On July 31, 2010, a delegation from Kurdish National Congress of North America (KNC-NA) met with Professor Fertig, to discuss a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling titled “Holder vs. Humanitarian Law Project”.
The U.S. Supreme Court, in “Holder vs. Humanitarian Law Project” (HLP) ruled on June 21, 2010, that anyone subject to the jurisdiction of American courts who gives “material assistance “to any organization that is designated as a terrorist group by the Secretary of State could be charged as a criminal and, if convicted, serve fifteen years in a federal prison. Material assistance, the Court found, includes pure speech, even speech that advocates legal, non-violent action. It bars lawyers, doctors, social workers, peacemakers, or anyone from America from helping the PKK which was placed on the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations in 1998.
HLP’s president retired Federal Administrative Judge, who is now a Professor at the University of Southern California (USC), a long standing human right activist, has been advocating for resolving the Kurdish conflict in Turkey with peaceful means for over two decades. He brought Kurds to the United Nations Human Rights sub Commission to present complaints of civil rights abuses by the government of Turkey.