published in
the American University International
Law Review.
Submissions will be due in February
2013. Please visit the Academy website
for complete rules and eligibility:
http://www.wcl.american.edu/hracadem
Page 3
A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO THE 2012 COMPETITION JUDGES!
Abigayl Islas López *Abril Uscanga* Adelina Loianno* Ademario Tavares *Adolfo Sanchez Alegre *Adriana Costa * Akinpelu Ajayi* Aldo Caliari * Alejandra Vicente * Alejandro Jiménez
* Alexander Morawa * Alexandra Kurmen De La Cruz * Alexandra Montgomery *Alfredo Cabarcas * Alicia Curiel * Allan Estrada * AnaFreitas * Ana Gabriela Acosta Valverde *Ana
Maria D´Ávila Lopes * Ana María García Ceceña * Ana María Mondragón Duque * Ana Priscilla Ortiz Saborio * Ana Sofia Torres Menchaca *Andrea Rodríguez-Zavala *Andréa Jane
Silva de Medeiros Sampaio Calado *Andres Fajardo Arturo * Andres Pizarro * Andres Rousset Siri * Andrés González Serrano * Anebi Adoga *Angela Ramirez Rincon *Angela Margarita Rey *Anne Clarissa Fernandes de Almeida Cunha *Antonio Rengifo Lozano * Argel HumbertoAguirre * Armando Jesus Meneses Larios *Astrid Veninga *Astrid Osorio * Aura
Yadira Huertas Moline * Ayda Lucia Ramirez Bolivar *Barbara Oliveira * Beatriz Borges * Belisa Carvalho Nader * Benedicta Daudu * Bernado Weaver * Bessy Nazar * Cique Thomaz
Leite da Silva *CamilaEder Martins de Souza * Camila Natália da Silva Gomes * Carlos Ramos * Carlos Humberto Mendieto * Carmen Rocío Apaza Cruz * Carmen Ruby Lora Ramos *
Carolina Rodriguez Bejarano * Carolina Barbara * Catherine Lafontaine * Celia de Lorenzo * Chasel Colorado * Christi Thornton * Christian Perrone * Clarinsa Grives * Claudia Josi *
Claudia Alejandra Coll Agudelo * Conway Blake * Cosmin Corendea * Cristina Blanco Vizarreta * Daniel Lopes Cerqueira * Daniela Damaris Viteri Custodio * Danielle Souza * Danilo
Alfredo Ortiz Vargas * Darci Cintra Filho * David de jesus Animal Guerra * Débora Figueiredo * Deissy Motta Castano * Diana Restrepo Nova * Diana Lorena Quinonez Bohorquez *
Diana Rocio Bernal Camargo * Didima Rico Chavarro * Domingo Enrique Rojas Chacaltana * Donna Robinson * Edith Ramírez Prieto * Eduardo Calderon Pontaza * Eduardo Shiraishi
Furlan * Eduardo Brito * Eduardo Jesús Rodríguez Soto * Eduardo Jose Ramon Llugdar * Edwing Jabeth Arteaga Padilla * Eileen Meier * Elda Monica Carballo * Elida Caballero
Cabrera * Elimara Brunetto * Elizabeth Abi-Mershed *Ena Carnero Arroyo * Erika Montero Serrano * Ernesto Enrique Miranda Molina * Esteban Morales Moncayo * Evandro Ribeiro *
Fabio Andres Camargo Gualdron * Federico Sersale di Cerisano * Felipe Viveros Montoya * Felipe Cerquera * Fernanda Costa * Fernanda Maria Outon * Fernando Goldar * Fiorella
Pia Peyrone Villacorta *Flor de María Meza * Francisco Rivera Juaristi * Francisco Garcia * Francisco Javier Henao Bohorquez * Gabriel José Sánchez Bruce* Gabriela Neira * Geiser
Caso * Giovanna Alejandra Rey Anaya * Gladys T erán Sierra *Harje Johannes Kjellberg Rosario * Héctor Benchocron * Helga Ybanova Tzicap de Snow * Henry Serrano Calderon *
Henry Alejandro Morales Gomez * Hilaire Sobers * Hugo Fonseca * Humberto Fernando Cantú Rivera * Indiana J. Jiménez Guerrero * Inés Patricia Garzón Arévalo * Isabel Madariaga
*Ivetta Pyc * Jacqueline Altagracia Aquino * Jairo Avendaño * Janire Lamiquiz * Javier El-Hage * Javier Galindo * Jefferson Nascimento* Jeffrey Kihien-Palza * Jennifer Jaramillo *
Jenny González Arenas * Jenny Isabel Vento Curi *Jesus Eduardo Torres Zabala * Jocelyn Getgen * Jorge Antonio Israel Candia-Burgos * Jorgelina Fernandez Leyton * Jose Zavala
Alcantara * Jose Angel Galindo * Jose Manuel García Rebolledo * Juan Alvaro Montoya Villada * Juan Carlos Guzman Romero * Juan Carlos Oliveros * Juan Manuel Iglesias * Juan
Pablo Guerrero Gomezjurado * Julie Diane Recinos * Julio Jose Rojas-Baez * Julisa Pilar Romas Quintero * Karen Jacqueline Carrillo Buitrago * Karla Quintana * Karla Andrea Fiedler
Quiñiñir * Leonardo Aravena * Leonardo Crippa * Leonel Mauricio Pena Solano * Lidia SusanaGomez * Livia Carolia Sanchez Rojas * Liz Andrea Rubio Bohorquez * Lucas MartínezVillalba * Luis Abadia Garcia * Luis Alberto Cantoral Benvides * Luis Alberto Caballero Sabino * Luis Emmanuel Cunha * Luiza Rosa Barbosa de Lima * Luz Elena Mira * Manuel
