Susan Musarrat Akram
Education
Institut International des Droits del'Homme, Strasbourg, France
Diplome in International Human Rights, 1996Georgetown University Law Center
J.D. 1982 Dean's List
Activities: Street Law Clinical Program--Prison Instructor
1981 Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court CompetitionUniversity of Michigan, Ann Arbor
B.A. in Political Science/Asian
Studies, 1979
Graduated with honors
Grant for summer of intensive Arabic, 1978
Teaching Experience
Boston University School Of Law, Boston, MA
Visiting Associate Clinical Professor, Associate Clinical Professor, Clinical Professor, (August 1993-present).Teaching responsibilities: Co-teach Pre-Trial, and Trial Advocacy; teach Comparative Refugee and Asylum Law, Immigration Law and Policy, and International Human Rights Law.
Clinical responsibilities: Clinical instructor for the Boston University Civil Litigation Program, supervising law students representing legal services clients in refugee and immigration cases. Maintain own caseload in addition to cases assigned to students, representing clients in administrative proceedings, in Massachusetts and Federal courts, through trial and appellate levels. Draft and revise training materials each year.
Palestine School of Law/Al-Quds University (on leave from Boston University)
Fulbright Senior Scholar and Teaching Fellow, (Sept. 1999 to June 2000).Researching on Recommendations for Durable Solutions for Palestinian Refugees in Light of the Final Status Talks under Oslo, and teaching Comparative Refugee Law.
Palestine School of Law/Al-Quds University, East Jerusalem
Visiting Professor, (June 1997 - August, 1997).
Professional Experience
American Council For Nationalities Service, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Deputy Director, Interim Director, Joint Voluntary Agency (U.S. Department of State/American Council for Nationalities Service), October 1992-March 1993 (on leave from the PAIR Project).
Responsible for preparing applications of over 2,000 Iraqi refugees in camps in Saudi Arabia, for U.S.INS decisions on refugee resettlement to the United States. Trained and supervised field staff; trained and supervised refugee interpreters and staff; coordinated fieldwork with representatives from United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and International Committee of the Red Cross.
Political Asylum/Immigration Representation Project, Boston, MA
Executive Director, September 1989-August 1993.
Established and directed the PAIR Project, a non-profit organization sponsored by legal service, civil rights and bar associations to provide free legal services to indigent asylum-seekers in Massachusetts. Raised funding; hired staff; managed budget & finances. Recruited, trained and monitored the work of 200 attorneys representing the Project's clients; conducted training seminars; wrote and edited training materials in political asylum and immigration law; planned and implemented strategies for major litigation. Raised funding for and established the Detention Center Initiative, for pro bono representation of aliens held in INS detention.
Greater Boston Legal Services, Boston, MA
Staff Attorney, Immigration Unit, May 1987-September 1989.
Provided legal representation in immigration matters tolow-income persons in Greater Boston area, at administrative hearing and appellate levels, and in federal court. Conducted immigration law training in Spanish and English. Maintained caseload of 80-100 cases.
Public Counsel, Los Angeles, CA
Directing Attorney, Immigration Project, January 1986 - April 1987.
Established and directed project providing pro bono legal representation to indigent asylum-seekers in Central and Southern California; coordinated the work of over 200 volunteer attorneys; monitored over 100 cases from asylum hearing stage through BIA and Circuit Court appeals; conducted training seminars and compiled training materials in asylum law, deportation defense, appeals issues; filed habeas corpus actions for detained aliens; created brief and motion bank.
Bartko, Welsh & Tarrant; Payne, Thompson & Walker, San Francisco, CA
Associate Attorney, September 1984-December 1985; and August 1982-July 1984, respectively.
Business/commercial litigation, state and federal courts.
