PhD studies in human rights

Wednesday, 30 July 2008

Concluding Observations on Ireland's Report to the Human Rights Committee

A few weeks ago Ireland presented its periodic report to the Human Rights Committee. The Concluding Observations, in which the Committee gives out a few kudos but also signals problem areas, can be found at: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/docs/AdvanceDocs/CCPR.C.IRL.CO.3.doc

Tuesday, 29 July 2008

Bosnia Genocide Verdict

The War Crimes Chamber in Bosnia and Herzegovina handed down its first genocide conviction today. Known as the 'Kravice case', it involves 11 persons accused of involvement in the Srebrenica massacre, in July 1995. the judgment is not yet available, and I am told it will not be for some time. Here is the press release: http://www.sudbih.gov.ba/?id=959&jezik=e#
Seven of the accused were convicted of genocide, and four acquitted for lack of evidence. Sentences for those convicted are hefty - 38, 40, and 42 years depending on aggravation and mitigation. The Panel said sentencing started at a baseline of 40 years for those found guilty and was calculated upward or downward from there. The man in charge, Stupar, received 40 years for his failure to punish genocide. The other six were convicted as direct perpetrators. The remaining four were acquitted because the prosecution's evidence with respect to them was inadmissible or eye witness evidence failed to also incriminate them. The Prosecution's theory of joint criminal enterprise (JCE) was rejected.
Thanks to Stephanie Barbour and Joe Powderly.

Roja Fazaeli

A few weeks ago, Roja Fazaeli successfully defended her doctoral dissertation at the Irish Centre for Human Rights. It deals with perspectives on feminism in Islam, and is entitled: 'The Fifth Generation of Islamic Feminists: Rights, Interpretations and Activisms.' Roja was a recipient of an Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences doctoral fellowship.
A few days ago, Roja confirmed to me that she has been appointed lecturer in the new Islamic studies programme at Trinity College Dublin. Congratulations, Roja.
The photo was taken after Roja's viva, and shows her with the jury, from left, Dr Nadia Bernaz (NUI Galway), Roja, Professor Martha Fineman (Emory University) and myself.

Roja is the seventeenth doctoral student to complete her studies at the Irish Centre for Human Rights since the first graduations, in 2005. She is the twelfth to obtain a university lectureship. The other five are gainfully employed as lawyers, think tankers, human rights trianers and legal advisors to international tribunals.
By the way, Roja is a keen blogger, and refers us to a recent article that she wrote with Liz Bucar on weblogers in Iran : http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayIssue?jid=MES&volumeId=40&issueId=03.
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The Real McCain

Check this out: http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/325.html.
Thanks to Penelope Soteriou.

Transfer and Extradition of Genocide Cases to Rwanda

Earlier this month I participated in a conference in Brussels on the various proceedings underway to transfer or extradite genocide suspects to Rwanda. Three decisions of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, reported on this blog in May and June, denied transfer to Rwanda, while a ruling of a British court authorised extradition. Here is the paper I presented at the Brussels conference: http://www.mediafire.com/?w2bm3fxdmx9.

Monday, 28 July 2008

Africa Court of Human Rights to Merge with African Court of Justice

The African Union has approved a plan to merge the African Human and Peoples' Rights Court with that of the African Court of Justice, reports Hirondelle Agency. 'The meeting of Heads of State in Egypt endorsed the plan which will enable Arusha-based African Court effectively execute its work as a single continental judicial organ',' said Justice Gerard Niyungeko, President of the African Court. Justice Niyungeko said that there was need to allow NGOs and individuals to file cases before the Court, an issue that was not agreed upon at the Summit.
Only 24 member states out of 53 African Union (AU) have ratified the Protocol. The Court was established by the then Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Protocol adopted by members states in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in June 1998. The Protocol entered into force in January 2004. The Court started its operations in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in November 2006 but moved to its permanent seat in Arusha in August, last year.

Dr Ray Murphy Wins Teaching Award

One of our colleagues at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, Dr Ray Murphy, has just been honoured by the National Academy for the Integration of Research & Teaching and Learning (NAIRTL) as one of five exemplary teachers who are also innovative researchers in higher education in Ireland. Ray was one of two lecturers at the National University of Ireland, Galway to be so recognised. Those readers of this blog who have studied with Ray don't need me to tell you why he won the award.

Dr James Browne, President of our university, said: “It is very good news that two members of NUI Galway academic staff have been recognised by NAIRTL as exemplary teachers, and for NUI Galway to win two of the five awards is a huge achievement and a testament to the quality of the nominations put forward from this institution. Both Dr Cantillon and Dr Murphy were recipients of our internal awards for teaching excellence in 2006-2007, which recognises the outstanding efforts academic staff make to ensure NUI Galway students receive the highest quality learning experience.”

