Biographical Information
Human Rights Conference Participants
Cheryl Bishop's current research explores access to information issues in international human rights law. Her research has investigated the parameters of rights to information in various human rights instruments. Her dissertation will identify and compare the legal conceptual frameworks justifying access to information as an individual and human right in international human rights treaties, norm-setting institutions and organizations.
Richard J. Butler currently is with the US Department of Homeland Security dealing with the identification, prosecution and removal of foreign war crimes suspects and human rights violators presently residing in the United States.
From April 1997 to November 2003, he served at the International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, Netherlands. First on loan from the US Army and later as a United Nations Military/Criminal Analyst within the Office of the Prosecutor, ICTY, he directed research on incidents that occurred during the various Balkans conflicts, in order to determine if any such incidents warranted further investigation as possible war crimes.
Presently, Butler is also responsible for managing the DHS Human Rights Violator Database initiative, which seeks to identify suspected human rights abusers, war criminals and other persecutors who are statutorily barred from admission into the United States.
Altha J. Cravey is author of Women and Work in Mexico's Maquiladoras (Rowman and Littlefield Inc., 1998) and Racializing Spaces: Mexican Transnational Lives in the United States South (Under contract with University of North Carolina Press). Cravey has been involved in collaborative projects with Mexican and Latino Immigrants in North Carolina and garnered support from the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Her current ethnographic research on Mexican transnational lives in the US South intersects her research interests of globalization, political economy of Mexican development, and feminist theory. Cravey earned a PhD at the University of Iowa and joined UNC's faculty in 1994. An earlier career as a construction electrician and member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers local # 481 sparked her interest in understanding how certain jobs in particular places become associated with masculinity and femininity. Her research documents interconnections among geographies of job markets, ethnic and gendered identities, and the pursuit of social justice. Cravey recently produced a documentary film titled People's Guelaguetza: Oaxacans Take it to the Streets (co-produced with Elva E. Bishop) which explores the cultural politics of the 2006 uprising in Mexico’s southern state of Oaxaca.
Hala El Taher has long experience and a wide range of expertise in labor and human resources in Egypt. She joined the Central Department for Vocational Training in 1988 where she was one of the Egyptian experts who localized the French Program for Entrepreneurship Development and was responsible for the implementation of the first Egyptian pilot Entrepreneurship Development program. She worked as a Trainer of Trainers for the same project, was the Ministry of Manpower officer for monitoring the Vocational Training Cooperation with AFPA International, and worked as Technical Assistant to The Undersecretary of State of the Ministry of Manpower. She worked as National Consultant for SWEDEC International during its project for Evaluating SIDA Training Programs in Egypt, and worked as a Training Consultant for a nonprofit in Egypt. She was trained in Holland, France, Sweden, and now in USA, She registered for PHD Dissertation at Cairo University, Public Administration Department under the title “The Effect of The International Organizations on National Child Labor Policies”.
Beverly Jones Williams is the Director of Outreach and Education in the Office for Equal Opportunity at NC State University. In this position, she coordinates the Equal Opportunity Institute, directs the NC State Affiliate of the National Coalition Building Institute, directs the NCSU Study Circles programs and works with a variety of other outreach programs. Beyond directing these programs, Beverly is also a facilitator and participant. Beverly has been presenting programs on diversity for over 23 years.
Beverly began working in the Office for Equal Opportunity in March of 2000 after working five years as a Training and Development Specialist in Human Resources at NC State University. Her tenure at NC State began in University Housing where served in several roles including Assistant Director for the East Campus Region. She received a BA in Speech Communication and MS in College Student Personnel Services from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
She worked in the area of Housing and Residence Life in Student Affairs for ten years on several campuses: Miami University, Oxford, Ohio; University of Tennessee, Knoxville and North Carolina State University. Beverly has spent many years training students and staff on a variety of topics. Some of the topics she currently teaches include: leadership, teamwork, communication skills, quality customer service, continuous quality improvement, managing diversity, and career exploration.