Partial List Of Litigation Activities
Lead strategist and coordinator of the consolidated cases known as the “Suffolk Downs Litigation” of 1988-1991, in which approximately 80 individuals were arrested in an INS raid at the Suffolk Downs racetrack. Organized and provided training and backup to the individual pro bono lawyers, and prepared (alone or with others) sample materials for use in the cases. The cases resulted in a landmark decision from the Board of Immigration Appeals, which dismissed all the charges against the respondents on the principle that INS cannot establish its prima facie case of deportability solely through inference drawn by a respondent’s fifth amendment assertion of silence. Matter of Guevara, Int. Dec.#3143 (BIA 1991).
Lead appellate counsel on Matter of A--H--, one of 24 cases nationwide in which the INS sought to deport individuals based on evidence it claimed was classified and therefore refused to disclose to the alien or counsel. Case of first impression on at least three issues: the appropriate analysis of the “persecutor of others” bar to refugee status; the allocation of the burden of proof of the refugee bars; and the statutory construction and constitutionality of the secret evidence provision in the Immigration Regulations. Wrote the briefs with research assistance from law students and argued the case to the BIA, which rendered a favorable opinion on all but the classified evidence issues, adopting my analysis of the “persecutor of others” bar. Co-counsel on the related federal court litigation in the Eastern District of Virginia on the constitutionality of the use of secret evidence in deportation proceedings on a habeas corpus petition. In Re A--H--, (unpublished decision of the BIA, Sept.10, 1998). Ultimately successful on all refugee and Detention issues.
Co-counsel on a “1503” Petition submitted to the UnitedNations Human Rights Commission in Geneva charging violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in the 1996 Israeli massacre of over 100 civilians in a UNIFIL base in South Lebanon. The main petitioners are the US-resident parents of two boys, eight and nine years old, who were killed in the massacre. The Petition involved almost two years of investigation and research, both in Lebanon and in the U.S. In Re 1503 Petition On Behalf of Victims of Massacre at UNIFIL Base in Qana, H—B and W-A-.
Partial List of Conference Presentations, Workshop Talks, Interviews and Panel Discussions
Presentation at Workshop on International Law, Development and Conflict: Comparative Perspectives on Cultures of Constitutionalism, at Hague Academic Coalition Conference “From Peace to Justice: The Dynamics of Constitutionalism in the Age of Globalisation,” Peace Palace, The Hague, Netherlands,16 May, 2008.
Presentation at Workshop on Comparative Immigration Law Panel, Sudanese Refugees in Egypt and Israel, Immigration Law Professors Workshop, Miami, May 3, 2008.
Presentation at UN International Conference on Palestinian Refugees, Palestinian Refugees as the Longest-Running Refugee Crisis: What’s Law Got to Do With It? on Plenary 1: Palestine Refugees—the Longest-Running Humanitarian Problem in Today’s World. Hosted by UNESCO, Paris, April 29-30, 2008.
Interview with Al Damir Magazine, Chile, on the rights of Palestinian refugees (May 13, 2008).
Interview with Albetaren, Swedish Weekly, on Palestinian right of return (May 7, 2008).
Presentation on Law as Mechanism of Violence: The Palestinian Right of Return and the Israeli Law of Return, for Nakba60 Conference at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (Feb. 16. 2008).
Presentation on Is Sudan Committing Genocide in Darfur? Why Does it Matter? at New England School of Law Symposium on “Complicity in International Law” (Jan 25, 2008).
Interview on TODAY with Beverley Manley, HOT 102 FM (Jamaica Radio), on the History of the Conflict Between Israel and Palestine (Jan. 14, 2008)
Presentation for UN Conference on Asylum and Islam, ‘Global and Regional Responses to Refugee Protection in the Muslim World,’ Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; on “Refugees in the Muslim World: Grounding Refugee Protection on Concrete Sources of Rights,” (Dec. 10, 2007).
Interview on Radio Islam, 1450 AM WCEV (Chicago), on the State of Emergency in Pakistan and the Crisis of the Judiciary (Nov. 9, 2007).
