Miami

WHAT: Miami 2023 Voices for Justice Celebration Dinner

WHEN: March 13, 2023

Join us on the evening of March 13, 2023 for our Voices for Justice Celebration and become part of our global community dedicated to protecting and defending human rights.

Human Rights Watch’s Voices for Justice Celebration in Miami is an opportunity to celebrate some of the most important human rights achievements of the past year and the human rights defenders who speak out where there is silence.

We hope you will join us and consider supporting our mission by becoming a sponsor. To learn more or to reserve your tickets or table, please visit www.hrw.org/miamidinner.

WHAT: Books & Books Panel Discussion with Nadege Green and Amanda Klasing on the State of U.S. Democracy 

WHEN: Wednesday, November 2, 2022 

On November 2, 2022, HRW Miami partnered with Books & Books to host a discussion on what’s at stake for human rights in the 2022 midterm election with Nadege Green, Director of Community Research and Storytelling for the Community Justice Project, and Amanda Klasing, HRW Director of the Incubator Phase of the United States Democracy Initiative. The conversation focused on the most pressing threats to democratic institutions, as well as local and national strategies to protect human rights and advance racial justice in the U.S. 

WHAT: Private Reception and Briefing on the State of Rights in Latin America with Human Rights Watch Acting Americas Director, Tamara Taraciuk Broner

WHEN: Wednesday, March 30, 2022

On March 30, 2022, HRW Miami hosted two events with Acting Americas Director Tamara Taraciuk Broner on the future of democracy in Latin America. Latin America is experiencing an alarming reversal of basic freedoms and threats to independent civil society, the free press, and judicial independence. Tamara discussed the latest developments impacting democracy in the region, including trends that impact the future rule of law in countries ranging from the extreme examples of Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, to cases such as Mexico, El Salvador, and Brazil, where democratically elected leaders have abandoned democratic guarantees when exercising power. She also addressed Russian influence in Latin America and the region’s response to the war in Ukraine.

WHAT:  Reception and Briefing on the State of LGBT Rights in Florida and around the world with HRW Senior Researcher Kyle Knight

WHEN: Monday, March 14, 2022

WHERE: Soho Beach House, Miami

On the evening of March 14th, HRW Miami Committee members Norman Aynbinder and Elan Nissenboim hosted a briefing with HRW Senior Health and LGBT Rights Researcher Kyle Knight on the state of LGBT rights around the world. The event coincided with the passing of legislation in the state of Florida that restricts discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools, highlighting the ongoing battle for equal rights and treatment for the LGBT community in the US and around the globe.

WHAT: A Committee briefing with Executive Director Ken Roth on the state of human rights around the world

WHEN: Friday, December 10, 2021

On International Human Rights Day 2021, HRW Miami Committee member and Board Emerita Shelley Frost Rubin hosted a luncheon for fellow Miami Committee members, featuring a briefing with  HRWs Executive Director Ken Roth on the state of rights across the globe. At the event, Ken recapped the greatest global human rights achievements and challenges of 2021, and outlined Human Rights Watch’s priorities for 2022.

WHAT: A conversation and Q&A with HRW’s Global Women’s Rights Experts

WHEN: Wednesday, October 6, 2021

WHERE: Virtual panel / discussion

On October 6, 2021, HRW Miami hosted a Committee briefing on the state of women’s rights across the globe, featuring expert panelists including Macarena Sáez, HRW Women’s Rights Division Executive Director; Heather Barr, Afghanistan researcher and HRW Women’s Rights Division Associate Director; Amanda Klasing, HRW Women’s Rights Division Associate Director; and Ximena Casas, HRW Women’s Rights Division Researcher.

Committee members were given the latest updates and able to ask questions about the state of women’s rights in Afghanistan following the US withdrawal and Taliban takeover, the decriminalization of abortion in Mexico, and threats to reproductive rights in US states including Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia.

WHAT: A conversation and Q&A with Leading Transgender Activists and Allies About Injustices Trans People Face and What’s Being Done

WHEN: Thursday, June 24, 2021

WHERE: Virtual panel / discussion

The fourth installment of HRW Miami’s Salon Series was hosted by Committee Chair Joy Stampler Fishman on June 24th, 2021, and featured a panel discussion with Dee Farmer, legend in the national transgender rights movement and first transgender plaintiff to bring a case before the United States Supreme Court; Arianna Inurritegui-Lint, transgender activist and founder of South Florida’s Arianna Center; Scott Greenberg, Executive Director and founder of the LGBTQ Freedom Fund; and Ryan Thoreson, HRW LGBT Rights researcher.

