By Michelle Carmon ’14
[Assistant News Editor, Law Weekly]

The 10th Cowan Fellows Human Rights Study Project (HRSP) team traveled to Sri Lanka from January 1-17, 2012. The goal of the project, which is now in its tenth year, is to promote awareness of legal issues surrounding the development and protection of human rights in foreign countries. Each year, the team of students selects a country to visit during winter break, and each team member researches a different area of human rights within that country.

While in Sri Lanka, students interviewed attorneys, judges, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), individuals living inside internally displaced person camps, high-ranking government and military officials, victims of abuse, and ordinary civilians. John Akin ’13, President of HRSP, described the government’s reaction to the team’s presence: “The current government of Sri Lanka has a history and a reputation of being very unfriendly to NGOs and human rights organizations. The second day we were in the country, we were told the Ministry of Defense would like to speak with all of us, and they would be sending a car in the morning to come and get us.

“They brought us into the Ministry, and we met with a number of military officials before finally meeting the Chief of National Intelligence. They wanted to know what we were doing in the country, and after speaking with us told us that we could meet with anyone we wanted, but they wanted to make sure we met with the ‘right people.’ We were very aware of the potential consequences for the people we were interviewing with after that day, and much more careful with our actions and profile in the country.”

The following students participated in HRSP 10: John Akin ‘13, Clare Boronow ’12, Gabriel Hippolyte ‘13, Elizabeth Dobbins ‘13, Calleigh McRaith ’12, Jane Lee ‘13, Amanda Gray ‘12, and Lansing Lee ’13. The HRSP team will present their research later this semester and they encourage all interested students to attend. Applications for the next HRSP team will also be available for first and second year students later this spring.