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The records document the founding and development of Amnesty International of the USA, Inc. (AIUSA) and its national office. AIUSA is the largest national section of Amnesty International, an international human rights non-governmental organization (NGO). The records include material related to the board of directors, executive directors, administration, operations, campaigns, casework, publicity, special projects, and the work of the organization and its membership on human rights issues.

The Center for Economic and Social Rights was established in 1993 by Roger Normand, Sarah Zaidi, and Chris Jochnick. In 1991, Normand, Zaidi and Jochnick were members of a Harvard interdisciplinary research team that traveled to Iraq to document and respond to the country's humanitarian crisis caused by the Gulf War and sanctions placed upon the country. The team focused on issues related to malnutrition, sanitation, childhood mortality and morbidity, and health. Since its 1993 founding, CESR has continued to focus on economic and social human rights violations, representing a shift in the way human rights work is conceived as a field. The records of CESR reflect an important evolution in the human rights movement; a shift in focus that began to recognize economic, social and health rights in addition to the political and civil rights that were championed by earlier human rights organizations. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s CESR continued to work in Iraq, actively dissenting to the 2003 American invasion and occupation. During this time they also began work in Ecuador, Palestine, Haiti, Afghanistan, and along the Texas-Mexico border. In 2004 the original founders stepped down, and the organization's headquarters were moved to Spain. They have since returned to New York. This collection focuses on early material from CESR's thirty year history. Notably, this collection features much of the Harvard Research Team and CESR's original survey material on childhood health and nutrition in Iraq. The files include blank and completed surveys, CESR and affiliate reports, external analysis on human rights and information about countries of interest. Most of these surveys are paper, but there is one floppy disk located in subseries II.4 in the folder "CESR Mission Proposal Afghanistan."

This collection contains materials generated and collected by the Center for the Study of Human Rights, a research and training center at Columbia University.

This collection documents the efforts of the Committee for Health in Southern Africa, a human rights organization once based in New York State, in its attempts improve the health of the people of Southern Africa through research, education, training, and consultation.

This collection documents the efforts of the Committee of Concerned Scientists in promoting academic and personal freedom for scientists, scholars, engineers, and students.

The David Stoelting papers focus on events leading to the adoption of the 1998 Rome Statute creating the International Criminal Court ("ICC") and the early years of the ICC's operation. It also includes materials related to task forces and committees of lawyers examining the post-9/11 war on terror, military commissions, and the issue of solitary confinement and international human rights. Three boxes relate to Stoelting's research on Africa and the ad hoc tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

The Gay J. McDougall Papers document the South African anti-apartheid movement in the 1960s through the 1990s. The records primarily include correspondence, writings and speeches, administrative records, court documents and case files, and newspaper clippings related to human rights, anti-apartheid activism, political prisoners, the 1989 Namibian election and the 1994 South African election. The collection documents the work of McDougall; the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Southern Africa Project, a non-governmental organization (NGO); and the Commission for Independence in Namibia.

The James H. Sheldon Papers document a lengthy portion of the author's career, though its bulk corresponds with the years between 1958 and 1964. While Sheldon was involved in a number of diverse pursuits, his papers emphasize his professional activity in the Nationalities Division of the Democratic National Committee, the American Association of United Nations, and the now-defunct newspaper, the American Examiner The collection is comprised of an array of materials such as: correspondence, drafts of press releases and speeches, handwritten notes, reports, programs, pamphlets, clippings, and scrapbooks. Sheldon's papers are arranged in eight series and six subseries.

Louis Henkin (1917-2010) was a prominent figure in international human rights law and taught at Columbia Law School for over sixty years. Henkin published more than twenty books on constitutionalism, foreign policy, human rights, and international law, and served as an expert member of the United Nations' Human Rights Committee. The collection consists of 22 linear feet of Henkin's professional record, primarily from the last twenty-five years of his career, and focuses on his teaching activity, writings, and work for the United Nations.