Human Rights Activist to Speak at UNC Asheville;
Robin Kirk to Discuss "Colombia and the War on Terror"

UNC Asheville’s Amnesty International student group will host a talk on "Colombia and the War on Terror: Phantoms, Papayas and the Power of Pleasure" by human rights activist and author Robin Kirk at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 28, in UNC Asheville’s Highsmith University Union Cafe. The event is free and open to the public.

Kirk works as an investigator on North Carolina capital punishment cases for the Duke Human Rights Initiative. Previously, Kirk worked for 12 years investigating human rights violations in Colombia and Peru for Human Rights Watch, the largest U.S.-based human rights group. Her most recent book is "More Terrible Than Death: Massacres, Drugs and America’s War in Colombia," which was published by Public Affairs in January 2003. She also is the author of the highly acclaimed "The Monkey’s Paw: New Chronicles from Peru." Kirk served as co-editor for "The Peru Reader: History, Culture and Politics."

The event is co-sponsored by WPVM radio and Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe.

For more information, call Mark Gibney, UNC Asheville Belk Distinguished Professor, at 250-2870 or e-mail mgibney@unca.edu.

Media Contacts:

• Dr. Mark Gibney, UNC Asheville Belk Distinguished Professor, 828/250-3870
• Jill Yarnall, UNCA Public Information Assistant Director, 828/251-6526