2011 Fellows

Artemis Ahmadi
Islamic Law and Human Rights Program
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Artemis has a Bachelor of Law from Iran and obtained a Master’s of Law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in May 2010. She is an expert in the area of Family Law and has been a human rights activist since 1996. Artemis is working as a community resource coordinator for the Partners in Closing the Gap Project and is a community research coordinator at Broadway High School, where she is implementing a human rights curriculum. Previously, Artemis taught languages and law subjects including; Family Law, Criminal Law, and International Human Rights at the high school level.  She also worked on cases for women seeking refuge from abusive marriages.  Under Minnesota Supreme Court Rule 114, Artemis is a qualified mediator and practices in the civil area. She is currently working at the Human Rights Center as a Fellowship Programs Assistant and Human Rights Legal Fellow.

As a an Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellow, Artemis will conduct research of  judicial proceedings at the State and Federal Courts in Minnesota to observe and examine the implementation of International Human Rights Law as it relates to political, gender, racial, and religious equality. She will also establish an online database for the Islamic Law and Human Rights Program regarding the situation in Iran, focusing specifically on the protection of human security and enhancement of women’s and children’s rights, strengthening the rule of law by promoting citizen participation in the political process, and advancing human rights education. Artemis will also establish online database material and resources to complete Iran’s profile for the Human Rights Library.

 

Brock Berglund
Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ)
Belfast, Northern Ireland

Brock recently completed his first year at the University of Minnesota Law School. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of North Dakota with a BA in English.

This summer, Brock will intern for the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) in Belfast, Northern Ireland. CAJ is an independent human rights organization that ensures that the government of Northern Ireland complies with its human rights obligations. While working at CAJ, Brock will focus primarily on Criminal Justice and Human Rights, monitoring the operation of criminal justice institutions, researching areas of concern, and working to form a more enhanced culture of human rights in Northern Ireland.

 

Marianna Chaparova
Balkan Association of the Producers and Traders of Ecological Products
Sofia, Bulgaria

Marianna Chaparova is a second year law student at the University of Minnesota. In the summer of 2010, Marianna attended the Asia-America Institute in Transnational Law in Hong Kong, where she studied international banking and arbitration with faculty from Duke University School of Law and Hong Kong University.

Marianna is using her Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellowship to work in Sofia, Bulgaria, as a legal assistant for the Balkan Association of the Producers and Traders of Ecological Products (BAPTEP).  BAPTEP provides the Bulgarian government with proposals of new strategies for management of organic waste and assists in the implementation of a new national standard for soil enhancers and fertilizers.

 

Anne Fuchs
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
Montgomery, Alabama

Anne just completed her second year at the University of Minnesota Law School.  During the 2010-2011 academic year, she served as president for the Amnesty International Student Chapter.  She graduated from St. Thomas University summa cum laude, with a Bachelor of Arts in Justice and Peace Studies and a double minor in Philosophy and History.  Anne has studied in Namibia and South Africa, where she interned with the National Society for Human Rights - Namibia working to identify and rectify human rights violations. In addition, Anne studied conflict resolution in Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom.

As a 2010 Upper Midwest Fellow, Anne worked with the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights for the Republic of Macedonia (MHC) as a legal assistant.  While with MHC, Anne visited prisons to inspect facilities and interview prisoners.  She also completed a comparative human trafficking analysis of prosecution procedures of Macedonia, Romania and Poland. 

This summer, Anne will work with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Montgomery, Alabama as a legal intern. There, she will work on prison rights issues, focusing on harsh conditions in Alabama county jails, including improper nutrition, overcrowding, and lack of medical care.  Anne will conduct research and field visits to gather information for advocacy work to correct these problems.

 

Elizabeth Graber
Bay Area Legal Aid
Oakland, California

Elizabeth is a law student at the University of Minnesota Law School. Prior to law school, she worked as a legal assistant at the Public Interest Law Project in Oakland, CA, on public benefits litigation and policy advocacy. She has traveled extensively and worked on women’s human rights, domestic worker rights, reproductive healthcare rights and community development in Guatemala, Peru and Germany. At the Law School, she is on the student board of Amnesty International and volunteers with Línea Legal Latina. She earned her B.A. from Northwestern University in 2007.

This summer at Bay Area Legal Aid, Elizabeth will work with Burmese refugees living in the Bay Area and help reduce language barriers they face as they access the public benefits system. She will also work with survivors of domestic violence without legal residency and help them petition for VAWA and U-Visas.

