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	The Fourth Thursday Lecture Series Presents:
	Event Details
	Upcoming
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The Fourth Thursday Lecture Series Presents:

From the Rule of the Gun to the Rule of Law: Rebuilding Judicial Systems in the Post-Conflict Environment

In Kabul, Afghanistan, the lights flicker on and off.  When you walk down a hallway, it’s so dark that you can’t see the person sliding past you in the other direction.  There are no women’s bathrooms, and so you must wait patiently until the men have left, careful not to make eye contact as they pass.  There is no running water.  And as a judge — the highest position of power for women in your country — you do not even have your own desk.  Instead, you carry stacks of case folders with you, no matter where you go.  In the courtroom where you preside, you are seated next to the defendant, as though you are a criminal too.

This was 2005.  The Taliban had fallen, but Afghan women were still living like second-class citizens.  Female judges who had lost their jobs during the Taliban’s seven-year reign had been reinstated, but they were still afraid to speak out and demand progress for their country.  When Ashley Kushner, a Foreign Affairs Officer for the Department of State, met with a group of Afghan women judges in Kabul to help them obtain visas to go to the United States, they were “very timid and afraid to travel,” she says.  These successful, accomplished women “sought permission from all of their family members and the Chief Justice, himself” to leave Afghanistan.

In a program sponsored by the State Department in collaboration with the International Association of Women Judges, the Afghan judges traveled to a small town in Vermont to observe American court cases and discuss women’s issues and legal issues with American judges.  Kushner, as a representative of the State Department, met with the Afghan judges several times after her initial encounter in Kabul.  At the end of their stay, the women took part in a roundtable discussion in Washington, D.C.  “They were like different people,” says Kushner.  “They had much higher confidence, and were very challenging to US policy makers.”  According to Kushner, many of these judges are now leaders of women’s programs in Afghanistan and have formed a professional association of Afghan women judges.  Kushner sees this program as an example of her work’s positive influence; she believes that one of “the best ways to measure your success is on small programs that really work with individuals.” 

Kushner is not new to the field of international human rights — before obtaining her law degree and going to work for the State Department, she provided aid to political prisoners with the Carter Center in Atlanta, and worked with the United Nations to help local human rights groups gain an international voice.  She also has a master’s degree in Israeli-Palestinian Affairs from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.  In her current job, she has helped resolve conflicts and build governments in Sudan and Palestine, as well as Afghanistan.  “I’m inspired by human rights work,” she says.  “I’ve always liked working internationally and facing the challenge of working with people from different cultural backgrounds.”  She feels that it’s important to provide support to countries that are coming out of conflict — “people need to have alternatives to settling arguments with violence,” she says. 

Kushner became a lawyer because she believed it allowed her the strongest position of power to address society’s wrongs.  “The legal system is a foundation,” she says.  “It’s one of the cornerstones of democratic or free societies.”  Thanks to the work of Kushner and others like her, historically oppressed societies are beginning to see a glimmer of hope.  In countries like Afghanistan, one by one, the lights are coming on again.

Event Details

Speaker: Ashley Kushner, Foreign Affairs Officer in the Department of State’s Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs

Date: March 22nd, 4:30PM

Where: Beckwith Hall, (in the Buhl Hall of Science), Chatham College.

For directions or parking information, contact: twarner@chatham.edu.

This is a free event.  A question-and-answer session and reception will follow the event.

Upcoming

Advanced Mediator Training

Provided by: Impartial Dispute Resolution Services

12 CLE Credits

Contact: kcoxadr@cs.com

Download a PDF version of the event flyer

You can download a PDF version of the flyer for this event from the Mesites Foundation website by clicking here