Participants were able to hear stories of the tireless work that our panelists and other activists have put into bringing transgender rights to the forefront of the LGBTQ+ rights movement, ask questions about their experiences, and learn about ways to be effective allies in this space.

WHAT: Us Kids Film Screening & Live Panel Discussion on Celebrating Youth Changing the Course of History: A Quest for Moral Leadership

WHEN: Thursday, February 11, 2021

WHERE: Virtual panel / discussion

The second installment of HRW Miami’s Salon Series was hosted on February 11th, 2021 and featured a panel discussion following the exclusive film screening of Us Kids, an award-winning documentary by Kim A. Snyder that chronicles the March For Our Lives movement sparked by student activists and survivors of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14th, 2018. The virtual event, hosted by HRW Miami Committee member Shelley Frost Rubin, featured speakers including Parkland shooting survivor and youth activist Samantha Fuentes, mother of Parkland shooting victim Annika Dworet, and Us Kids filmmaker Kim A. Snyder.

The event included an original poetry reading by Samantha Fuentes and discussion about the power of youth activists’ quest for moral leadership in the US and abroad.

WHAT: A celebration of human rights on the eve of Human Rights Day

WHEN: Wednesday, December 9, 2020

WHERE: Virtual gathering

On December 9th, 2020, the eve of International Human Rights Day, the Miami Committee of Human Rights Watch joined in a virtual gathering to celebrate the accomplishments of an extraordinarily consequential year for human rights. Human Rights Day is an internationally recognized time to bring attention to the rights we all share—to live, love, think, speak, work and worship, regardless of how we look, where we were born, or what we believe. Each year on December 10th, countries across the globe light up their monuments and landmarks in observance of how far we’ve come and as a reminder for how much we have left to achieve.

For over 40 years, Human Rights Watch has been one of the world's leading independent organizations dedicated to protecting human rights. We catalyze momentum for change by conducting rigorous fact finding, proposing effective policy solutions, and broadcasting our message to the world – all in collaboration with our partners and those impacted by abuse. Our supporters make it possible to act as an effective leader in confronting some of the greatest challenges of our time and defend the rights and dignity of people worldwide.  

WHAT: Panel discussion on protecting voters' rights in the 2020 Presidential Election

WHEN: Thursday, October 15, 2020

WHERE: Virtual panel / discussion

During a time of social distancing, Human Rights Watch Miami has created a Salon Series to encourage an interactive dialogue inspired by the original salons in 18th century France. Like those salons, our goal is to host events that will ignite learning, debate, and inclusivity, and help to engage the community around important issues of the day.

Just under a month before Election Day 2020, on October 15th HRW Miami hosted its first event in the newly introduced Salon Series: Protecting Voters’ Rights in Florida. With Florida being a key swing state in a highly contested election, HRW Miami partnered with Engage Miami and LatinoJustice PRLDEF to inform listeners of the challenges faced in protecting the right to vote in Florida and share solutions that our organizations are advocating for.

The panel featured HRW’s US Program Executive Director Nicole Austin-Hillery, Organizing Director of Engage Miami Gilbert Placeres, and President and General Counsel of LatinoJustice PRLDEF Juan Cartagena.

WHAT: A conversation with HRW's Executive Director, Ken Roth

WHEN: Wednesday, June 10, 2020

WHERE: Virtual gathering / discussion

On Wednesday, June 10th, the Miami Committee of Human Rights Watch hosted a virtual gathering with Executive Director Ken Roth to discuss new challenges and human rights implications of the Coronavirus pandemic and the innovative ways in which Human Rights Watch is uniquely poised to tackle them. Topics of discussion included the inequitable impact of Covid-19 on women and incarcerated people in the US, the devastating repercussions of the pandemic on worker's rights, and the global trend of governments withholding emergency-level assistance and information on public health and safety.

This meeting provided Committee members with the designated opportunity to directly ask questions of Human Rights Watch's lead protagonist on advancing the organization's ability to implement rights-respecting change around the world.