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Aryeh Neier (born April 22, 1937) is an American
human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
activist who co-founded
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
, served as the president of George Soros's
Open Society Institute Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is a grantmaking network founded and chaired by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with a sta ...
philanthropy network from 1993 to 2012, had been National Director of the
American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
from 1970 to 1978, and he was also involved with the creation of the group SDS by being directly involved in the group SLID's renaming.


Early life and education

Neier was born into a German Jewish family in Berlin, then in
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
. He was the son of Wolf (a teacher) and Gitla (Bendzinska) Neier, and he became a refugee as a child when his family fled in 1939 when he was two years old.Goldstein, Tom
"Neier Is Quitting Post at A.C.L.U.; He Denies Link to Defense of Nazis; Scope of Work Widened"
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', April 18, 1978. Accessed January 13, 2009.
He graduated from Cornell University with highest honors in 1961.


Career

He served as an adjunct professor of law at
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...
. Neier was hired by the ACLU in 1963 and became the organization's executive director in 1970. During his time as executive director, he helped grow the organization's membership from 140,000 to 200,000. Neier was criticized for his decision to have the ACLU support the
National Socialist Party of America The National Socialist Party of America (NSPA) was a Chicago-based organization founded in 1970 by Frank Collin shortly after he left the National Socialist White People's Party. The NSWPP had been the American Nazi Party until shortly after the ...
, a
Neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...
group, in its efforts to march in
Skokie, Illinois Skokie (; formerly Niles Center) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, neighboring the City of Chicago's northern border. Its population, according to the 2020 census, was 67,824. Skokie lies approximately north of Chicago's do ...
, in the case ''
National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie ''National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie'', 432 U.S. 43 (1977), arising out of what is sometimes referred to as the Skokie Affair, was a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court dealing with freedom of speech and freedom of ass ...
'', despite the presence in Skokie of large numbers of Jews and Holocaust survivors. The ACLU's representation of the group resulted in 30,000 members who ended their ACLU membership. He also led the ACLU's efforts to protect the civil rights of prisoners and those in mental hospitals, fought for the abolition of the death penalty and to make abortions available to those who need them. In his 1979 book, ''Defending My Enemy: American Nazis in Skokie, Illinois, and the Risks of Freedom'', Neier defended his actions in support of the Skokie march, arguing that Jews are best protected by ensuring that the
rule of law The rule of law is the political philosophy that all citizens and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders. The rule of law is defined in the ''Encyclopedia Britannica ...
allowing minorities to speak out is afforded to all groups. Lehmann-Haupt, Christopher
"Books of The Times; Questions Confronted"
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', February 20, 1979. Accessed January 13, 2009.
At a party in Washington, D.C., in early 1976, an attendee from New York indicated that he would not vote for
Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...
for president because of his Southern accent, to which
Charles Morgan, Jr. Charles "Chuck" Morgan Jr. (March 11, 1930 – January 8, 2009) was an Americans, American civil rights attorney from Alabama who played a key role in establishing the principle of "one man, one vote" in the Supreme Court of the United States ...
, the ACLU's legislative director replied "That's bigotry, and that makes you a bigot." Neier reprimanded Morgan, criticizing Morgan for taking a public position on a candidate for public office. Morgan resigned from his post in April 1976, citing efforts by the bureaucracy at the ACLU to restrict his public statements. In 1978 he was among the founders of Helsinki Watch, which was renamed Human Rights Watch in 1988. As a human rights activist, Neier has led investigations of human rights abuses around the world, including his role in the creation of the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to try their perpetrators. The tribunal ...
. He has contributed articles and opinion pieces to newspapers, magazines and journals including ''
The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...
'', ''
The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...
'' and ''
Foreign Policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...
''. He now teaches a course called "Promoting Human Rights: History, Law, Methods and Current Controversies" at the
Paris School of International Affairs The Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) is a graduate school of Sciences Po (also referred to as the ''Institut d'études politiques de Paris'') based in Paris, France, and it is generally considered to be one of the top rated and most ...
,
Sciences Po , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public university, Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , a ...
, in Paris.


Books

*'' Dossier: The Secret Files They Keep on You'' (1974) *''Crime and Punishment: A Radical Solution'' (1976) *''Defending My Enemy: American Nazis in Skokie, Illinois, and the Risks of Freedom'' (1979) *''Only Judgment: The Limits of Litigation in Social Change'' (1982) *''War Crimes: Brutality, Terror, and the Struggle for Justice'' (1998) *''Taking Liberties: Four Decades in the Struggle for Rights'' (2003)Fidell, Eugene R
"The Rights Stuff "
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', May 11, 2003. Accessed January 13, 2009.
*''The International Human Rights Movement'' (2012)


References


External links


Biographical Interview with Aryeh Neier
published at "Quellen zur Geschichte der Menschenrechte" * {{DEFAULTSORT:Neier, Aryeh American civil rights lawyers American Civil Liberties Union people Skokie Controversy American human rights activists Human Rights Watch people Jewish human rights activists Jewish American writers George Soros Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States 1937 births Living people