Dawn Peebles has worked extensively on human rights issues in Nepal. From May-August 2006, she served as a field officer for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. She has also worked for the Human Rights Watch Asia Advocacy Division, and has collaborated at length with Nepali human rights defenders and NGOs. She is currently a PhD student in the Department of Cultural Anthropology at Duke University, where she is completing a Masters project mapping the impact of United Nations human rights mechanisms on the human rights movement in Nepal.
Tina Ramirez joined the office of Congressman Trent Franks for the 110th Congress as a congressional fellow focusing on religious freedom issues within U.S. foreign policy. Her work focuses on organizing meetings with the Task Force on International Religious Freedom (TIRF), meeting with groups to promote this essential right, and assisting those persecuted for their religious beliefs in other countries. The TIRF is a bi-partisan group within the Congressional Human Rights Caucus and Foreign Affairs Committee that Congressman Franks created and co-chairs to highlight situations affecting religious freedom that require specific attention. The TIRF will work within Congress to brief members and staff on issues affecting international religious freedom in order to bring positive changes in countries of particular concern.
Prior to joining the Congressman’s office, Tina was a researcher at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom where she focused on international organizations, Latin America, and Central Europe. Tina came to Washington, D.C. to become more involved in Conservative politics as a Christian who understands the human rights discourse. Her academic background includes a B.A. in History and Political Science, focused on Biblical Studies and World Religions, from Vanguard University (VU) in California, a certificate from the International Institute for Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, focused on international religious freedom, a M.A. in Education from VU, with a focus on the impact of human rights education, and a M.A. in International Human Rights from the University of Essex in the U.K. All of Tina’s studies focused on international religious freedom and education to promote respect for the dignity of human life. After college, Tina worked in secondary education for three years in California.
Kay Reibold is a Project Development Specialist for the Montagnard Human Rights Organization, based in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. She is a native of Omaha, Nebraska and received her Master’s Degree in English from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.
She has worked on behalf of the Montagnard indigenous people of Vietnam’s Central Highlands for over 20 years, including 17 trips to Vietnam during the time she was the Director of the Vietnam Highlands Assistance Project for Lutheran Family Services in the Carolinas from 1989-2003. Her experience includes testimony before the U.S. Congress and leading Congressional delegations to Cambodia and Vietnam. As a refugee advocate, she has received three national awards for her contribution to refugee advocacy and human rights. Her earlier career as a writer and producer involved extensive research in China, Japan, the U.S., and Vietnam, including public television documentaries shot on-location in these countries. Two programs depicting the Montagnard people of Vietnam's Central Highlands, Remembering the King of Fire and Living in Exile, were broadcast on PBS.
Marty Rosenbluth is Amnesty International USA's (AIUSA) Country Specialist for Israel, the Occupied Territories and the Palestinian Authority. He was part of Amnesty International's fact finding mission into northern Israel during the recent conflict with Hizbullah. This summer, he will be delegate for AIUSA at Amnesty's International Council Meeting. Prior to coming to Amnesty, Rosenbluth spent 7 1/2 years in the West Bank, working with Palestinian human rights and trade union organizations, where he was also affiliated with the United Nations Association for International Service. He is currently a second year law student at UNC School of Law in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Kate Weber, as Director of Non-Governmental Organizations for UNICEF, works with service-based and faith-based NGO’s, as well as professional associations, to fulfill the U.S. Fund for UNICEF’s mission to educate, advocate and fund-raise in support of UNICEF. The US Fund for UNICEF supports child survival, protection and development worldwide through education, advocacy and fundraising. UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, is working in more than 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. Ms. Weber serves as an executive committee member with the New York branch of UNA-USA’s Council of Organizations. She holds Master and Bachelor degrees in fine arts from New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, and joined the U.S. Fund for UNICEF in October 2001. Her previous experience includes several years within the financial services industry, with public television station WETA, and with the national advocacy group for public television stations in Washington, DC.