Academics Experiential Learning Clinical Program

International Human Rights Clinic

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Students in the International Human Rights Clinic promote social justice through litigation and advocacy before domestic and foreign courts as well as international bodies. Our clinic students work directly with clients around the world, with an emphasis on prisoners’ rights, the death penalty, and the right of occupied peoples to self-determination.

“I grew so much more than I would have expected or known. I learned the technical stuff, but I learned skills that no doctrinal classes would have taught me. The storytelling skills, the teamwork, and the advocacy were all part of the bigger picture of being a lawyer." ~Ji Hyun Rhim, J.D. '20

Clinic Projects and Cases

The clinic is dedicated to advancing social justice through collaboration with partners in the U.S. and abroad. The clinic engages students in critical reflection about human rights work and progressive legal practice. Clinic students have handled a wide array of projects in several countries (including the United States) that address prisoners’ rights, women’s rights, the death penalty, truth and reconciliation in post-conflict societies, the right to self-determination, and cultural rights. Clinic students have also advocated before U.N. treaty bodies, the U.N. Human Rights Council, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

Professor Babcock is also faculty director of the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide, and some of the clinic’s projects draw on the center’s ongoing work around gender and the death penalty.

Students in the clinic learn about substantive human rights law as well as lawyering skills, including brief writing, strategic judgment, and storytelling techniques. Students work in teams, conducting international and comparative research, and brainstorming about legal arguments. Through their practical work and the clinical seminar, students learn to integrate theory with practice. They grapple with cultural barriers, learn new advocacy tools, and work to achieve tangible results for individuals and groups whose human rights have been violated.

Below are some examples of the projects recently undertaken by Professor Babcock’s students at the International Human Rights Clinic.

In 2019, this project won the World Justice Challenge at the World Justice Forum in The Hague. For several years, the clinic has been engaged in promoting access to justice for prisoners in Malawi and Tanzania. Over the last six years, Cornell clinic students have contributed to the release of more than 140 former death row prisoners through investigation and litigation. Students have traveled to Malawi and Tanzania to interview prisoners, conduct investigations in rural villages, and provide human rights training to judges, lawyers, paralegals, village mediators, and human rights advocates.
Clinic students have investigated and documented human rights violations by the State of Israel in collaboration with Al Marsad, a local human rights organization in one of the five remaining Arab villages in the Occupied Golan. One of the principal human rights violations documented in our reports involves the confiscation and use of natural resources in violation of international law. Students have presented reports to the U.N. Human Rights Committee in collaboration with Al Marsad and have traveled to the region to meet with local partners, academics, and human rights organizations.
Clinic students have drafted petitions on behalf of women on death row around the world, highlighting the ways in which gender bias has contributed to their death sentences. Students have been instrumental in advancing understandings of how gender stereotypes influence our perceptions of women as offenders. This project is an ongoing collaboration with the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide and other U.S. and international NGOs.
The clinic has filed reports with the U.N. Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights and the U.N. Human Rights Committee on behalf of the Western Saharan people, arguing that Morocco has violated their right to self-determination and has engaged in purposeful discrimination. Morocco has illegally occupied Western Sahara since 1975. Not a single country recognizes Morocco’s territorial rights, and the U.N. has repeatedly called for a referendum on the people’s right to self-determination. Clinic students traveled to Geneva to present arguments to Committee members and met with country delegations and special mandate holders to promote vindication of the rights of the Western Saharan people.
For the last eight years, clinic students have been engaged in litigation on behalf of Mexican nationals facing the death penalty in the United States. In all of these cases, state authorities violated their obligations to advise Mexican nationals of their consular rights pursuant to Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. Students have helped draft petitions for writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court, filed petitions before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and coordinated clemency campaigns to prevent the execution of Mexican nationals on death row in Texas.

Participating in the Clinic

The clinic is open to 2Ls, 3Ls, and LL.M. students. Participation in the clinic involves a classroom component as well as a practice component. In the classroom component, students obtain a foundation in international human rights law and practice through lectures, discussions, and simulation exercises. In the practice component, students are divided into collaborative teams, each of which works on a substantive human rights project. These projects typically involve litigation, investigation, and/or drafting reports on human rights violations in collaboration with international NGOs. Some projects may involve international field research. Student teams work closely with clinical professors throughout the course, receiving close guidance and regular feedback. Travel is optional and is not guaranteed. Travel will depend on the project’s needs and other factors.

Students apply to the clinic through the law school clinic registration process, which is organized by the Registrar twice a year (typically in June and October). Prospective students must submit a c.v. and statement of interest indicating why they wish to take the clinic to Professor Babcock by the deadline given in current course registration materials. Students from underrepresented communities and nontraditional backgrounds are encouraged to apply. The clinic also accepts applications from LL.M. students.

The clinic gives priority to students who have a demonstrated commitment to human rights or social justice work, whether in the United States or abroad. Foreign language proficiency is also helpful for certain projects. We are looking for students who are passionate, committed, and eager to learn. Students must be willing to work in teams. Other factors relevant to the selection process include:

Prior work in international law, human rights, or criminal defense (public interest experience in the United States counts as human rights work)
Interest and experience in working on human rights issues, including prior coursework
Availability and commitment to the clinic experience
Legal writing and research skills
Ability to work well with others
Language skills

From left: Eva Charles ’24, Allayne Thomas ’25, and Griffin Perrault ’25 traveled to Arusha, Tanzania, in fall 2023 where they had the chance to meet with African colleagues during the session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Students participating in the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights conference in Tanzania in fall 2023.