Immigration Clinic Research Guide

Immigration Clinic Research Guide* **

The Immigration Clinic at the University of Maryland School of Law has provided these resources to assist the general public in researching United States asylum law. Resources provided include both online materials and print materials available at the University of Maryland School of Law’s Thurgood Marshall Law Library. This should not be construed as legal advice. If you are seeking representation, please contact a lawyer or the Immigration Clinic.

NOTE: Although a majority of the links provided are accessible to the public free of charge, a few consist of databases designed for the exclusive use of paying subscribers. Access to these databases will require you to submit an online payment.

Research Advice

Consider the following suggestions before beginning your research:

Verify research quality – Just as important as finding information is making sure that information is reliable. When looking over your research, consider accuracy, authenticity, objectivity, and the origination date of the information, or the most recent update for such information.
Thorough review – Much of the information you may be seeking will require a careful reading of both legal and non-legal resources. Particularly when looking for factual information, a thorough reading of the material is necessary.
Save your research – Always remember to download or print useful information. As websites update their databases, important information you may have found one day may be in a different location or scrapped altogether the very next day, forcing you to re-engage in the research process.

General Resources on Human Rights and Human Displacement

Asylumlaw.org
Helpful materials include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Human rights reports on several countries including information packets from the Human Rights Documentation Exchange
- Legal research resources
- Super Search – allows users to search multiple websites and resources at once.
- Briefs (only available by registering on the site)
- Expert witness database (only available by registering on the site)
- Discussion Forum (only available by registering on the site)
Refworld
- Helpful materials include, but are not limited to, the following:
  - Country reports
  - Country policy documents
  - Country legislation
  - Responses to Information Requests (RIRs) prior to 2003
  - Maps
  - Position papers
  - Case law
- Research tip: Use the country name of interest to access information. From there you can then “filter” your findings to refine your results

