2007-2008 Fellow; Israel
Ms. Ben-Israel is an attorney at Kav La’oved (Hebrew for “Worker’s Hotline"), a leading Israeli human rights NGO dedicated to protecting the rights of the most disadvantaged groups of workers in Israel—primarily low-wage Israeli, Palestinian, and foreign migrant workers. After completion of the Human Rights Fellowship, Ms. Ben-Israel plans to continue her work to advocate for migrant workers’ rights and to contribute towards the development of an Israeli immigration policy that gives appropriate concern to migrant's human rights.
Yonatan Berman is a graduate of the Tel Aviv University Faculty of Law. Prior to coming to Columbia, he was the legal advisor of the Hotline for Migrant Workers, an Israeli human rights organization based in Tel Aviv. In this capacity he represented individuals and groups in Supreme Court and District Court petitions relating to issues of status, detention and deportation of migrant workers, asylum seekers, unaccompanied minors and victims of trafficking in human beings. At the same time he served as vice-chairperson of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Committee of the Israeli Bar Association. Prior to that, he worked at the legal department of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel on an array of human rights issues, inter alia the freedom of movement of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, same-sex marriage, rights of the Arab minority in Israel and criminal justice.
2007-2008 Fellow; Bulgaria
Mr. Konstantinov is the Program Development Officer at Habitat for Humanity International’s Area Office for Europe and Central Asia, where he manages the development of the Habitat projects in Bulgaria, Russia, and Turkey. Before that, Mr. Konstantinov was the Regional Refugee Protection Program Coordinator of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee—one of the leading Human Rights NGOs not only in Hungary but in Central Europe. He is interested in researching legal documents, jurisprudence, policies and practices that promote pro-active inclusion of elderly citizens into social processes.
2007-2008 Fellow; India
Mr. Luithui is involved with the Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights in Manipur, India, where he provides research expertise on issues important to the demands and outcomes of the current peace talks between the government of India and Naga underground groups, which are calling for self-determination. In the past, Mr. Luithui has worked on issues of HIV/AIDS, and indigenous peoples rights in Asia. At Columbia, Mr. Luithui is studying to advance his theoretical and conceptual understanding of different approaches involved in human rights and development advocacy. He plans to combine activism with academic engagement by working with an NGO or research center in north-east India and teaching part-time.
Alma Luz Beltran y Puga is a Mexican lawyer who graduated from the Technological Autonomous Institute of Mexico (ITAM). She has worked in the field of constitutional law and human rights both at public, international bodies and non-profit organizations. One of her first jobs was as a clerk assistant in the Supreme Court of Justice of Mexico drafting resolutions and jurisprudence. Most of her work as a human rights advocate has been dedicated to the defense of women’s rights. She has worked at one of the leading feminist NGOs in Mexico, the Information Group on Reproductive Choice (GIRE), which is dedicated to defending reproductive rights and promoting their recognition in Mexico’s legal framework. As a staff-lawyer at GIRE, she conducted research on Mexico's legal framework on reproductive rights, focusing on women and adolescents as vulnerable groups. This past year, she worked as a legal consultant for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Mexico to promote the implementation of international human rights standards in the rulings and jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of Mexico. She is interested in strategic litigation of human rights cases, and in integrating human rights law and gender in the jurisprudence of Constitutional Courts.
2007-2008 Fellow; Zimbabwe
Mr. Saki is a project lawyer at Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights where, among other things, he coordinates urgent appeals to African human rights systems and the United Nations and is responsible for international litigation and human rights defenders’ duties. Mr. Saki also initiated its HIV/AIDS and Human Rights Project. He aims to improve human rights awareness in Zimbabwe and sees his studies at Columbia as valuable training for litigation of human rights cases before Zimbabwean courts, international courts and tribunals and for legislative work for laws that protect and promote the rights of Zimbabweans.