Presentation to the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, Netherlands, on “Myths and Realities of the Palestinian Refugee Problem,” (Oct. 4, 2007).
Distinguished visiting Professor, American University in Cairo (AUC), in Forced Migration & Refugee Studies, and Law Departments, academic year 2006-07.
Presented testimony on invitation to the UN Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories (Cairo, July 22, 2007).
Presentation to AUC-Law Dept. and Law Students’ Association: “Global Strategies for Advancing Palestinian Claims of Return, Restitution and Compensation,” (April 19, 2007).
Guest Lecture to AUC-Law class on Palestinian Refugee Issues: “Implications of the ‘Protection Gap’ and the Proposal for Temporary Protection” (April 12, 2007).
Presentation to AUC student body, “Cairo to Camps,” panel discussion with UN ME rep. Maher Nasser on “Palestinian Refugees: International Legal Protection,” (March 19, 2007).
In collaboration with international ngo’s, drafted submission for presentation to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and lobbied on submission at the Committee’s session on the examination of the State of Israel (Geneva, Switzerland, Feb. 22, 2007).
Bar Associations
Licensed to practice in Massachusetts and California state courts, before the Northern and Central District Courts of California, the Eastern District of Virginia, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Past and present memberships: California Trial Lawyers Association; San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association; San Francisco Bar Association; American Immigration Lawyers Association; National Lawyers Guild.
Activities, Awards, Honors
Recipient of a number of awards and honors, including a Fulbright Senior Scholar Fellowship (1999-2000).
Contributing author to edited volume, civil rights in Peril, recipient of the Gustavus Myers 2004 Outstanding Book Award for promoting human rights in North America.
Award from the National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom for secret evidence litigation (2001)
Mentor of the Year Award (2002) and Advocacy Award (1994) from the PAIR Project.
IMMACT90 Advocacy Award from AILA.
Honoree of the National Immigration Project, 1998, for secret evidence litigation.
Award for Developing Pro Bono Legal Services for Immigrants from Centro de Asunto Migratorios, San Diego,CA, 1986.
Listed in the Directory of American Scholars and Who’s Who in Law Education.
Publications
"Palestinian Refugees and the Right of Return," in Encyclopedia of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Cheryl Rubenberg, ed., Lynne Rienner Publishers (forthcoming).
"Arab Israel Conflict," in Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law Rudiger Wolfrum, ed., Oxford University Press (forthcoming).
"Middle East," in Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law Rudiger Wolfrum, ed., Oxford University Press (forthcoming).
A Rights-Based Approach to the Israel-Palestine Conflict, with M. Lynk, I. Scobbie & M. Dumper, eds., Routledge Publishers (forthcoming).
"Myths and Realities of the Palestinian Refugee Problem: Reframing the Right of Return," in Symposium Commemorating the Naksa, Evoking the Nakba, 8 MIT Electronic Journal of Middle East Studies 183 (2008).
"The Arab Charter on Human Rights 2004," with A. al-Midani & M. Cabinettes, 24 Boston University International Law Journal 146 (2007). [English translation]
"Are They Human Children or Just Border Rats?" 15 Boston University Public Interest Law Journal 187 (2006).
Book Review, John Quigley, The Case for Palestine: An International Law Perspective, 2d ed., Duke University Press (2005), 26 Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 154 (2006).
"The Wall and the Law: A Tale of Two Judgements," with Michael Lynk, 24 Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights 61 (2006).
"Immigration and Constitutional Consequences of Post-9/11 Policies Involving Arabs and Muslims in the United States: Is Alienage a Distinction without a Difference?" with Maritza Karmely, 38 U.C. Davis Law Review 609 (2005).
"Race and Civil Rights Pre-September 11, 2001: The Targeting of Arabs and Muslims," with K. R. Johnson, in Civil Rights in Peril: The Targeting of Arabs and Muslims 9, Elaine C. Hagopian, ed., Pluto Press (2004).
