Albie Sachs, a former justice for the Constitutional Court of South Africa who has fought for human rights, spoke at UF Law on Tuesday about gay marriage. (Photo by Maggie Powers)

By Jenna Box (3JM)
Student Writer

A quiet hum of voices filled the Chesterfield Smith Ceremonial Classroom, HOL 180, at about noon on Tuesday. Albie Sachs sat on a table at the front of the room, wearing a gold-patterned shirt and a calm expression. His right sleeve hung empty beside his body—a symbol of the lifelong battle he’s fought for human rights.

The 78-year-old former justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa spoke about gay marriage. It was also the opening day of the U.S. Supreme Court’s hearing of arguments about two cases involving same-sex marriage.

Even before he served on the Constitutional Court, Sachs was known as an advocate against racism, repression and apartheid. He was imprisoned, tortured and banned for his freedom fighting, but he wasn’t silenced.

In 1988, a car bomb placed by South African security agents blew up when he opened his door, causing him to lose his right arm and vision in one eye.

On Tuesday, Sachs shared stories from his experience on the Constitutional Court and his thoughts about the opinion he wrote in a case that legalized same-sex marriage in South Africa in 2005.

“Probably the strongest statement to appear in any judgment or opinion in recent years about the importance of religion in public life for millions and millions of people all around the world came from my pen in that judgment,” he said. “The very constitution that protects the rights of same-sex couples to express their love and intimacy and commitment in the same way heterosexual couples do protects the rights of faith communities to follow their faiths in the way that they want to do.”

Far too often, differences have been used as a weapon to separate, he continued. Cultural wars arise from people imposing their world views on others, instead of showing respect. What could be more important, he asked, than to allow people to be who they are?

“What do I think the U.S. Supreme Court will do?” he said. “I think they will give an opinion.”

The audience laughed.

“I imagine all the talents or otherwise of the nine justices are going to be challenged and tested now,” he said.

After the talk, Sachs signed copies of two of his books, which are still available for purchase in the UF Law Bookstore.

“I thought the talk was a great success. Albie related the issue of gay marriage to his own life experiences in a way that brought home the important dignity interests at stake, not only for gay and lesbian couples, but also for those who oppose gay marriage on religious grounds,” said UF Law Senior Legal Skills Professor Joseph Jackson, who introduced Sachs. “He’s had a truly remarkable life, full of courage and commitment in the face of great adversity, and it was inspiring to hear him speak.”

“Gay Marriage and the Promise of Equality” was co-sponsored by UF Law’s Center on Children and Families and UF’s Center for African Studies.

Two Colombian law professors discuss ways to enhance the law school’s human rights curriculum with Dean Robert Jerry at UF Law on Feb. 18. From left, Tim McLendon, Center for Governmental Responsibility staff attorney and director of the UF Law-Colombian project; Elvia Serrano, director of the law program at Universidad del Magdalena in Santa Marta, Colombia; Veronica Torres, director of El Consultorio Juridico at the Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla, Colombia; Dean Robert Jerry; Dr. Philip Williams, Director of UF’s Center for Latin American Studies. (Photo by Haley Stracher)

Two Colombian law professors visited UF Law on Feb. 18-19 as part of the Center for Governmental Responsibility’s project on “Building Human Rights Capacity in the Colombian Caribbean,” a three-year project based on capacity-building for law schools in relation to the human rights curriculum. The project includes service to their communities through clinics and outreach programs; sustainability in identifying and meeting human rights needs; and information exchange and joint research on human rights topics.

Veronica Torres, director of El Consultorio Juridico at the Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla, Colombia, and Elvia Serrano, director of the law program at Universidad del Magdalena in Santa Marta, Colombia, visited UF Law to learn about UF’s various programs and activities and to discuss ways we can enhance their human rights curriculum. UF law is working with UF’s Center for Latin American Studies and College of Education on this project.

UF will receive funds from the U.S. Agency for International Development through Higher Education for Development (HED) to support this project. The U.S. Agency for International Development administers the U.S. foreign assistance program providing economic and humanitarian assistance in more than 80 countries worldwide.  For more information, visit www.usaid.gov. HED mobilizes the expertise and resources of the higher education community to address global development challenges. Higher Education for Development (HED) works closely with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and is founded by the nation’s six major higher education associations to support the involvement of higher education in development issues worldwide. For more, visit www.hedprogram.org.