Congratulations, Ray, for this singular honour.

Wednesday, 23 July 2008

Karadzic's Website

It seems that Karadzic has (had) a website: http://dragandabic.com/. It has been suggested that I call this an 'alleged website'. But it looks credible. Anybody for alternative medicine?
Thanks to Joe Powderly and Melissa Hacking.

International Courts and Tribunals: the Year in Review

The first first annual Atrocity Crimes Litigation Year-in-Review (2007), published by Northwestern Journal of International Human Rights, is now available at http://www.law.northwestern.edu/jihr/atrocitycrimeslitigation.html. Contents include:
§ Introduction: Atrocity Crimes Litigation During 2007, David Scheffer.
§ International Criminal Tribunals: A Review of 2007, William A. Schabas.
§ Recent Trends in International Criminal Law: Perspectives from the U.N. International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, George William Mugwanya.
§ Victims’ Participation at the International Criminal Court: Are Concessions of the Court Clouding the Promise?, Christine H. Chung.
The paper were originally presented at a conference held at Northwestern University in January 2008. The 'Year-in-Review' conference will be an annual event. Check the Journal website or the Center for International Human Rights website later this year for information regarding the 2009 Year-in-Review Conference.

Tuesday, 22 July 2008

Nadia Bernaz Book on International Law and Capital Punishment Published

The Documentation Française has just published Le droit international et la peine de mort by Dr Nadia Bernaz, who is a lecturer at the Irish Centre for Human Rights: http://www.ladocumentationfrancaise.fr/catalogue/9782110072443/index.shtml.

Congratulations, Nadia.

William A. Schabas is professor of international law at Middlesex University in London. He is also professor of international criminal law and human rights at Leiden University, emeritus professor human rights law at the Irish Centre for Human Rights of the National University of Ireland Galway, and an honorary professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in Beijing and Wuhan University. He is the author of more than 20 books and 300 journal articles, on such subjects as the abolition of capital punishment, genocide and the international criminal tribunals. Professor Schabas was a member of the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He was a member of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation in Human Rights and president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars. He serves as president of the Irish Branch of the International Law Association chair of the Institute for International Criminal Investigation. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada and a member of the Royal Irish Academy. Here is the full c.v.

Dr Yvonne McDermott is Senior Lecturer in Law at Bangor University, UK, where she is also Director of Teaching and Learning and Co-Director of the Bangor Centre for International Law. Yvonne is a graduate of the National University of Ireland, Galway (B. Corp. Law, LL.B.), Leiden University (LL.M. cum laude) and the Irish Centre for Human Rights (Ph.D.). Her research focuses on fair trial rights, international criminal procedure and international criminal law. She is the author of Fairness in International Criminal Trials (Oxford University Press, 2016).

Niamh Hayes has been the Head of Office for the Institute for International Criminal Investigations (IICI) in The Hague since September 2012. She is about to complete her Ph.D. on the investigation and prosecution of sexual violence by international criminal tribunals at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, National University of Ireland Galway. She previously worked for Women's Initiatives for Gender Justice as a legal consultant, and as an intern for the defence at the ICTY in the Karadzic case. She has lectured on international criminal law and international law at Trinity College Dublin and, along with Prof. William Schabas and Dr. Yvonne McDermott, is a co-editor of The Ashgate Research Companion to International Criminal Law: Critical Perspectives (Ashgate, 2013). She is the author of over 45 case reports for the Oxford Reports on International Criminal Law and has published numerous articles and book chapters on the investigation and prosecution of sexual and gender-based violence as international crimes.

Joseph Powderly is Assistant Professor of Public International Law at the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies, Leiden University. Between September 2008 and January 2010, he was a Doctoral Fellow/Researcher at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, where he worked, among other projects, on a Irish Government-funded investigation and report into the possible perpetration of crimes against humanity against the Rohingya people of North Rakhine State, Burma/Myanmar. He is currently in the process of completing his doctoral research which looks at the impact of theories of judicial interpretation on the development of international criminal and international humanitarian law. The central thesis aims to identify and analyze the potential emergence of a specific theory of interpretation within the sphere of judicial creativity. Along with Dr. Shane Darcy of the Irish Centre for Human Rights, he is co-editor of and contributor to the edited collection Judicial Creativity in International Criminal Tribunals which was published by Oxford University Press in 2010. He has written over 80 case-reports for the Oxford Reports on International Criminal Law, as well as numerous book chapters and academic articles on topics ranging from the principle of complementarity to Irish involvement in the drafting of the Geneva Conventions. In December 2010, he was appointed Managing Editor of the peer-reviewed journal Criminal Law Forum. His research interests while focusing on international criminal and international humanitarian law also include topics such as the history of international law and freedom of expression.