 

Lindsey Greising
Amnesty International-USA
New York City, New York

Lindsey is a law student at the University of Minnesota Law School and will graduate next spring with a concentration in human rights law.  She graduated magna cum laude with Phi Beta Kappa honors from the University of Denver where she received her Bachelor of Arts in International Studies with minors in Political Science and Italian.  Lindsey has worked with Tibetan refugees in Dharamsala, India and researched post-conflict reconstruction in Timor-Leste.  She worked at a conflict resolution and human rights NGO in Timor-Leste after college and continues to serve on the Board of Directs for that organization.  Last summer, she interned for the judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania.  She currently works on asylum cases as a student attorney for the University of Minnesota Immigration and Human Rights Clinic and will serve as a student director of the Clinic next year. 

This summer, Lindsey will use her Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellowship to serve as a legal research intern for Amnesty International-USA in New York City.  To aid Amnesty International’s human rights advocacy campaigns, she will provide legal research on a variety of topics, with a particular emphasis on immigration and economic, social and cultural rights. 

 

Mustafa Jumale
American Refugee Committee
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Mustafa Jumale is double majoring in Sociology and African-American/African Studies and he will graduate with honors in May 2011. He is an undergraduate research assistant for the Immigration History Research Center and the Institute for Global Studies. After spending a few years in the "real world," Mustafa intends to return to graduate school to obtain a Ph.D. in either History or Sociology.

Mustafa is using his Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellowship to work with the American Refugee Committee. He plans to work with that organization on a community-based Somali oral history project. He plans on working with Somali youth and elders in Minneapolis.

 

Kelsey Kelley
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
Arusha, Tanzania

Kelsey just completed her first year at the University of Minnesota Law School. She graduated from Iowa State University magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and International Studies and a double minor in English and German. Kelsey was a volunteer law clerk at the Minnesota AIDS Project throughout the past school year and is an active member of the Women’s Law Student Association and the Amnesty International Student Chapter.

Kelsey is using her Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellowship to provide legal assistance to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, an ad hoc tribunal created by the United Nations Security Council to prosecute perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. She will be working in the Office of the Prosecutor.

 

Gordon Knoblach
Hungarian Helsinki Committee
Budapest, Hungary

Gordon Knoblach is a second-year law student at the University of Minnesota. Gordon earned his B.A. in Spanish & International Studies from Iowa State University. During his undergraduate studies, Gordon spent a year studying and working in Cáceres, Spain. During his first year of law school, Gordon served as Vice-President for the Asylum Law Project, coordinating three volunteer trips to El Paso, Texas. While in El Paso, Gordon worked at the Paso del Norte Civil Rights Project in their economic justice division. Gordon also served as a member of the 1L board for the Law School’s Amnesty International chapter. He has volunteered at the Línea Legal Latina, helping Spanish-speaking clients gain access to the court system.

Gordon is using his Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellowship to assist the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC) in Budapest, Hungary, with their efforts to promote and defend human rights within the penal system of Hungary and Central Eastern Europe through legislative reform and litigation.  The HHC's main areas of activity are centered on protecting the rights of asylum seekers and foreigners in need of international protection, as well as monitoring the human rights performance of law enforcement agencies and the judicial system. It particularly focuses on the conditions of detention and the effective enforcement of the right to defense and equality before the law.

 

Taehohn Lee
International Labour Organization (ILO)
Geneva, Switzerland

Taehohn Lee is a dual degree student who has been working on his Juris Doctorate and Master of Public Policy at the University of Minnesota since 2008 and plans to graduate in 2012. Before that, Taehohn received his B.A. in Psychology from the University of California at Berkeley in 2002.  Shortly thereafter, he served in the Korean army until 2005, participated in a Masters program in International Relations at Seoul National University until 2007, worked with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, and interned at the International Service for Human Rights.  After coming to Minnesota, he worked with refugee resettlement agencies and other legal service providers, and was fortunate enough to work with the University of Minnesota Human Rights Center over the past summer, which helped him get to know many wonderful people striving to make this world a better place.

Taehohn will be interning this summer with the International Labour Organization based in Geneva, Switzerland. He will be assisting the work of the Office of the Legal Advisor, which will include working with the Administrative Tribunal, as well as assisting with general questions of law. He would like to work with the migration and evaluation departments should workload obligations permit. He is also personally excited to visit Geneva again, as he proposed to his wife in the same city three years ago.