Andrés Casas * Marcela Giraldo-Muñoz * Marcelo Varella * Marcelo Camargo Zenteno * Marcelo Alberto Lopez Alfonsin * Marcia Leonora Regis Orlandini * Margo Waterval * Maria
Granados * Maria Velandia * Maria Alexandra * Pezzotti Harper * Maria Claudia Pulido * María de los Angeles Salazar Morales * Maria del Carmen Ponte Delgado * Maria Graciela
Cortazar * Maria Laura Rodriguez Slivinsky * Maria Soledad Pérez Tello de Rodriguez * Mariam Rincon * Mariano E. Gruber Ascanio * Marilin del Carmen Jimenez Rengifo * Marino
Vinicio Castillo Hernandez * MarioLopez-Garelli * Mario Gilberto Aguilera Bravo * Maritza Olivares Navarro* Marjorie Andrea González Ramírez * Mark de Barros * Marlin Maribel
Calderon Tinitana *Martha Isabel Pinto Gomez * Mathurabhasini Thamilmaran * Mauricio Noguera Rojas * Mauricio Augusto Ricardo Cuadra Moreno * Maxwell Opoku-Agyemang *
Melanija Radnovic *Mery Margarita Requena * Miguel Ángel Fernández Gutiérrez * Milton Fabián Perdomo Mejía * Miozotis Florez * Monica Collette Yriart * Monica Alexandra Cruz
Omana * Monserratte Galeas * Muthee Kiunga * Namiko Matzumoto * Nancy Medina Sigampa * Nancy Grandillo * Nataly Herrera Rodríguez * Naun Misael Batiz Gonzales * Naun
Misael Batiz Gonzalez * Nerea Aparicio * Nora Edith Lezcano * Norma Colledani * Olga del Valle Emboz Hascur * Oluwabunmi Lar * Omar Huertas Diaz * Oscar Ramirez * Pablo
Contreras *Pablo Matías Pejlatowicz * Paula Leguizamo Perdomo * Paola Velasquez * Paola Andrea Bejarano Erazo * Patricia Tarre * Paula Paixao e Silva * Paula Arias * Paula Sofia
Cuellar Cuellar * Pedro Cohen * Rafael Antonio Santana Goico * Rebeca Antonia Ramos Duarte * Ricardo Abello-Galvis * Ricardo Antonio Parada Davila * Rocío del Pilar Ochoa Soto
* Rodolfo Noronha * Rodrigo Deodato de Souza Silva * Rodrigo Fernando Varela Torres * Rogelio Flores * Rosa De la Cruz Yeb *Rosa Patricia Aguilar- Tudela Buendia * Rosibel
Gómez D'Lima * Ruben Dario Revelo Jimenez * Sabina Petersen *Salvadora Frontera * Samantha Colli * Samuel Meira Brasil, Jr. * Sandra Aleyda * Montezuma Misnaza * Santiago
Vazquez * Sebastián González * Selene Soto * Sergio Dario Abel Thau * Sheyla Viloria Velez * Shirley Johanna Acuña Castañeda * Sidney Guerra * Silvana Lorena Diaz Ordonez *
Silvia Serrano * Simon Gomez * Simon Gilberto Perez Muñoz * Sofia Amozurrutia Pineda * Steven Espinoza * Tássio Bezerra * Tatiana Gos * Ursula Maria Indacochea Prevost *
Valentina Gomez Garcia * Vanessa Carolina Rivera Requena * Verónica González * Victor Madrigal-Borloz * Vinycius Faleiros * Viviana Girlado Gomez * Wânia Grangeiro * Willams
Gonzalo Orihuela Peñaranda * Willian Ricardo Yanez Calero * Wilson Merino * Yanet Vargas Sandoval * Yohana Carolina Moreno Velásquez * Yolanda Owseykoff Miranda * Yoseland César Pinto * Yuri Oyuela
Call for Stories
Now entering its 18th year, the Inter-American Human
Rights Moot Court Competition has welcomed over
2100 students from 36 countries worldwide, in addition
to countless judges, volunteers, coaches, and speakers. This newsletter is our attempt to keep in touch
with all (or most) you.
In the coming issues, we hope to highlight a variety of
stories related to the Competition: best practices,
judge or team profiles, success stories, fundraising
ideas, and moot court updates. In order for the newsAMERICAN UNIVERSITY
letter to be a success, we need you. Please contact us W A S H I N G T O N C O L L E G E O F L A W
with story ideas, or submit articles for consideration.
Inter-American Human Rights Moot Court Competition
We hope to release a newsletter once a month, distribAcademy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
uting it by email and making it available on our website.
4801 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Please contact us with story ideas at:
Washington, DC 20016
iamoot@wcl.american.edu.
On behalf of the entire moot court staff, we look forward to hearing from you.
Phone: 202-274-4215
Fax: 202-274-4198
E-mail: iamoot@wcl.american.edu