Human Rights

Once known as "Pakistan's bravest citizen," Jahangir, who died Sunday, co-founded the country's first all-women's law firm and pushed for women's rights and democracy. Originally broadcast in 2001.

China expert Orville Schell explains to host Terry Gross how the gates of United States and China are connected, and how the protectionist policies of the past are no longer viable.

Author and activist Roya Hakakian offers her take on political upheaval in her native Iran. Hakakian emigrated from Iran to the United States in 1985, seeking political asylum.

Louise Arbour, the U.N.'s High Commissioner for Human Rights and onetime chief prosecutor in the Yugoslav and Rwandan tribunals, discusses U.S. policy on detainees in the fight against terrorism.

Gambian attorney Fatou Bensouda is the deputy prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which deals with genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. The court's first case concerns crimes involving child soldiers. She has served as Attorney General, Secretary of State and Minister of Justice for The Gambia. She is also an authority on gender and violent crimes against women.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews The Constant Gardener, the new thriller based on the John Le Carre novel. The film is directed by City of God's Fernando Meirelles and stars Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews A Changed Man, the new novel by Francine Prose.

Dr. Lynn Amowitz is a senior researcher for Physicians for Human Rights, specializing in internal medicine, women's health and epidemiology. She's just returned from a trip to Iraq looking into the condition of health care. Over the years Amowitz has worked in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Zaire and Nigeria.

We remember former Episcopal Bishop of New York, Paul Moore. He died Thursday at the age of 83. Moore was known for his activism and concern for human rights. He was part of the civil rights movement and protested against the Vietnam War. As Bishop, he brought the church into dialogue with the poor and oppressed in New York. And he transformed the Cathedral of St. John the Divine into a thriving place for the community. In 1997 he published his memoir, Presences: A Bishop's Life in the City. This interview first aired December 15, 1997.

This year she received the John Humphrey Freedom Award for her 20-plus years in the field of human rights and democratic development in her country. She was noted for her work to promote women's rights in Nigeria. She helped organize civil protests across the country, demonstrating against the planned adoption of a conservative and discriminatory form of law known as Sharia.

Head of Afghanistan’s Human Rights Commission, Dr. Sima Samar. She was appointed to the position in July. Previously she served as the country’s first Minister for Women’s Affairs appointed by the interim Afghan government. Dr. Samar is an internationally-renowned feminist and human rights activist. Samar defied the Taliban and continued to operate schools for girls and health clinics in Afghanistan’s provinces and refugee camps in Pakistan. Samar was born in Ghazani, Afghanistan and is a Hazara, one of the most persecuted of the ethnic minorities.

Program Director for the International Center for Transitional Justice, Paul van Zyl. As such he helps emerging democracies to reckon with the human rights abuses in their past. Van Zyl is from South Africa and was the executive secretary of South Africa Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The center is now working with the U.N. to design a justice policy for post-Taliban Afghanistan. The International Center for Transitional Justice is located in New York City.

Lawyer and humanitarian aid worker John Sifton. He was working in Pakistan and Afghanistan earlier this year. He returns to Pakistan soon. His story about what he observed as a humanitarian worker in Afghanistan is featured in this Sundays (Sept 30th) issue of the New York Times Sunday Magazine.

Aryeh Neier is the President of the Soros Foundation. He has written the new book "War Crimes: Brutality, Genocide, Terror, and the Struggle for Justice." (Times Books) Neier has also served for 12-years as executive director of Human Rights Watch and eight-years as the national director of the ACLU. He is considered one of the premiere human rights advocates and has conducted investigations of human rights abuses in more than 40 countries.

Palestinian psychiatrist and human rights activist Dr. Eyad al-Sarraj. He is director of the Gaza Community Mental Health Program and is considered an authority on the traumas experienced by children under Israeli occupation. Sarraj has been an outspoken opponent of human rights violations whether committed by Israelis or Palestinians. Recently he was detained and interrogated by Palestinian police because of remarks he made critical of the Palestinian Authority. He was released after nine days following protests by Palestinian and international human rights groups.

Jonathan Mann, M.D. talks about the connection between health and human rights. Mann is the director and one of the founders of the Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Center For Health and Human Rights at the Harvard School of Public Health. He was the founding director of the World Health Organization's Global AIDS Program from 1986-1990.

Author and long-time observer and student of China Orville Schell. Schell is correspondent for "Red Flag over Tibet," which will air tonight on PBS's Frontline (February 22 at 9 P.M. check local listings). In "Red Flag over Tibet," SSchell takes the viewers to that mysterious and isolated country on the "Roof of the World." He explores the question: Will Tibet survive its 40 years of occupation by China? He explains why the survival of Tibet--its people and its culture--has become an international issue.

Wu, who survived 19 years in Chinese labor camps, died Tuesday. Born in China, Wu had lived in the United States since 1985 and was an active proponent of human rights. Originally broadcast in 1994.

There are 100 million land mines in place around the world, left over from wars and conflicts. They continue to kill and maim thousands of civilians each year. Human Rights groups are calling for the banning of land mines. Terry will talk with two individuals about this: Eric Stover, Executive Director of Physicians for Human Rights. He's one of the authors of "Land Mines: A Deadly Legacy," a study about the medical and social consequences of land mines in Cambodia. And with Stephen Goose, Washington director of the Arms Project, a division of Human Rights Watch.

Dr. Kevin Cahill. He specializes in tropical medicine, and he looks at the role of health in promoting world peace. He is President and Director of the Center for International Health and Cooperation in New york. His work looking at health amid natural disasters and wars has taken him all over the world, from Nicaragua in the 70s to Somalia today. He is the author or editor of 22 books.