Chip Pitts, chairman of the board of the human rights group Amnesty International USA, will discuss current human rights issues, including the resurgence of the use of torture, in an address at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 8. The talk, which is free and open to the public, will be held in the Texas Instruments Auditorium in the Engineering South Building, Room 2.102.

Among the topics Pitts will discuss are allegations of torture of prisoners by members of the U.S. military and the possible authorization of such practices by U.S. government officials.

Photo, Chip Pitts
Chip Pitts

The former chief legal officer of Nokia, Inc., Pitts is an international attorney, investor/entrepreneur and law educator who advises businesses on international, strategic, intellectual property, marketing, legal and ethics matters. He is a lecturer at Stanford University Law School, has taught at other law schools and universities and is a frequent speaker, writer and commentator on ethical globalization, human rights and foreign affairs. Pitts has worked in South Africa against apartheid, represented both the U.S. government and Amnesty International as well as other leading human rights and economic development organizations at the United Nations and international conferences and provided pro bono representation to hundreds of victims of human rights abuses from all over the world. Additional information about Pitts may be found on the following web site: http://www.amnestyusa.org/about/chippitts.html.

Pitts’ address is sponsored by the Amnesty International Student Group at UTD. For more information about the event, please contact the group’s advisor, Jerri Lipple, at 972-883-2981 or 214-435-9576.