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Irish Centre for Human RightsQuarterly Bulletin, Issue 11, May-September 2010 2010

Crimes Against Humanity in Burma: Irish Foreign Minister LaunchesReport by Irish Centre for Human RightsIn August 2008 the Irish Centre for Human Rightsreceived funding from Irish Aid to launch a project onthe human rights situation of the Rohingyas/Muslims ofRakhine State in Western Burma/Myanmar. As part ofthe project a research unit was established at the IrishCentre for Human Rights to carry an open sourceresearch project and take part in a fact-finding mission.The final drafting of a report was under the supervisionof Prof. William Schabas.

In 2009, ICHR Staff, Nancie Prudhomme and JosephPowderly undertook a 4-week fact-finding mission togather more detailed, first-hand information. As part oftheir mission Nancie and Joseph visited Burma andThailand and Bangladesh, visiting refugee camps andinterviewing Rohingya refugees and human rights andhumanitarian workers. The mission in Bangladeshprovided detailed information on the causes for flight toBangladesh and the current situation in Western Burma.

The final report of the Rohingya project was officiallylaunched on June 16 th 2010 by Michael Martin, theIrish Minister for Foreign Affairs, at Iveagh House.

Speaking at the launch of the Report, Minister Martincommended the work of the NUIG research team,stating that they have presented ‘compelling and credibleevidence suggesting that crimes against humanity haveindeed been committed by the Burmese authoritiesagainst the Rohingya minority group.’

Noting the recommendation in the Report that the SecurityCouncil establish a Commission of Inquiry to determinewhether there is a prima facie case that crimes againsthumanity have been committed, as well as similar recentcomments by UN Special Rapporteur on Burma, TomOjea Quintana, Minister Martin said that he fully supportedthese calls for all such alleged crimes to be formallyinvestigated.

The Report exposes the Rohingyas’ plight, which has beenoverlooked for years. The root causes of their situation stillremains under-examined. The Irish Centre for HumanRights’ Report identifies and discusses some of these causes.

Irish Centre for Human Rights - Issue 11, May-September 2010

From left Prof. William Schabas, Minister Martin,Joe Powderly and Nancie Prud'homme

The full report is available athttp://www.nuigalway.ie/human_rights/projects/burma.html

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Professor William Schabas at ICC Review Conference in Uganda

Professor William Schabas ReceivesPrestigious Vaspasian V. Pella Medal

Irish Centre for Human Rights Director Professor WilliamSchabas was awarded the Vaspasian V. Pella Medal forInternational Criminal Justice by the Association Internationale deDroit Penal. The award is given by the association to a singleindividual once every ten years. The medal has been awarded threetimes, the first two laureates being Benjamin Ferencz, who was oneof the prosecutors at Nuremberg, and Professor M. CherifBassiouni, who is now that honorary president of the association.

Professor Schabas launched his book ‘The InternationalCriminal Court: A Commentary on the Rome Statute’ inJune at Commonwealth Banquet Hall at the ICC ReviewConference in Kampala, Uganda. Details about theconference, including in depth commentary along with adaily journal of activities can be found on Professor Schabas'archived ICC blog: http://iccreviewconference.blogspot.com/

ICHR Welcomes 10th LLM Class

On September 5th, the Irish Centre for Human Rightswelcomed the 10th LLM class to the Centre. An winereception was held in the evening after the first day ofclasses. Over 70 new masters students were inattendance, along with PhD students and Centre staff,including Prof. William Schabas, Prof. Ray Murphy,Dr. Kathleen Cavanaugh, Dr. Vinodh Jaichand and Dr.Noam Lubell.

The evening reception included a Gypsy Jazz duoproviding a lively atmosphere.

Dr Vinodh Jaichand and LLM students Gypsy Jazz duo performs background music

Find us online!

http://www.nuigalway.ie/human_rights

Irish Centre for Human Rights

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The Irish Centre for Human Rights heldit’s 9th annual Doctoral Seminar from 10-14May, 2010. This year’s panel of expertsincluded Professor David Weissbrodt,Professor of International Human RightsLaw and Founder of the Human RightsCenter at the University of Minnesota,Professor Sir Nigel Rodley, Professor andChair of University of Essex Human RightsCentre and Dr. Jeremie Gilbert, SeniorLecturer Human Rights Law at MiddlesexUniversity. Over 40 students, includingvisiting scholars from Middlesex Universityand the Geneva Academy for HumanRights and Humanitarian Law attended theseminar. The seminar included a half daytrip to Coole Park and a closing dinner atCooke’s wine Bar in Galway.