African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights – includes periodic reports on the implementation of human rights treaties in several African nations.
AllAfrica.com – a current events website on African nations
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative – contains reports prepared every two years by CHRI in preparation for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting. Each report focuses on a different, critical theme related to human rights.
- Reports
- Publications
Country of Origin Research (Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
- Canadian government data on human rights abuses in numerous countries including the following:
  - Responses to Information Requests (RIRs)
  - Issue Papers
Derechos Human Rights – a comprehensive source for human rights materials including international organizations, governments, NGOs as well as legal information. It is also available in Spanish.
Ethnic News Watch – a subscription database that features newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic and minority press. The database has nearly 1.6 million full-text articles of which nearly one quarter is also presented in Spanish.
- Very good source for those searching for diversity in viewpoints among media coverage
Forced Migration Online
- Information on displacement due to war, disaster and development.
  - Regional resources including resource summaries and research guides for several nations
  - Thematic resources
  - Working papers
  - Journals
  - Organizations Directory
Human Rights Internet – A helpful website providing access to human rights databases and a comprehensive documentation centre
- HRI Documentation Centre
- Human Rights Tribune
- Human Rights Directory – access to this directory requires payment of a one-time fee. The directory provides a listing of over 2,500 organizations concerned with human rights and social justice worldwide. The listings include contact information and descriptions of the organizations.
- Vienna +5 – a look at human rights situations around the world five years after the Vienna World Conference on human rights. Included are articles, reports and documents written in anticipation of the 5-year review as well as reflection articles on the conference itself.
Human Rights Tools – The volunteer created website provides links to helpful human rights resources. The following are particularly helpful in researching country conditions and human rights conditions:
- Resources for Country Analysis
- Human Rights News
Huirsearch.org – A search engine of over 4,500 human rights websites engineered by the Human Rights Information and Documentation System. The site is available in nine languages including Spanish, French and Portuguese.
Immigration Advocates Network - "A free national online network that supports legal advocates working on behalf of immigrants' rights."
Inter-American Human Rights Database – A database provided by the American University Washington College of Law with annual reports, reports on sessions, and special reports provided in both English and Spanish
- Annual Reports
- Reports on Sessions
- Special Reports – Country specific human rights reports dating as far back as 1962
International Boundaries Research Unit
Articles and other documents on country conditions in areas where there are disputed boundaries
Netherlands Institute of Human Rights
- Documentation Centre – contains a library and a case law database. The case law database is particularly helpful as it contains jurisprudence of the Human Rights Committee, the Committee Against Torture, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.
  - Case law databases
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
- Documents Library
- Activities – a list of human rights initiatives undertaken by the ODIHR as well as links to several helpful sources
- Publications Library
Onlinenewspapers.com – Provides links to newspapers around the world.
Project Diana: Online Human Rights Archive – an online database created by Yale Law School containing information on a multitude of human rights cases.
- Yale Human Rights & Development Law Journal – The Yale journal requires a subscription if you wish to view the content, however abstracts for articles are provided.
Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
- Publications – This includes a list of books and journals which one may consider consulting during their research. Most require payment.
- Research – Includes reports and listings of many other helpful sources for a wide range of topics including children rights, humanitarian law, rights of indigenous people, and more.
Union of International Associations – contains online databases on a wide range of topics including world problems, global strategies, human values, human development and more which together total 1,971,457 links.
United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights – useful for recent news and events concerning human rights
- Official Documents of the United Nations – this includes a full-text search engine in six different languages covering all types of human rights documentation beginning in 1993, including all UN documents relevant to human rights.
- United States Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) – contains reports produced by the Resource Information Center (RIC) which can be found under the following links:
  - Profiles – Documents providing a detailed history of a given country and identifying all of the groups at risk for human rights abuses, what has been done to these groups, and by whom.
  - Perspectives – Written perspectives by expert consultants which provide background information on the political and social conditions in a country as well as its human rights situation.
  - Question & Answer – Papers on emerging social and political developments in several countries.
  - Many of these same reports can be found by conducting an advanced search by simply providing the country’s name in the search box.
  - Resource Information Center (RIC), at 20 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington DC
    Although the RIC is not open to the public, it permits representatives of asylum applicants to visit by appointment. Call 202-272-1656. Their collection includes:
    - Index Media Reviews on many countries
    - Newspapers and magazines on human rights conditions in many countries and regions.
    - Country Studies
    - Boxes for each country containing detailed published information about human rights abuses
    - The latest State Department updates of country condition profiles
      - NOTE: Some of these profiles are available on Refworld, however they are not as updated.
University of Minnesota Human Rights Library – Available in eight different languages, the site currently has more than 85,000 human rights documents and materials and also links several helpful human rights websites. There is also a helpful human rights search engine available.
Westlaw and LexisNexis – Contains excellent databases providing full-text journal articles and law reviews on country conditions and human rights violations. Both sites also contain excellent databases for news sources and research.

Government, IGO and NGO Reports on Human Rights

U.S. State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – This is a good starting point for immigration judges and DHS asylum officers

Amnesty International Library – A database provided by Amnesty International providing more than 50,000 reports, press releases, appeals for action and newsletters dating back 20 years.
Annual Report on International Religious Freedom – Reports as of 2001 provided by the Department of State
Council of Europe Human Rights – a great source for human rights issues in Europe as well as European law, policy and intergovernmental cooperation
Freedom in the World Reports – An annual survey of global political rights and civil liberties conducted by Freedom House
Human Rights World Reports – Annual reports provided by Human Rights Watch beginning in 1989.
Available on the left hand side are more reports, briefs and press releases on a variety of global issues.
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights – Available in four languages (English, Spanish, French and Portuguese), the site provides annual reports on human rights assessments as well as other publication on a variety of other topics.
Inter-American Court on Human Rights – contains several decisions and advisory opinions handed down by the court which interprets and applies the American Convention on Human Rights and other treaties concerning this same subject matter.
State of the World’s Refugee (UNCHR) – 2006 report provided by the UN Refugee Agency on human displacement.
Trafficking In Persons Report – Provides annual reports from 2001 to 2007 as presented by the Secretary of State
2007 World Refugee Survey – Report provided by U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, including country specific updates on over 50 countries.