 

Michelle Lobo
Amnesty International
Quezon City, Philippines

Michelle Lobo is a first year law student at the University of Minnesota, where her extra-curricular focus has been on human rights law and questions of equity and criminal justice.  She is the founder and President of the University of Minnesota’s Criminal Justice League, an organization dedicated to providing students with a forum to discuss and learn about issues relating to criminal justice.  Prior to attending the University of Minnesota Law School, Michelle attended St. Stephens College, Delhi University, where she graduated with an Honours Degree in History.  During this time she worked with various legal aid groups in New Delhi, concentrating on issues of women’s rights with regard to social justice and equality.

Michelle will be using her Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellowship to work with Amnesty International in Quezon City, Philippines, where she will be working on women’s reproductive rights and issues of maternal health, as well as lobbying for the Philippine government’s ratification of human rights treaties.

 

Hassan Mahamud
Generation for Change and Growth
Nairobi, Kenya

Hassan is receiving his BA in Business and Marketing Education this year from the University of Minnesota. He plans to attend law school to further his interests in Human Rights Advocacy. During his formative years, he grew up and went to school in Nairobi, Kenya, where he experienced human rights violations first hand.  In the 1990’s, Kenyan civil society was advocating for democracy and a multi-party system. Many young Kenyans lost their lives during the struggle. It is at this time that Hassan developed an interest in pursuing a degree in human rights law.  As he continues to seek a career in advocacy, he strongly believes in doing field research in a place rife with human rights violations, and that this will point his career in the right direction.

As an Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellow, Hassan will be placed in Nairobi and Wajir, Kenya to work with the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and newly formed Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC). His focus will be on the Wagalla Massacre, which was conspired and executed against the Dagodia People of Kenya by former President Moi's regime in February 1984.  This fellowship will contribute to the scholarly research in the field of global human rights.  Hassan also hopes to be a role model for young immigrants of disadvantaged backgrounds who want to pursue courses in law and human rights advocacy. 

 

Bridget Marchesi
American Public Media - Women and Girls Initiative
Los Angeles, California

Bridget Marchesi is pursuing a Master of Public Policy at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs and Master of Business Administration at the Carlson School of Business with graduate minors in Human Rights and Populations Studies. Ms. Marchesi also studied economics and management at Universita Commerciale Luigi Bocconi in Milan, Italy. Ms. Marchesi holds a graduate certificate from Dartmouth College and Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University.

Bridget Marchesi will spend the summer and fall of 2011 working on a large, multi-stakeholder public media initiative inspired by Nicholas Kristof’s book Half the Sky. The initiative, called Women and Girls, is a public media initiative designed to raise awareness, advance dialogue, and inspire action that helps women and girls realize their potential and break the cycles of violence and poverty. The Women and Girls initiative involves a variety of stakeholders, including PBS, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, USAID, ITVS International, American Public Media, the Ford Foundation, and NGOs throughout the world. Ms. Marchesi will support the executive producer throughout production by helping the production team and narrators frame experiential stories consistently with relevant and timely academic research. Ms. Marchesi will also work with key stakeholders and partners to help activate the Women and Girls initiatives in the United States and featured countries such as Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Cambodia, and Congo.

 

Kiel McElveen
Foreclosure Relief Law Project
St. Paul, Minnesota

Kiel McElveen is a student at the University of Minnesota Law School. He earned a B.S. in Political Science with a focus on African politics at the University of Wisconsin. In the past, Kiel worked as an intern at Cotlands AIDS Orphanage in Johannesburg, South Africa, and as a volunteer law clerk at DMRS in El Paso, TX.

As an Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellow, Kiel will be working with the Foreclosure Relief Law Project in St. Paul, MN.  While there he will be assisting with litigation surrounding federal mortgage adjustment programs and with the Project's other programs including policy advisement.

 

Outeiba Merhebi
Islamic Law and Human Rights Program
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Outeiba has been committed to public service since 1992, working as a lawyer and human rights advocate.  She has a Bachelor of Law from the University of Lebanon, Tripoli, and recently received her Master of Law (LL.M.), from the University of Minnesota Law School, with a concentration in human rights and international law. During her study, she has worked on projects involving the changes in family law over the last two decades in Islamic countries and the impact of implementing international norms of equality in the family including CEDAW and other human rights treaties.   

