This coming Monday at 10:15 ET, there will be a hearing on the U.S.’ compliance with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights’ 2011 decision in Jessica Lenahan (Gonzales) v. US, concerning the human rights of domestic violence survivor Jessica Lenahan. Human rights scholars and advocates the country have been integrally involved in this case for nearly 10 years. The hearing is open to the public, and people are encouraged to attend!  It will also be webcast.   More details below.

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to Hear Testimony on Domestic Violence in U.S. Monday Oct. 27

Human Rights Groups Demand U.S. Govt. Implement Changes to Domestic Violence Policy in Accordance with IACHR 2011 Decision

FOR PLANNING PURPOSES ONLY
October 23, 2014

CONTACT: Crystal Cooper, ACLU National, 212-549-2666, media@aclu.org

WASHINGTON – The Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute, the Human Rights Clinics at the University of Chicago Law School and University of Miami School of Law, the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights, and the American Civil Liberties Union will appear before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) Monday, October 27 to seek justice for domestic violence survivor Jessica Lenahan and domestic violence policy reforms in the U.S.
In 2011, the Commission decided Jessica Lenahan (Gonzales) v. United States, finding that the government violated the human rights of Ms. Lenahan and her three daughters. The Commission recommended that the government conduct an investigation into its failure to respond to the 1999 domestic violence incident in Castle Rock, Colorado that resulted in the deaths of the three girls and the circumstances of their deaths. It also recommended that the government adopt reforms at the federal and state levels to ensure domestic violence protections.

The U.S. has made almost no progress in providing justice to Lenahan or implementing systemic reforms since the Commission issued the decision.

The organizations appearing before the IACHR are the Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute, the Human Rights Clinics at the University of Chicago Law School and University of Miami School of Law, the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union.
WHAT
Petitioners will present testimony detailing the United States’ failure to implement changes to domestic violence laws and policies or investigate the failures in Ms. Lenahan’s case in the three years since the IACHR decision. The U.S. government will have an opportunity to respond.

WHO

• Jessica Lenahan, domestic violence survivor
• Rashida Manjoo, United Nations special rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
• Lenora Lapidus, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Women’s Rights Project
• Carrie Bettinger-Lopez, director of the International Human Rights Clinic at University of Chicago Law Schooland University of Miami School of Law Human Rights Clinic 
• Santiago Canton, executive director of RFK Partners for Human Rights, Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights
• Risa Kaufman, executive director of the Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute

WHEN
Monday, October 27, 2014 10:15 a.m.EDT

WHERE
Organization of American States, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
1889 F St. N.W., Padilha Vidal Room (TL – Terrace Level), Washington, DC, U.S.A. 20006

The testimony will also be available via webcast at:
http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/media_center/coverage.asp