ICHR to Celebrate 10th Anniversary

Doctoral students, James Nyawo and Hadeel AbuHussein at Coole Park


The Irish Centre for Human Rights welcomed its first LLMstudents in September 2000 and we are hosting a series ofevents in 2010 to celebrate ten years of the Centre’s teaching,research and advocacy.

The main 10th anniversary event is a major academicconference by the Irish Centre for Human Rights, on thetheme of ‘Forgotten Rights, Forgotten Concepts.’ This willencompass a number of original human rights issues across abroad spectrum which the speakers feel have fallen out offavour or been overlooked. The Conference will be held oncampus on 19 and 20 November 2010, and will includemany distinguished academics and friends of the Irish Centrefor Human Rights.

Past Events

The Gala Banquet will be held on Friday 19 November in thebeautiful Glenlo Abbey Hotel. Tickets for the Banquet arepriced at 50 euro and available in limited number on the IrishCentre for Human Rights website through the registrationpage. The registration fee for the ‘Forgotten Rights, ForgottenConcepts’ conference is 25 euro. The conference fee includeslunch at the conference and admission to the closing party.

*For more information on the celebrations, go to: http://www.nuigalway.ie/human_rights10thanniversary.html

Irish Centre for Human Rights Holds Annual Doctoral Seminar

PhD candidates enjoying live music at the Crane Bar,Galway

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The Irish Centre for Human Rights and the NUI GalwaySchool of Law co-hosted the two day conference MasteringLaw; Conflicts, Challenges and Solutions in Today’s Societyin early June 2010. Geared towards current LL.M Students.The Mastering Law conference brought together currentmasters students in both the school of law and the IrishCentre for Human Rights to engage students in a formalexchange of ideas, prepare their own academic works andexplore the ways in which diverse fields of study intersect.The first Mastering Law Conference was held at theUniversity of Limerick in June of 2009, Participantsaddressed the current developments and future challenges inIrish, European, and International Law.

Past Events

During the two day conference, LL.M students had theopportunity to present their own research and collaboratewith their colleagues from Universities across Ireland. Inaddition to academic presentations, there were also shortcareer sessions and guest speakers. Keynote address wasgiven by Michael Farrell of FLAC and the Irish HumanRights Commission. The event ended with dinner held atthe Ardilaun hotel in Galway.

Irish Centre for Human Rights and NUI Galway School of Lawco-hosts Mastering Laws Conference

Summer School in Human Rights, Cinema & AdvocacyFrom 2-5 September, 2010, the Huston School of Film & Digital Media and the Irish Centre of Human Rights broughttogether experienced practitioners and experts to establish the Summer School in Human Rights, Film and Advocacy. Thesame team collaborated in the successful Summer School in Cinema and Human Rights from 2005 to 2008 in Venice at theEuropean Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation.

Like the ‘Human Rights and Cinema’ Summer School in Venice, facilitators included Nick Danziger, a leading practitionerin the field of human rights documentary making, photographer and writer, Prof. William Schabas, OC MRIA, Director ofthe Irish Centre for Human Rights, NUI Galway, and Rod Stoneman, Director of the Huston School of Film & DigitalMedia, NUI Galway. Over 17 students were in attendance.

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The book was launched at Irish Centre for Human Rights onMonday 21 June. The book, 'Extraterritorial Use of ForceAgainst Non-State Actors', was published by OxfordUniversity Press within their prestigious 'Oxford Monographsin International Law' series. It is the first book to bringtogether all the different areas of law applicable to theextraterritorial use of force against non-state actors, includinglaw of armed conflict, human rights law, UN law and the useof force. It includes analysis of anticipatory self-defence, theclassification of the 'war on terror' as an armed conflict, theextraterritorial application of human rights law, and thetargeted killing of individuals, such as the strikes carried outby the US in Pakistan.

