Biodata:

Dorothy Irene Height for nearly half a century has given leadership to the struggle for equality and human rights for all people. Employed in many capacities by both government and social service associations, she is known primarily by her leadership role with the YWCA and the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW). She is also known globally through her international travels and studies in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. Throughout the years, her distinguished service and contributions to making the world a more just and humane one have earned her over fifty awards and honors from local, state, and national organizations and the federal government.  For her contributions in the interfaith, interracial and ecumenical movements for over thirty years, she was awarded the Ministerial Interfaith Association Award and the Lovejoy Award, the highest recognition by the Grand Lodge, I.B.P.O. Elks of the World for outstanding contribution in the human relations. Dr. Height has received more than twenty-four honorary degrees, from such institutions as Spelman College, Lincoln University (Pennsylvania), Central State University, and Princeton. Currently, Chair and President Emerita of the National Council of Negro Women, INC., Dr. Height’s life exemplifies her passionate commitment for a just society and her vision of a better world.

Speakers

Sr. Dianna

Executive Director of TASSC (Torture, Abolition & Survivors Support Coalition) is herself a survivor of torture in Guatemala

Biodata:

Sister Dianna Ortiz is an Ursuline Sister who departed to Guatemala as a missionary in 1987 to educate children in Mayan. On November 2nd, 1989, Sister Ortiz was abducted from a retreat center and then tortured.  As a result of her horrific experiences, her memoir, The Blindfold's Eyes: My Journey from Torture To Truth, details the shattering effects of torture, her long slow journey toward healing, and her efforts to bring her perpetrators to justice. In an attempt to end torture practices Sister Ortiz along with other torture survivors founded the Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International (TASSC), a non-profit organization in 2002. Currently, Sister Ortiz is the Director of TASSC in Washington, DC where she combats torture performances in more than 150 countries not only for herself but also on behalf of all torture survivors.

T. Kumar

Advocacy Director for Asia & Pacific, Amnesty International, USA

Biodata:

T. Kumar is the Advocacy Director for Asia & Pacific for Amnesty International USA. He has worked in several Asian and African countries and served as a human rights monitor in many Asian countries as well as in Bosnia, Haiti, Guatemala, and South Africa. He has also served as director of several refugee ships and refugee camps.

Kumar frequently lectures at the Foreign Service Institute where U.S. diplomats are trained and he often testifies before the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

Kumar has served as the United Nations Representative for Peace Brigades International and was a consultant to the Quaker United Nations Office. He holds an advanced degree in law from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He also served as a Judge of Elections in Philadelphia.

Yohannes Tsehai

Senior Legislative Counsel, Office of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (Co-Chairperson of Congressional Pakistan Caucus)

Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Yohannes Tsehai left Ethiopia because of the ongoing civil war, which resulted in the ultimate removal of a brutal dictator, Mengistu Hailemariam from power. He grew up in Dallas, Texas, graduated summa cum laude as the Salutatorian of his class at Texas Southern University (TSU), majoring in Political Science and English. At TSU, he was an active member of the Debate and Forensic Team. He also participated in the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program/Summer Research Opportunity Program at Michigan State University, where his paper entitled: “A Multivariate Analysis of American Attitudes Towards Immigration” acclaimed him as the only visiting scholar selected to present his research at the 2000 Annual McNair Conference in Wisconsin and the 2001 McNair Conference in Maryland.

After working for Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (Texas-18^th District) as intern as well as Press Secretary, Yohannes went to Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he served as President of the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) and graduated with a Juris Doctor (J.D.). He went on to serve for two years as an Associate at the preeminent international law firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton in New York, New York, before joining Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee on his current assignment.

Munawar Laghari

Executive Director, The World Sindhi Institute, Washington, DC

Biodata:

Munawar Laghari, Executive Director of the World Sindhi Institute (WSI) and International Representative of SINDH WATCH, a quarterly magazine published by WSI, has spent most of his life advocating for human rights and humanitarian causes. As retribution for his advocacy work in Sindh in the 1980s and 1990s, Pakistani forces held Laghari captive and tortured him. In the process of his struggle, he sacrificed his academic career, family relations and ties to his land. Due to threats of continuous persecution, Laghari had to escape from Sindh – leaving behind his family and friends – and sought asylum in the United States , where he has lived since 1994.

One of the founding members of The Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition (TASSC), Laghari is also a member of the United Nation Association - National Capital Area (UNA-NCA) and recipient of their 1999 Blue Ribbon Award. In recognition of Laghari’s dedication and devotion to the cause of human rights, The Washington Times ran a story on him on June 26, 2000, the International Day for the Support of Torture Victims.

Mr. Laghari has testified before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus on the International Day in Support of Torture Victims, the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs, House Committee on Appropriations, as well as to the World Summit in Durban, South Africa. He has been interviewed by newspapers, radio and television programs around the world, including the Washington Times, Voice of America, BBC, SABC, Times of India, and ANI. A devoted Sindhi, Laghari travels frequently fundraising and networking for, and speaking on the cause of his homeland, Sindh.