On March 9, International Womens' Day, The Advocates' Robin Phillips participated in a discussion at the University of Minnesota Humphrey School's Center for Women and Public Policy on women's rights in Afghanistan. Also speaking were David Cortright of the University of Notre Dame, co-author of "Afghan Women Speak: Enhancing Security and Human Rights in Afghanistan," and Rep. Keith Ellison. Minnesota Public Radio recorded the event and featured it on "Minnesota Public Radio News Presents," while the TC Daily Planet ran an article on the event.  

In an article published March 27 in MinnPost, The Advocates' Jennifer Prestholdt and Amy Bergquist call for an end to the Cambodian government’s culture of impunity. More than three decades after the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge, and more than two decades after The Advocates organized a mock trial of the Khmer Rouge regime at the Minnesota State Capitol, only one Khmer Rouge leader has actually been brought to justice. Recent developments in the Khmer Rouge Tribunal have prompted many to conclude that the Cambodian government is obstructing efforts to prosecute additional Khmer Rouge leaders.

The Advocates' Emily Good, Director of Refugee and Immigration, recently posted a podcast on a Board of Immigration Appeals decision addressing humanitarian asylum. The podcast is on the Immigration Advocates Network (IAN) and available to IAN members.

The Advocates' Robin Phillips and Rosalyn Park published a feature article in The Hennepin Lawyer on the state of the death penalty, problems with capital punishment, and emerging issues that raise civil rights concerns in the use of the death penalty. To read the article, click here.

Advocacy Director Michele Garnett was quoted in The Nation, which featured an investigative story on Liberian asylum seekers who were mistreated in detention. It also highlights the risks to their livelihoods because of deportation. The article takes a look at the United States immigration system and current ICE (Immigration & Customs Enforcement) practices that violate the human rights of immigrants and jeopardize their futures. 

On Friday, the Star Tribune featured the comments of The Advocates' Michele Garnett McKenzie in connection with a Twin Cities sex trafficking case.

Liz Cutter, an assistant Hennepin County Attorney, traveled with The Advocates' Rose Park and Cheryl Thomas to Kazakhstan in November to train prosecutors on domestic violence cases. When she finished the week in Kazakhstan, Cutter noticed Nadezha Gladyr had tears in her eyes. "She realized that what she had dreamed came true,” Cutter said of the woman who founded the first battered women’s center in Kazkhstan. “Maybe now there will be prosecution of serious offenders," said Gladyr. To read the full story, click here.

The Minnesota Women's Press recently featured The Advocates' leadership in passing the Safe Harbors law in Minnesota. The public safety law, which passed on July 20, 2011, includes protections for commercially sexually exploited children and clarifies that sexually exploited children are crime victims, not criminals.

The Advocates comments on the case of Ahmay Ya, a Karen woman seeking her father's safety and freedom.