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Halfway around the world, while Xiyue Wang sat in an Iranian prison, Kexu Lan approached the UW, searching for any help she could find for her son. Serendipitously, she discovered the International Human Rights Clinic at the ������Ƶ.

Wang is a UW Jackson School of International Studies alumnus and a student at Princeton University, pursuing a doctorate in 19th-century Persian history. He was in Iran conducting research when he was arrested, and later tried and convicted of espionage. In April 2017, he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, the maximum sentence allowed for the crime. 

Lan, facing limited access to information about her son, turned to the clinic to advocate for Wang’s release and better detention conditions.

The clinic provides an important service in increasing access to international justice. Student participants provide a space of support for victims of human rights violations, particularly those who may not have the means to otherwise obtain representation.

Alejandra Gonza, who has significant experience working with detainees, took on Lan’s case, and students began their advocacy work. In September, the clinic celebrated a favorable ruling in the case: the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has ruled that Iran's detention of U.S. citizen Xiyue Wang is illegal and arbitrary, and that he must be released immediately.

"After over two years of injustice, Xiyue finally had an independent assessment of the human rights violations committed against him," said Alejandra Gonza, director of the International Human Rights Clinic and a law lecturer, which has been representing Lan. "This is a resounding decision in his favor. Iran has fully engaged in the process, submitted a response and lost on the merits. We are looking forward to working with Iran, the U.S. government, U.N. agencies, and the international community to implement this important decision, so that we can bring Xiyue home to his family.”

LLM student Lindsey Callahan and 3L Darius Izad started working with Lan in fall 2017, coordinating with many different stakeholders to raise awareness of the case.

“This is such a meaningful case,” Izad said. “On a personal level, I’ve seen someone go through a terrible ordeal, and it puts things in perspective.”

Students assisted Lan in advocating and meeting with the WA State Governor, congressional and city officials, as well as with United Nations human rights offices during the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

“You see these things going on in the world and it’s so frustrating, but the clinic is an outlet,” Callahan said. “I can’t fix all of these problems, but this is where I can help, and hopefully make a difference.”

Petition to Protect the Life and Personal Integrity

In January, the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights granted a , one of the leaders of the Zapotecos Indigenous peoples of the Tehuantepec Isthmus, Oaxaca, Mexico. The indigenous community is seeking international protection of indigenous people territories from a wind farm project developed by an international private corporation in their lands, without free, prior and informed consent.

The Commission recognized that Bettina Cruz was targeted for her work as a human rights defender. The order prompted two meetings between the beneficiaries and the Mexican government, reaching some agreements towards the creation of a table of dialogue about sustainable development in their territories.

Protecting a prominent immigrant rights’ defender

In February, the United Nations Working Groups on Human Rights and transnational corporations and on Arbitrary Detention issued a press release and sent a communication to the United States asking to refrain from deporting prominent immigrant rights’ defender Maru Mora Villalpando, as means of retaliation for reporting cases of the detention of immigrants and alleged violations of their human rights.

The groups and other special procedures, including the UN Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders expressed concern about the increasing pattern of intimidation and retaliation against people defending migrant's rights in the United States. They highlighted the need for the Northwest Detention Center to meet international human rights standards and for the government to exercise proper oversight of the privatized facilities. The Inter-American Commission expressed similar concerns in a press release.