Michael Breen, president 
and CEO of Human Rights 
First, spoke at the Ford School 
of Public Policy Thursday as 
part of a series of lectures 
sponsored 
by 
the 
Josh 
Rosenthal 
Education 
Fund. 
Breen discussed violations of 
human rights across the world 
and 
the 
challenges 
facing 
advocates.
The fund was established 
in honor of Josh Rosenthal, 
who died on Sept. 11, 2001, by 
his mother, a long-time faculty 
member at the University of 
Michigan. She aimed to bring 
insightful discussion around 
the aftermath of 9/11 and its 
consequences on human rights. 
Breen 
shared 
personal 
narratives 
about 
his 
own 
experience as a U.S. Army 
officer serving in Iraq post-
9/11. During his service, he was 
responsible for detaining Iraqi 

bomb makers. Breen said he sat 
down with their families prior 
to arresting their loved ones. 
“I remember saying, ‘We 
are different from the soldiers 
who might’ve been here six 
months ago under the previous 
regime,’” Breen said. “We’re 
Americans, we don’t torture 
people.” 
After 
he 
learned 
about 
Americans torturing detainees 
at the Abu Ghraib prison in 
Iraq, he decided to leave the 
military, enroll in law school 
and tackle refugee and human 
rights 
issues 
head-on. 
He 
became involved in Human 
Rights First, an organization 
that had support from the most 
senior-form military leaders 
who stood against torture. 
He explained the United 
States played a prominent role 
in the human rights movement 
post-Cold War and World War 
II. The United States became 
a pioneer for human rights, as 
well as a national example for 

other democracies to follow 
and activists to rely on for 
support.
“The degree of freedom, 
the 
upwards 
trajectory, 
hard-fought as it was, made 
it reasonable for the human 
rights movement to champion 
American leadership and wise 
for it to leverage it on behalf of 
human rights activists in other 
countries,” Breen said.
The 
United 
States 
was 
able to use its human rights 
initiatives 
to 
differentiate 
itself from the Soviet Union 
and other world leaders during 
times of political strife and 
decolonization, according to 
Breen. 
“In the context of the 
Cold War, it was clear that 
championing 
human 
rights 
was both the right thing and 
the smart thing to do — an 
ethical as well as a strategic 
imperative,” Breen said. 
Breen 
referenced 
the 
Helsinki Accords — a pivotal 
human 
rights 
pact 
signed in the 1970s — as 
a document that fought 
against suppression and 
coercion 
and 
protected 
notions of human rights 
to promote peace around 
the world. He also noted, 
though, that the end of the 
Cold War did not translate 
to the progress of human 
rights that was envisioned. 
“Many forces and tools 
that 
we 
once 
believed 
would inevitably favor the 
advancement 
of 
human 
rights turned out to be 
double-edged 
swords,” 
Breen said. “It was widely 
believed, for example, that 
economic growth would 
lead 
to 
democratization 
and a call for more rights. 
The reality, unfortunately, 
is that some autocrats have 
succeeded in linking their 
rule to economic gains and 
security.”
Breen used China as an 
example of a government 
that 
has 
succeeded 
in 
convincing its people that 

economic growth relies on the 
health of the Communist Party 
and its rule and that democratic 
ideals would threaten that 
growth. He went on to note 
authoritarians 
around 
the 
world have been pointing to the 
failures of liberal democracies 
to strengthen the credibility of 
their own regimes. Moreover, 
he said the claim the United 
States is the leading example 
of 
a 
human 
rights-driven 
democracy can no longer be 
supported. 
“The United States began 
the century as a respected and 
unrivaled military, economic, 
political and, in many ways, 
moral power,” Breen said. “But 
consider America’s record in 
the eyes of the world since 
the turn of the century: illegal 
torture and black sites in the 
wake of 9/11, the 2003 invasion 
of Iraq, the 2008 financial crisis 
and the subsequent recession 
that followed, the 2016 election 
and the continuing awfulness 
of our politics.”
Breen claimed the Trump 
administration is worsening 
the human rights crisis in 
the United States by allowing 
for multiple human rights 
violations, specifically against 
immigrants and refugees. He 
said that as a consequence, 
activists in other countries 
are no longer using American 
values in defense of their 
protests and are instead having 
to appeal to localized rhetoric 
and goals. 
“Today, we have arguably 
the first administration since 
the Second World War to stand 
in open opposition to human 
rights,” Breen said. “Human 
rights, the concept, the system, 
the universal language and its 
greatest traditional champion, 
the United States, holds less 
promise for activists who are 
coming up for strategies for 
their movements today than it 
did 10 years ago.”

2A — Friday, November 15, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

TUESDAY:
By Design
THURSDAY:
Twitter Talk

FRIDAY:
Behind the Story

WEDNESDAY:
This Week in History

MONDAY:

Looking at the Numbers

B E HIND THE STORY

QUOTE OF THE WE E K 

“
This is the first day of what will be a months-long process, where 
there will inevitably be a compromise made on every side. If we, the 
graduate employees and the GEO members at the University of 
Michigan, continue to show up every step of the way to show support 
for our team, for our platform and for our union, the University will hear 
us. We get what we are organized to take.”

Emily Gauld, Rackham student and president of the Graduate Employees’ Organization

Every Friday, one Daily staffer will give a behind the scenes look at 
one of this week’s stories. This week, LSA senior Max Marcovitch, 
reported on Michigan football player Cameron McGrone’s 
relationship with his younger brother Aaron.

