By Robert Meeropol
My old friend Michael Ratner died on May 11th at the age of 72. He was the President Emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR). Their press release summarizes his brilliant legal career:
“From Attica to Assange, Michael Ratner has defended, investigated, and spoken up for victims of human rights abuses all over the world. For 45 years, Michael brought cases with the Center for Constitutional Rights in U.S. courts related to war, torture, and other atrocities, sometimes committed by the U.S., sometimes by other regimes or corporations, in places ranging from El Salvador, Grenada, Nicaragua, Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and Guatemala, to Yugoslavia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Iraq, and Israel. Seeking to hold Bush administration officials accountable for torture, he turned to filing cases under the principle of Universal Jurisdiction in international courts—in Germany, Spain, Canada, Switzerland, and France. Michael dedicated his life to the most important fights for justice of the last half century.”
Not surprisingly, when I founded the RFC, Michael was one of the first people I contacted for support. He joined our Advisory Board, spoke at RFC events, even hosted a fund-raising party at his home. He saw the RFC and the CCR as sister organizations, supporting many of the same folks struggling for economic and social justice. CCR clients had children who were RFC beneficiaries.
And on a more personal note, my daughter, Rachel, is now the CCR’s Associate Director of Legal Education, but when she started her “dream job” at the CCR as a new lawyer, Michael became one of her key mentors. His passing is a palpable loss to the RFC, our community, and our family. We will hold his memory in our hearts as we continue the human rights struggle to which he dedicated his life. Michael Ratner, presente!
Information about Michael’s life and work along with a collection of photos and tributes is available at http://michaelratnerpresente.com.