She was one of the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellows for 2009-2010, selected by the U.S.  Department of State for a one year program of graduate study and professional development at the Human Rights Center in the University of Minnesota Law School.  She is also an active member of both the North Lebanon Bar Association and the Women’s Organization.  Outeiba was the co-founder of the Forum on Arabic Women Lawyers in 2008, with the hope to enhance the role of Arab women lawyers in the development of legislation relating to the situation of Arab women. She was also the co-founder and principal of the Merhebi International School in Akkar, Lebanon, from June 2004 through March 2009.   As an educator and trainer of women’s rights, she spread human rights awareness in schools and universities.

She is currently an Islamic Law & Human Rights Program Fellow, and will continue this project with her Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellowship. The Islamic Law and Human Rights Project will engage in research, scholarship, and educational and practical activities on issues of Islamic law, human rights, rule of law, and terrorism.

 

Claudia Ochoa
Human Rights Center
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Claudia Ochoa graduated from the University of Texas, El Paso.  She is now a third-year law student at the University of Minnesota.  Claudia is interested in immigration issues, and as a first year law school student she volunteered to take part in the Asylum Law Project. She is part of the Immigration and Human Rights Clinic at the Law School where she helps refugees file their asylum claims. Claudia has also worked with the Humphrey Fellowship and the Human Rights Law Clinic on a legislative research project on Arizona’s anti-immigration laws, known as SB 1070.

Claudia plans on using her Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellowship to expand on this legislative project. She seeks to explain the drawbacks of anti-immigrant laws, with an emphasis on their negative effects on the employment and law enforcement sectors.  She will also explore the implications of what might happen if a similar bill were to be pushed in Minnesota.  Claudia’s ultimate goal is to create awareness and halt anti-immigration legislation within the state of Minnesota.

 

Robert Painter
UN Independent Expert on the Right to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation
Berlin, Germany

Bobby is currently finishing his second year at the University of Minnesota Law School. In 2009, he received his B.A. in Political Science and International Studies, with a concentration in Human Rights & Humanitarianism, from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.  He has worked on migrants’ rights issues with the Asylum Law Project in El Paso, Texas, and the Advocates for Human Rights’ Refugee & Immigrant Program in Minneapolis. He has also worked on economic, social and cultural rights with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland.

Bobby is using his Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellowship to travel to Berlin, Germany, where he will work with the staff of the UN Independent Expert on the right to safe drinking water and sanitation. His work will focus primarily on articulating practical steps to promote the development and equitable distribution of water resources by developing a compendium of best practices. He will also be assisting with a variety of other tasks, including preparing for country missions and researching and drafting reports to be submitted to the UN Human Rights Council and General Assembly.

 

Abigail Peterson
Mexico Appleseed
Mexico City, Mexico

Abigail Peterson is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School and is currently pursuing a Master’s of Public Policy at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs.  She earned her B.A. in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  Abigail has a strong interest in immigration and international law.  She has worked as an immigration law clerk for Fredrikson & Byron, served as a judicial clerk for the EOIR Immigration Court in Minnesota, and currently works as a graduate fellow for the Advocates for Human Rights. 

As an Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellow, Abigail will be working with Mexico Appleseed on immigration law and policy issues.  She will assist Mexicans who have been deported back to Mexico with unresolved legal issues they have in the United States.  Abigail will also help research, create, and translate a deportation manual to assist Mexicans who have been deported from the United States.  The manual will explain the deportation process and also outline legal rights deportees have, particularly the rights of deported minors.  In addition, Abigail will assist with policy advocacy to improve immigration policy in both the United States and Mexico.

 

Chris Schmitter
Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice
Washington, D.C.

Chris Schmitter is a native of southern Minnesota and is currently a law student at the University of Minnesota. He is a member of the class of 2013. Chris earned his undergraduate degree in International Politics at Georgetown University and he spent four years working for Minnesota Congressman Tim Walz, both in Minnesota and in Washington. 

This summer, Chris will be interning in the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice, which prosecutes cases involving the violent interference with liberties and rights defined in the Constitution or federal law.  He will conduct legal research and writing in support of attorneys prosecuting cases of hate crimes, corruption, and human trafficking. 