“Cameron’s a 20-year-old guy, I’m a 21-year-old guy, and it’s just humanizing 

to be able to hear about his life and his upbringing. It’s also very heartwarming 

to be able to hear about his relationship with his brother and to see how that’s 

shaped him, as a person rather than as a football player.”

Max Marcovitch, Managing Sports Editor

Sudoku Syndication
http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/

1 of 1
9/22/08 2:54 PM

SUDOKU

EASY

8

1

1

8
3

9

5
4

9
2

8
3

7

2

3

8

3
9

6

3

5

5

3
6

2
1

6
3

7
5

4
9

1

9

3

SNO BLUE, BEAT MSU!
puzzle by sudokusyndication.com

ALEC COHEN/Daily

Stanford Lipsey Student Publications Building
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327
www.michigandaily.com

ARTS SECTION
arts@michigandaily.com

SPORTS SECTION
sports@michigandaily.com

ADVERTISING
dailydisplay@gmail.com

NEWS TIPS
news@michigandaily.com

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
tothedaily@michigandaily.com

EDITORIAL PAGE
opinion@michigandaily.com

TOMMY DYE
Business Manager
734-418-4115 ext. 1241
tomedye@michigandaily.com

MAYA GOLDMAN
Editor in Chief
734-418-4115 ext. 1251
mayagold@michigandaily.com

PHOTOGRAPHY SECTION
photo@michigandaily.com

NEWSROOM
734-418-4115 opt. 3 

CORRECTIONS
corrections@michigandaily.com

The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during 
the fall and winter terms by students at the University OF Michigan. One copy is 
available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the 
Daily’s office for $2. Subscriptions for September-April are $250 and year long 
subscriptions are $275. University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription 
rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. 

FINNTAN STORER
Managing Editor 
 frstorer@michigandaily.com

GRACE KAY and ELIZABETH LAWRENCE 
Managing News Editors news@michigandaily.com

Senior News Editors: Sayali Amin, Rachel Cunningham, Remy Farkas, Leah 
Graham, Amara Shaikh 
Assistant News Editors: Barbara Collins, Julia Fanzeres, Claire Hao, Alex 
Harring, Angelina Little, Madeline McLaughlin, Ben Rosenfeld, Emma Stein, 
Zayna Syed, Liat Weinstein

JOEL DANILEWITZ and MAGDALENA MIHAYLOVA
Editorial Page Editors tothedaily@michigandaily.com
Senior Opinion Editors: Emily Considine, Krystal Hur, Ethan Kessler, Miles 
Stephenson, Erin White

MAX MARCOVITCH and ETHAN SEARS 
Managing Sports Editors sportseditors@michigandaily.com

ARYA NAIDU and VERITY STURM
Managing Arts Editors 
 arts@michigandaily.com

Senior Arts Editors: Clara Scott, Emma Chang, Cassandra Mansuetti, Sam 
Della Fera, Trina Pal
Arts Beat Editors: John Decker, Sayan Ghosh, Mike Watkins, Ally Owens, 
Stephen Satarino, Izzy Hasslund, Margaret Sheridan 

ALEC COHEN and ALEXIS RANKIN
Managing Photo Editors photo@michigandaily.com

ROSEANNE CHAO and JACK SILBERMAN
Managing Design Editors 
design@michigandaily.com
Senior Design Editor: Sherry Chen 

ANDREA PÉREZ BALDERRAMA
Statement Editor statement@michigandaily.com 

Deputy Editors: Matthew Harmon, Shannon Ors

SILAS LEE and EMILY STILLMAN
Managing Copy Editors copydesk@michigandaily.com
Senior Copy Editors: Dominick Sokotoff, Olivia Sedlacek, Reece Meyhoefer 

CASEY TIN and HASSAAN ALI WATTOO
Managing Online Editors 
 webteam@michigandaily.com
Senior Web Developers: Jonathon Liu, Abha Panda, Rohan Prashant, Samantha 
Cohen

ELI SIDER
Managing Video Editor video@michigandaily.com
Senior Video Editors: Joseph Sim, Ryan O’Connor

NA’KIA CHANNEY and CARLY RYAN
Michigan in Color Editors michiganincolor@michigandaily.com
Senior Michigan in Color Editors: Lorna Brown, Samuel So, Ana Maria 
Sanchez-Castillo, Efe Osagie, Danyel Tharakan
Assistant Michigan in Color Editors: Harnoor Singh, Nada Eldawy, Maya 
Mokh 

Editorial Staff

Business Staff

RYAN KELLY
Sales Manager

ROBERT WAGMAN
Marketing Consulting Manager

ZELJKO KOSPIC
Special Projects Manager

ANITA MICHAUD
Brand Manager

Senior Photo Editors: Alexandria Pompei, Natalie Stephens, Alice Liu, Allison 
Engkvist, Danyel Tharakan
Assistant Photo Editors: Miles Macklin, Keemya Esmael, Madeline Hinkley

Senior Sports Editors: Anna Marcus, Aria Gerson, Ben Katz, Mark Calcagno, 
Theo Mackie, Tien Le
Assistant Sports Editors: Bailey Johnson, Bennett Bramson, Connor Brennan, 
Jacob Kopnick, Jorge Cazares, Rian Ratnavale 

MOLLY WU
Creative Director

CATHERINE NOUHAN
Managing Podcast Editor

MADALASA CHAUDHARI and HANNAH MESKIN
Managing Social Media Editors
Senior Social Media Editor: Allie Phillips

President of Human Rights First 
examines geopolitics, global crises

Michael Breen discusses role of advocates across the world, obstacles 

VALENTINA HOUSE
For The Daily 