Past Events

Dr. Noam Lubell Launches Book

EU-China Human Rights Seminar, Madrid 2010

Prof. William Schabas and Dr. Noam Lubell

In June 2010, the Irish Centre for Human Rightsorganised the third EU-China Human Rights Seminar totake place under the auspices of the EuropeanCommission funded EU-China Human Rights Network.The successful event took place at the UniversidadNacional de Educacia Distancia (UNED) in Madrid andbrought together 64 leading European and Chineseacademics as well as NGO representatives andgovernment officials from Europe and China to discusshuman rights issues under the following headings:Freedom of Information and the Right to Privacy;National Human Rights Institutions and theImplementation of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The three-year EU-China Human Rights Network projectprovides a grant of 1.5 million Euro to the Irish Centre forHuman Rights to develop and lead an unrivalled networkof human rights specialists from across the EU and China.The 30 European and 20 Chinese institutions involved inthe Network collaborate with non-governmentalorganizations to analyse human rights practices throughthe EU-China Human Rights Seminar process andassociated activities.The next EU-China Human RightsSeminar will take place in China in the last quarter of2010.

EU China Human Rights participants in Madrid

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In June, the Irish Centre for Human Rights hosted the 9th

annual Minority Rights, Indigenous Peoples and Human RightsLaw and the International Criminal Court Summer Schools.The week-long summer school programmes offered participantsa unique chance to immerse themselves in two increasinglyimportant areas of international criminal law and internationalhuman rights law, and to benefit from the knowledge of anunrivalled panel of experts. Each of the intensive programmesalso included a variety of social activities that allowed participantsto network with each other and the panel in a relaxed andfriendly environment, ensuring the programmes are instructiveand enjoyable. The final day of the Minority Rights courseincluded a 1 day conference on Customary Law, TraditionalKnowledge and Human Rights, co-hosted by the Irish Centre forHuman Rights (ICHR), the Indigenous Peoples Law and PolicyProgram, University of Arizona, Middlesex University, theNatural Justice Peruvian Society for Environmental Law (SPDA)and the United Nations University, Institute for AdvancedStudies (UNU-IAS). This conference covered issues pertainingto customary law, traditional knowledge and human rights.

The final day of the ICC summer school included a Moot Courtin the Galway Courthouse.

Past Events

Irish Centre for Human Rights hosts 2010 Summer Schools

Prof. Patrick Thornberry at Minority Rights SummerSchool June 2010

Photo by Susan Megy

Minority Rights, Indigenous Peoples andHuman Rights Law

• Prof. Joshua Castellino, Middlesex University• Mr. Joshua Cooper, University of Hawaii• Dr. David Keane, Middlesex University• Dr. Elvira Dominquez Redondo, MiddlesexUniversity• Dr. Alexandra Xanthanki, University of Brunel• Dr. Jeremie Gilbert, Middlesex University• Dr. Jeroen Temperman, University of Amsterdam• Prof. Patrick Thornberry, Keele University• Mr. Nick McGeehan, PhD Candidate EuropeanInstitute• Ms. Eadaoin O’Brien, Government of IrelandPostgraduate Scholar• Dr. Kathleen Cavanaugh, Senior Lecturer, IrishCentre for Human Rights• Prof. Michael O’Flaherty, University of Nottingham• Mr. Ziya Meral, PhD Candidate, University ofCambridge• Mr. David Joyce, Barrister• Mr. Martin Collins, Pavee Point Centre

International Criminal Court

• Mr. John McManus, Canadian Department ofForeign Affairs• Dr. Mohamed El Zeidy, International CriminalCourt• Prof. William A. Schabas, Director, Irish Centrefor Human Rights• Prof. Ray Murphy, Irish Centre for Human Rights• Prof. Hector Olasolo, Utrecht University• Mr. Everard O’Donnell, formerly of the ICTR• Mr. Hakan Friman, Swedish Department ofForeign Affairs• Dr. Shane Darcy, Irish Centre for Human Rights

2010 Speakers

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Upcoming Events

September 14, 2010: Dr. Anthony Cullen, Lauterpacht Centre forInternational Law, University of Cambridge ‘The Concept of Non-International Armed Conflict In International Humanitarian Law.’

Introductory remarks were provided by Prof. William Schabas, Director,Irish Centre for Human Rights.

Irish American Exchange on Human Rights 16-18 October, 2010

The Irish Centre for Human Rights will host the 2nd annual Irish-American Exchange on Human Rightsfrom 16 - 18 October. The event will bring together faculty and students from two of the world’s leadinginstitutions of human rights education—the Center for Civil and Human Rights at Notre Dame Law School,and the Irish Centre for Human Rights, National University of Ireland Galway, for a series of presentationsand responses on human rights issues of the day. The event will be free and open to the public.

