Human Rights in Action: Collaborative Grassroots Lawyering in Honduras
The Spring 2025 the Human Rights in Action Clinic (HRAC) with International Human Rights Field Experience is offered for 4 credits. A required component of the course is the J-Term trip to Honduras, which including travel days runs from January 4-20. The HRAC-International Field Experience offers students a unique opportunity to engage in human rights work in an international context and learn from leading human rights lawyers and activists on the ground. Building on clinical work of Human Rights in the Americas Director Joe Berra with clients and partners in Honduras, the 2025 course will give students an intensive immersion experience in the human rights struggle in Honduras.
Students will participate in various learning modules and workshops in dialog with our partners, clients, and activists, as well as conduct fieldwork in a collaborative model of human rights advocacy on behalf of our clients and in support of the litigation efforts of our partners. The students will then continue the Clinic work on projects arising out of the fieldwork during the Spring semester, meeting once a week for Clinic seminars, workshops and project rounds. Past projects have focused on work with Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities, defense of territory, and resistance to extractivist industries, as well as litigation in the Inter-American System for Human Rights.
The Field Experience represents the equivalent of 2 units work, and the semester component represents 2 units work. Students must have Spanish language competency. The course is limited to four students.
Students will be required to complete background reading and participate in two Zoom seminar sessions prior to travel, one for logistics and one for substantive preparation. Students can expect a full and demanding schedule while on site in Honduras. Students must be available for travel for the duration of the on-site component. Our scheduled departure date is the late night (red-eye flight) of Saturday, January 4, 2025, for arrival to Honduras on Sunday, January 5. Our return is scheduled for Monday, January 20. We will travel extensively in Honduras in a rental vehicle, between the major cities of San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa, and to one or more of the interior departments. Our main base will be in El Progreso, Yoro, with fieldwork location to be determined. Students should be highly flexible and adaptable. We will follow a strict safety protocol, and nighttime activities will be restricted to group activities.
We will work closely with attorneys from the human rights department of the Equipo de Reflexión, Investigación y Comunicación de Honduras (ERIC: http://radioprogresohn.net/) and the Movimiento Amplio de Dignidad y Justicia (MADJ: https://madj.org/). Fieldwork will support social movement organizations and ongoing projects of the Promise Institute’s Human Rights in the Americas initiative, such as the Consejo Cívico de Organizaciones Populares e Indígenas de Honduras (COPINH: https://www.copinh.org/), the Organización Fraternal Negra de Honduras (OFRANEH: http://ofraneh.org/ofraneh/index.html), the indigenous Tolupán people of Yoro, and communities resisting extractivist projects. We will also be in dialog with other grass roots organizations engaged in the struggle for human rights. Fieldwork projects will be designed in coordination with our partners, with a view towards making a positive contribution, in a collaborative framework, to ongoing human rights litigation, pre-litigation, or research to be used in advocacy.
The clinic continues during the Spring 2025 semester for ongoing work on the projects developed during fieldwork. We will meet weekly for a 1.5 hour seminar that will include engagement with substantive law, skills training, and clinic rounds. We will decide jointly on a meeting time and place based on everyone’s Spring schedules.
A minimum level of Spanish competency is required, including conversational Spanish. Prospective applicants should show a demonstrated commitment to the field of human rights through prior experience or law school course of study.
Travel to Honduras and expenses in Honduras (travel, lodging and meals) will be covered by the Promise Institute. Students will be responsible for incidental expenses on travel days to and from Honduras (travel to and from the airport; meals in transit), and for any international phone or data plan. Travel will be arranged and registered through UC travel. As a university activity, travel insurance will be provided by the UC system: http://www.ucop.edu/risk-services/loss-prevention-control/travel-assistance/index.html. All students will be asked to sign a liability waiver.
Citizens of the United States, Canada, Mexico, and much of Latin America do not need a visa to travel to Honduras; however, a valid passport with an expiration date no earlier than July 2022 is required. Non-U.S. Citizens should review this list of countries for which a visa may be required to enter Honduras. If you are unsure whether you will require a visa for Honduras, you should consult with the Honduran consulate in Los Angeles (see the consulate’s Facebook page here).
International students seeking to participate should check with the Dashew Center for International Students and Scholars regarding travel abroad and return on their student visa.
In addition to the application, Director Berra will interview applicants prior to admission into the course. The interview will include an assessment of Spanish language competency. Director Berra will coordinate with the admitted students a meeting in early December to go over logistics for the course, protocols, and health and safety concerns. If you have any particular concerns, please contact Director Berra.
Enrollment for the Human Rights in Action Clinic with International Field Experience is capped at four students.