UF will receive nearly $757,200 from the U.S. Agency for International Development through Higher Education for Development to create the Colombian Caribbean Human Rights Center, which will build capacity in human rights among two Colombian Caribbean law schools through rigorous interdisciplinary research, education and community service with emphasis on serving vulnerable populations.

The center will assist regional law schools in training future legal practitioners with knowledge on national and international human rights standards, the skills to support human rights reform in Colombia, and in enhancing outreach initiatives to better serve minorities, displaced persons and other vulnerable populations.

“The faculty at the colleges of law and education, and at the Center for Latin American Studies, possess great depth in international law, human rights and experiential learning,” UF Law Dean Robert Jerry said, “and are very well suited to achieve the goals of this ambitious program.”

Directors of the project are Jon Mills, dean emeritus and director of the Center for Governmental Responsibility at the Levin College of Law; Pilar Mendoza, a native Colombian and assistant professor in higher education administration in the College of Education; Philip Williams, director of the Center for Latin American Studies; and Timothy McLendon, Center for Governmental Responsibility staff attorney.

The UF team will work with the Universidad del Magdalena in Santa Marta, Colombia, and the Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla, Colombia. Both universities offer courses and activities to enhance human rights awareness and education in the region.

“Respect for the rights of individuals, especially vulnerable populations, is vital to the development of the democracy and economy of a nation,” Mills said. “We are honored to have this opportunity to work with two distinguished Colombian universities on such an important priority for the U.S. government. The Levin College of Law is acknowledged for its faculty expertise in human rights.”

The three universities will work toward establishment of the human rights center through enhanced human rights curricula; workshops and training programs in Colombia; educational opportunities at UF for Colombian faculty members and LL.M. students; and collaborative research and scholarship between Florida and Colombian faculty.

The project will include law faculty with expertise in human rights, clinical legal education and comparative law; and education faculty from the Collaborative Assessment and Program Evaluation Services . The award will be managed by the Center for Latin American Studies.

“Given the fundamental importance of enhancing the protection of the human rights for Colombian citizens after years of internal conflict, the Center for Latin American Studies is thrilled to be working alongside the Center for Governmental Responsibility and the College of Education in a project of such national and international significance,” Williams said.

During the first two years of the project, the Center for Governmental Responsibility’s annual Conference on Legal and Policy Issues in the Americas will focus on human rights in Colombia, beginning with a workshop in Gainesville in spring 2013, and a major conference to be held in Colombia in spring, 2014.

Two recent factors have increased U.S. interest in human rights in Colombia – the end of overt civil war and weakening of guerilla movements and the development of free trade agreements.

Colombia also is an important trading partner with the State of Florida, as evidenced by an upcoming trade mission to Colombia, led by Gov. Rick Scott and Enterprise Florida. In announcing the trade mission, the Governor’s Office said Florida trade with Colombia totaled $9 billion last year, noting that Colombia is one of the top five destinations for Florida products, representing nearly $3 billion a year in exports.

“The higher education sector is rapidly developing in Latin America and the Caribbean,” Mendoza said. “The University of Florida is uniquely positioned to take advantage of these developments and engage in these types of collaborations.”

The U.S. Agency for International Development administers the U.S. foreign assistance program providing economic and humanitarian assistance in more than 80 countries worldwide.  For more information, visit www.usaid.gov.

HED mobilizes the expertise and resources of the higher education community to address global development challenges. Higher Education for Development (HED) works closely with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and is founded by the nation’s six major higher education associations to support the involvement of higher education in development issues worldwide. For more, visit www.hedprogram.org.

Michael Cavendish (JD 98) began an international letter-writing campaign to leading newspapers urging freedom for an American English teacher held captive in North Korea after he crossed the border from China.

By Roberta O. Roberts
Student Writer

After reading about a gross violation of the human rights of an American citizen held prisoner in North Korea last year, Michael Cavendish (JD 98) knew he had to take action, even though he was more than 7,000 miles away from the crisis.