‘Human Rights through the Lens’ 10th Anniversary Exhibition

As part of the 10th Anniversary celebrations, the Irish Centrefor Human Rights is putting together a collection ofphotography relating to the human rights experiences of staffand students. Entitled ‘Human Rights through the Lens’ theexhibition will be launched at Kenny’s bookshop on 18October at 4 PM.

The Centre will move the exhibit to display some of thephotographs in and around the Centre during the 10thanniversary celebrations in November.

The final project will be compiled into a book of photographswith accompanying short accounts detailing the human rightswork, activities or experiences involving the Centre’s alumni.

Photo by Susan Megy


Book Launches

Staff News & Notes

The Irish Centre for Human Rights bulletin is compiled and

edited by Susan Megy, Doctoral Fellow

Professor Ray Murphy

• Delivered lectures in the United Nations Training Schooland the Command and Staff School, Military College,Defence Forces Training Centre, Curragh, Co. Kildare.

• Taught international humanitarian law and internationalcriminal law in The Hague as part of the 12th and 13thInternational Investigators Course held by the Institute forInternational Criminal Investigations, The Hague inNovember 2009 and May.

• Taught international law, criminal law and humanitarianlaw on the Second Justice Rapid Response Training Course,Institute for International Criminal Investigations (IICI) and‘No Peace without Justice,’ together with the ArgentineForensic Anthropology Team (EAAF), hosted by theArgentine Joint Training Centre for PeacekeepingOperations (CAECOPAZ) from 8-16 May.

• Conducted International Criminal Law and PracticeTraining for Ugandan judges, lawyers and practitioners inEntebbe, Uganda, August.

Dr. Vinodh Jaichand

Acted as consultant to the Johns Hopkins UniversityProtection Project on Legal Aid and Clinical Legal Educationin Pretoria, Johannesburg and Cape Town from 1-7 August

Beginning in July, currently undertaking field research onthe ‘Galway Taxi Industry: Employment Opportunities,Patterns of Public Use and User Perceptions’ with theassistance of ICHR students.

T h e I r i s h C e n t r e f o r H u m a n R i g h t s

N a t i o n a l U n i v e r s i t y o f I r e l a n d G a l w a y

+353 (0) 901 493948 | email: [email protected]

W e b : w w w . n u i g a l w a y . i e / h u m a n _ r i g h t s

The Irish Centre for Human Rights bulletin is compiled, designed and edited by

Susan Megy, Doctoral Fellow

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Dr. Shane Darcy

• Visiting lecturer at the Centre for Legal Studies, CentralEuropean University, Budapest in August 2010.

Dr. Noam Lubell

• Participated as a member of the Committee on the Use ofForce at the 74th Biennial Conference of the InternationalLaw Association.

• Taught ‘War, Peace and Human Rights’ at OxfordUniversity as part of the human rights summer school co-organised by Oxford University and George WashingtonUniversity.

• Taught on the 28th Annual Course on InternationalHumanitarian Law, organised by the International committeeof the Red Cross, and held in Warsaw, Poland in July.

• Guest lecturer on the Specialized Training On HumanRights And Armed Conflict, organised by the Program onHumanitarian Policy and Conflict Research at HarvardUniversity, Stockholm in June.

Dr. Kathleen Cavanaugh

• Presented at the ‘International Law is Indeed in Trouble,’in Palestine and ‘International Law, New Approaches,’ atBirzeit University, Ramallah, Palestine, September 23-26.

• Presented at the ‘Islam and the European Project’,’ in theXXth International Association for the History of Religion(IAHR) Quinquennial World Congress, Toronto, August15-21.

• Presented ‘Narrating Law,’ at the Salzburg Global Seminarand the International Bar Association initiative on “ACommon Ground?: International law and Islamic LegalTraditions,” Center of Theological Inquiry, PrincetonUniversity, May 22-23.

• In May presented at the ‘De-Exceptionalising theExceptional Case: The "Plural Readings" of Islam’, Law andSociety Association, Chicago.

Dr. Vinodh Jaichand and PhD student Josh Curtis presenting‘Land and Housing Rights: Some Solutions from OtherJurisdictions’ at the School for International Relations (SIR)Conference on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Tehran Iranin June

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