INDIANA UNIVERSITY PURDUE UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS

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A DOZEN LAW STUDENTS AT IUPUI TO WORK OVERSEAS ON BEHALF OF PEOPLE WHOSE VOICES GO UNHEARD IN AREAS SUCH AS HEALTH RIGHTS, CHILDREN'S RIGHTS

INDIANAPOLIS - Twelve law students from IUPUI will spend this summer working overseas as human rights law interns for foreign governmental and non-governmental agencies.

The IU School of Law-Indianapolis students will begin departing as early as May 16 for eight- to 12- week stays in such places as Budapest, Hungary; Accra, Ghana; Castries St. Lucia; Port Harcourt, Nigeria; and Belize City, Belize.

Sponsored by the law school's Program in International Human Rights Law, the students will work with agencies that focus on various areas including health rights, children's rights, environmental rights, race discrimination and reparations.

The students will provide legal expertise for organizations that serve people who voices would go unheard, if not for the law students, said law school Professor George E. Edwards, founder and director of the unique program.

The IU School of Law-Indianapolis's international summer program is the only such international program at any Indiana University campus.

"There are very few like this in the country, very few in the world for that matter," the director said.

This year marks the fifth anniversary of the program which, thanks to the commitment of the school and its students, has experienced significant growth in its effort to assist in eradicating human rights problems.

"We started off with two interns in 1997, we doubled to five in 1998, and doubled again to 9 in 1999," Edwards said. "We had 10 in 2000, and now we have 12. We have had 44 placements in over 30 countries on every inhabited continent and in practically every area of human rights."

Law school scholarships finance the students' housing, food, transportation and communication expenses over the summer. Students receive academic credit for the internships that provide invaluable experience.

"What my students learn while overseas they cannot learn from reading a book, they cannot learn from reading a newspaper," Edwards said. "They can only learn it by being on the ground, working with victims of human rights violence and working with those who advocate on behalf of victims."

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