Cavendish began an international letter-writing campaign to leading newspapers urging freedom for Aijalon Gomes, an American English teacher in South Korea who was arrested when he crossed the border from China into North Korea.

Gomes, whose entry across an unfenced border was peaceable and for humanitarian purposes, had just been sentenced to eight years of hard labor and a fine of $700,000.

But that wasn’t the only thing that compelled Cavendish to work daily on an Amnesty-style human rights campaign for almost five months until Gomes was released.

“What bothered me the most was the way the North Koreans behaved,” Cavendish said. “My conscious was shocked. (His story) grabbed hold of me and didn’t let go.”

According to Cavendish, the North Korean government gave Gomes a sentence that was grossly disproportionate and cruel. They made what would have been a civil infraction in the United States (entry without a visa) into a heavily punished criminal offense.

“And at one point, the North Koreans asked the American government to pay $50 trillion for the Korean War as a further condition to Aijalon’s release,” Cavendish said. “North Korea behaved very erratically and very cruelly. For a long time it looked like his prospects were getting worse and not better.”

A few months after his sentencing, the North Korean government threatened to kill Gomes in a public press release.

“This was the regime’s worst human rights offense of all,” Cavendish said. Professor Jon Mills, director of the Center for Governmental Responsibility and UF Law dean emeritus, said that in the last couple of decades, “it is pretty clear that Americans abroad are in some greater peril because of the U.S.’s current place in the world. Americans are symbolically used by others to convey their message.”

In this case, Cavendish suggested that part of the message is religious intolerance.

“They seemed to amplify or worsen his punishment because he may have been there to spread Christianity,” Cavendish said. “They punished him merely for maintaining a religious belief.”

According to Cavendish, “North Korea is infamous for persecuting its own practicing Christian citizens.”

Cavendish said that the entry was Gomes’ way of making a “Gandhi-like statement, communicating to a very violent and cruel and oppressive regime with an act of nonviolence. (He was) a gentle evangelist, someone who just wanted to make friends and talk about living peacefully.”

But regardless of whom Gomes was or what he was trying to do, the violation of his human rights was still an issue that Cavendish wanted to address.

Cavendish started the letter-writing campaign so that opinion leaders and decision-makers would “start talking about rights as ideas and so that pressure would begin to build in the forum of public opinion.”

According to Mills, grassroots advocacy like Cavendish’s campaign is effective and important.

“Individuals have to be persistent and willing to express their views to make democracy work effectively,” Mills said. “(Petitioning our government) is one of our basic rights. It is fundamentally what democracy is based on when we want change or need our rights protected.”

Cavendish said the importance of grassroots advocacy is that it “increases the value our government assigns to each of us as individuals.”

He cites the U.S. military slogan “no one gets left behind” and suggests that American civilians should receive this same depth of governmental protection as do our soldiers, since Americans abroad are increasingly subject to detention based on geopolitics and because civilians are far less prepared than soldiers to endure detention and torture. Cavendish completed his almost five-month campaign when Gomes was escorted home by former President Jimmy Carter at the end of August.

But this wasn’t Cavendish’s first time advocating for someone’s human rights.

Although he is a commercial trial lawyer for a private firm in Jacksonville, Cavendish started doing human rights work pro bono once he became “senior enough.”

“Whether it is full-time or just as a volunteer part-time pro bono, (students can) incorporate (human rights) as part of their life as an American lawyer,” he said.

Lawyers should especially pay attention to human rights because “lawyers see the (violation of) rights more vividly than others do,” Cavendish said. “A legal education makes it hard to fool you on fundamental issues. You might end up being a family lawyer or a government lawyer and you may have forgotten most of what you learned in law school but when you’re confronted with an injustice…you’re not fooled. That legal training that you had gives you the spine — if you will — to advocate for others.”

Mills said that Cavendish’s efforts “show a real commitment to higher principles and values.”

“Frequently, lawyers are in a better position or better able to be advocates for individuals and their rights, so lawyers should take initiative, and if they see something being done wrong, they should do something about it,” Mills said. “(Cavendish) is a perfect example of using skills and ability to help other people.”