 

Waeiz Syed
Center for Justice and Accountability
San Francisco, California

Waeiz Syed is currently a second-year law student at the University of Minnesota Law School. He graduated magna cum laude from DePaul University, with a Bachelor of Arts in History. He has worked on various civil rights issues with the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Minneapolis, Minnesota and the Minneapolis Civil Rights Department.

This summer, Waeiz will be in interning in San Francisco, California, with the Center for Justice and Accountability.  The Center for Justice and Accountability is an international human rights organization dedicated to deterring human rights abuses and bringing perpetrators of such abuses to justice. Waeiz will be assisting the Center by providing legal research, preparing written memoranda and briefs, and performing other tasks related to the Center’s litigation efforts.

 

Nick Thompson
Minnesota AIDS project
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Nick Thompson received his B.A. in International Affairs from the Florida State University in 2010 and is currently pursuing a Juris Doctorate from the University of Minnesota. During his first year of law school, Nick helped re-establish the law school’s chapter of the ACLU and still serves as the organization’s secretary.

As an Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellow, Nick will be working with the Minnesota AIDS Project, an organization dedicated to stopping HIV transmission through education, advocacy, awareness, and community service. He will help HIV/AIDS patients cope with legal problems related to estate planning, social security benefits, immigration, and discrimination.

 

Claudia Vincze Turcean
Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project
Phoenix, Arizona

Claudia Vincze Turcean is a first-year law student at the University of Minnesota.  She was born in Vulcan, Romania, and has lived in the United States for fourteen years. Claudia completed her undergraduate studies in Global Studies, Spanish Studies and minored in English at the University of Minnesota. Claudia has worked with indigent clients and underrepresented communities by volunteering with Volunteer Lawyers Network and Casa de Esperanza in Minneapolis; Nuestros Ahijados in Antigua, Guatemala; and the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project in Florence, Arizona.

Claudia will be interning with the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project in their Phoenix office in Arizona. She will work to educate, empower, and provide legal assistance to unaccompanied immigrant minors detained for removal proceedings before the Phoenix Immigration Court.  The Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project strives to address inequity in immigration removal proceedings through direct service, partnerships with the community, and advocacy and outreach efforts.

 

Leo Esparza Twiggs
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
Geneva, Switzerland

Leo is a third-year law student graduating in May 2011.  Beginning in September 2011, Leo will work for the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) based in Geneva, Switzerland.  The International Commission of Jurists is dedicated to the primacy, coherence and implementation of international law and principles that advance human rights.

Leo will use his Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellowship to assist the organization in providing legal expertise at both the international and national levels to ensure that developments in international law adhere to human rights principles, and that international standards are implemented at the national level.  In addition, Leo will gain first-hand experience with advocacy work on legislative reforms, human rights fact-finding missions, and interventions to protect human rights defenders. 

 

Brian Wilson
Center for Migrant Advocacy
Quezon City, Philippines

Brian is a graduate student in the philosophy department. He studied mathematics and philosophy as an undergraduate at Tufts University. Alongside his Ph.D. in philosophy, he is pursuing a minor in human rights.  Brian has helped create a psychology experiment through the Institute of Child Development investigating the development of moral judgment. The philosophy research he does investigates how to integrate conceptual and theoretical foundations to create practical policy changes relating to human rights. 

For his Upper Midwest Fellowship, Brian is going to the Philippines to work with the Center for Migrant Advocacy. He will help the organization with advocacy work, data mining and research. He will also write short articles, press releases and position papers on migration issues. 

 

Catheranne Wyly
Center for Constitutional Rights
New Orleans, LA

Catheranne Wyly grew up in Montgomery, Alabama.  She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Sociology from Beloit College.  After graduating from Beloit in 2005, Caty served as a Health Volunteer with the U.S. Peace Corps in Uganda and worked in several different capacities for the Central Alabama Fair Housing Center (CAFHC), a non-profit organization that works to enforce anti-discrimination laws.   These experiences inspired Caty to apply to law school, and she recently finished her second year at the University of Minnesota Law School.  

Last summer, with the help of an Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellowship (UMHRF), she worked with the ACLU of Alabama to investigate and improve conditions in prisons and jails throughout the state. Thanks to another generous grant from the UMHRF, Caty will be joining the Center for Constitutional Rights this summer as an intern in the Ella Baker summer program. She will work in New Orleans to combat police policies that unfairly target African Americans and the LGBTQ community.  She will also work on poverty issues and continuing barriers to return for those displaced by Hurricane Katrina.