Resources on Gender

African Commission on Human Rights and Peoples’ Rights – Rights of Women in Africa
Center for Gender and Refugee Studies - Focuses on human rights issues involving women
Gender Watch - 125,000 full-text articles on the development of gender roles in areas like sexuality, religion, societal roles, etc.
These articles include journals, magazines, newspapers, regional publications, government reports, NGO reports, newsletters, etc.
Inter-American Commission of Women – provides a list of helpful publications as well as annual and biennial reports on the advancement of women rights
- Annual and biennial reports
- International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC)
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights – Gender Equality Division - Provides links to legislation related to gender.
Several gender equality related documents and reports.
Raoul Wallenburg Institute Report – Gender Justice Best Practices
- Human Rights of Women – Make sure to take a look at this section under “research” on the tool bar at the top of the screen. It contains listings of books, articles, and reports from several prominent authors.
Women’s Human Rights net
- Contains a news section which is an excellent source for current events on women’s human rights around the world
- Documents section on a wide variety of women’s human rights related topics
- Discussion and analysis of many issues
Women’s Net
- Although this site aims to support South African women use internet resources for women’s social activism, the site contains a wide array of resources and tools on women’s human rights and other women related issues, including violence against women.

Resources on Torture

International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT)
- Annual reports as of 2000
- Torture Journal – the publication provides a multidisciplinary forum for the exchange or original research and systematic reviews among professionals concerned with the biomedical, psychological, and social interface of torture.
- RCT Documentation Centre – The world’s largest library dedicated to the topic of torture, torture prevention, and torture victim rehabilitation.
  - 40,000 items comprised of books, journals, articles, reports, picture materials and CD-ROMs.
  - Research Tip: Use the Documentation Centre staff. The staff freely assists individuals in finding and obtaining desired materials.
- For lawyers representing torture victims – “Legal Investigations of Torture Allegations: A Practical Guide to the Istanbul Protocol – For Lawyers.”
National Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs - Provides information on torture treatment centers in various cities and regions. Useful if an expert is sought.
- Full list of participating members by state
Resources for Torture Survivors, Refugees, and Asylum-Seekers – Among the many helpful resources for torture victims and asylum-seekers is a database of published literature on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
State Reports for the Convention Against Torture (CAT) - Reports submitted by participating parties to the convention which provide information on the implementation of the convention and any new developments that may have occurred.

Immigration Law & Procedure Resources

Bender’s Immigration Bulletin Daily Edition – The site provides immigration news articles from outside media sources, as well as its own articles (“inside news”). There is also a database providing access to archived materials and the option to join an email update list.
Citizenship Laws of the World – This is a directory prepared by the United States Office of Personnel Management Investigations Service that provides a synopsis of the citizenship laws for most of the world’s countries
EOIR Virtual Law Library – The site provides Board of Immigration Appeals’ precedent decisions.
Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) & Foreign Affairs Handbook (FAH)
LexisNexis – Under All Sources > Area of Law – By Topic > Immigration, you will find a wide array of immigration materials.
National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild – This site requires that you become a paying member. Among the many helpful immigration materials is an online brief bank which contains over 230 unpublished decisions and briefs.

Foreign & Comparative Law

The Georgetown University Law Center provides an excellent guide to researching foreign law: Foreign and Comparative Law Research

Human Rights Educational Opportunities

Human Rights Education Association – HREA is an international organization dedicated to human rights leaning; the training of activists and professionals; the development of educational materials and programming; and on-line technologies. It is available in ten different languages
- Includes a directory of organizations involved in human rights education, a global directory on human rights educators, and an annotated bibliography of human rights education materials

*This page was created by Jose Blanco, class of 2005.

** You may contact Jenny Rensler, the clinic library liaison, for library-related questions at jrensler@law.umaryland.edu.