UB to Present Programs On Human Rights Issues

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Programs on human rights issues, including peace prospects in the former Yugoslavia, gay and lesbian marriages and a documentary and lecture on the 1989 Chinese student movement for democracy and its aftermath will be presented this spring by the Human Rights Center and the Graduate Group on Human Rights Law and Policy at the University at Buffalo.

For further information, contact the Human Rights Center at 645-6184.

Croatian-born Zdenka Gast, a resident of Grand Island and owner of Contractors Welding Co., will speak at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 26, in 207 O'Brian Hall on the North (Amherst) Campus. The program is free and open to the public.

Gast, who has participated in numerous U.S. economic missions to Bosnia, will discuss the history of the Bosnian conflict, the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the economic and political forces affecting peace prospects.

Ruthann Robson, a professor of law at City University of New York (CUNY) Law School and a nationally recognized scholar on lesbians and the law, will present two lectures.

The first, focusing on "Class and Sexuality," will be held at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 28, in 545 O'Brian Hall. It is free and open to the public.

Robson also will speak at a buffet dinner to begin at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 1, in the University Inn and Conference Center, 2401 N. Forest Rd., Amherst. Her topic will be "Gay and Lesbian Marriage: Progress Towards Equality?"

Tickets, which are available by calling 883-6165, are $8 for students and $25 for all others.

Sponsors for the event are OUTLAW (The Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual Student Association of the UB School of Law) and the Bar Association for Human Rights of Western New York (BAHRWNY). Co-sponsors are the Graduate Group on Human Rights Law and Policy, the National Lawyers Guild and the Western New York Chapter of the Women's Bar Association.

UB law student Wendy Moore will discuss the current state-of-affairs in Nepal and the work of the International Institute for Human Rights, Environment and Development (INHURED), under which she recently served an internship, at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 4, in 545 O'Brian Hall. It is free and open to the public.

Sarah Leah Whitson of the New York City-based Center for Economic and Social Rights will discuss "An Assessment of Sanctions on Iraq Under International Law" at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, March 14, in 545 O'Brian Hall. In this lecture, which is free and open to the public, Whitson will focus on the legality of sanctions under international law and the impact of the United Nations sanctions on the Iraqi population.

Chinese-born, Boston-based film maker Carna Hinton will present her documentary, "The Gates of Heavenly Peace," at two showings on Friday, April 18. The film examines the 1989 Chinese student movement for democracy and its tragic aftermath culminating in the massacre in Tiananmen Square. Screenings, followed by a discussion, will be held from 1-4 p.m. in Room 222 of the Natural Sciences and Mathematics Building on the North Campus, and from 7-10 p.m. in Room 215 of the Natural Sciences and Mathematics Building. The screenings are free and open to the public.