"A Reading of the International Court of Justice Opinion on the Legality of Israel's Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territories," with John Quigley, The Palestine Center: A Briefing Paper (July, 2004).
"Temporary Protection as an Instrument for Implementing the Right of Return for Palestinian Refugees," with Terry Rempel, 22 Boston University International Law Journal 1 (2004).
"U.S. Measures Against Terrorism: The Civil Rights Impacts," with Kevin R. Johnson, in Anti-Terrorist Measures and Human Rights 137, W. Benedek and A. Yotopoulos-Marangopoulos, eds., Martinus Nijhoff Publishers (2004).
"The Aftermath of September 11, 2001: The Targeting of Arabs and Muslims in America," 24 (Special Issue) Arab Studies Quarterly 61 (2002).
"Orientalism Revisited in Asylum and Refugee Claims," in Human Rights and Moral Imperialism: A Critical Anthology 61, Berta Hernandez-Truyol, ed., New York University Press (2002).
"Palestinian Refugees and Their Legal Status: Rights, Politics and Implications for a Just Solution," 31 Journal of Palestine Studies 36 (Spring 2002).
"Race, Civil Rights, and Immigration Law After September 11, 2001: The Targeting of Arabs and Muslims," with Kevin R. Johnson, 58 New York University Annual Survey of American Law 295 (2002).
"Brief Amicus Curiae on the Status of Palestinian Refugees under International Law," with Guy Goodwin-Gill, 11 Palestine Yearbook of International Law (2001).
"Durable Solutions for Palestinian Refugees: A Challenge to the Oslo Process," Terry Rempel, 11 Palestine Yearbook of International Law (2001).
"Reinterpreting Palestinian Refugee Rights under International Law," in Palestinian Refugees and the Right of Return 165, Naseer Aruri, ed., Pluto Press (2001).
"Fora Available for Palestinian Refugee Restitution, Compensation and Related Claims," BADIL - Information & Discussion Brief (2000). [In English and Arabic]
"Orientalism Revisited in Asylum and Refugee Claims," 12 International Journal of Refugee Law 7 (2000).
"Palestinian Refugee Rights: Parts 1, 2 and 3," in Information Briefs The Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine (July & August 2000).
"Reinterpreting Palestinian Refugee Rights Under International Law, and a Framework for Durable Solutions," Conference Briefing Papers (2000). Conference: The Right of Return: Palestinian Refugees and Prospects for a Durable Peace
"Temporary Protected Status and its Applicability to the Palestinian Refugee Case," BADIL - Information & Discussion Brief (2000). [In English and Arabic]
"Immigration and National Identity: Membership, Difference and (Trans)National Imagination," 93 American Society of International Law Proceedings 212 (1999).
"Scheherezade Meets Kafka: Two Dozen Sordid Tales of Ideological Exclusion," 14 Georgetown Immigration Law Journal 51 (1999).
"The World Refugee Regime in Crisis: A Failure to Fulfill the Burdensharing and Humanitarian Requirements of the 1951 Refugee Convention," 93 American Society of International Law Proceedings 213 (1999).
Immigration and Nationality Law Handbook, v.2, Advanced Topics, American Immigration Lawyers' Association (1995).
"Traps for the Unwary, or Major Issues on Judicial Review of Deportation Decisions under INA Section 106," in The Immigration & Nationality Law Handbook v.2 __, American Immigration Lawyers' Association (1995).
Medical Testimony on Victims of Torture: A Physician's Guide to Political Asylum Cases, with others, Physicians for Human Rights (1991).
"Historic Court Decision Protects First Amendment Rights of Dissident Aliens," 18 Immigration Newsletter (Spring 1989).
Asylum - A Guide to Establishing Pro Bono Programs, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Palo Alto (1987).
Languages
Fluent in Hindi-Urdu, Punjabi, and Spanish; basic comprehension of Modern Standard and colloquial Levantine Arabic.