Author Archives: Mel O'Brien

International Law and Armed Conflict Symposium

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By Mel O’Brien

Technically this is not a call for papers, but a notification of a symposium that people may be interested in attending. It is the International Law and Armed Conflict Symposium, being held at Bristol Law School at the University of West England from 3-5 September 2008. I’m giving a paper in the "accountability" panel on the first day. There are nine panels, all dealing with interesting subject areas such as reforming the laws of war, children, and environment and natural resources. Invited speakers include Bill Schabas, Nico Schrijver, and Nigel White. There is a welcome reception on the Wednesday night, and an optional dinner on the Thursday night. I know it’s a few months away, so I will write another reminder post closer to the date, but thought I would write a post now as they have an early bird fee payable by 31st July. Student rates are also available.

Brief Lowdown on the European University Institute ICC Conference

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By Mel O’Brien

Last weekend I went to another conference, once again in Italy (hence my absence lately from blogging of any issues of real substantiality!). This conference was held at the European University Institute in Florence, and was titled "Fighting Impunity in a Fragmented World- New Challenges for the International Criminal Court". schif-path.jpg Firstly, let me comment on how spectacular the location was! The EUI is located in several different villas on a hill in Florence, and the conference was held in one of these villas and its chapel. The views were stunning, and the villa even has a beautiful sculpted garden and its own soccer field! A very nice place to work and study, indeed! Continue reading →

The recent increase in the hunt for wanted war criminals and génocidaires

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By Mel O’Brien

ratko mladic.jpg Lately there seems to be an increase in the number of stories surfacing concerning the names and whereabouts of wanted war criminals from all corners of the globe. While Serge Brammertz declares the continued belief of the ICTY that Ratko Mladi? is in Serbia, other less ‘famous’ war criminals are also still being hunted. The Simon Wiesenthal Centre (SWC), known worldwide for its efforts in hunting Nazis and having them brought to justice, has stepped up its efforts to find surviving Nazi war criminals that it believes are living in various locations around the world. The Centre has noted a dramatic increase in investigations in the past year, and has published a list of the ten most wanted Nazi war criminals– the whereabouts of all but one are known. They are located in countries as diverse as Croatia, Germany, the USA, Venezuela and Australia. The SWC has also launched a campaign called Operation Last Chance, which offers rewards for information leading to the capture and arrest of any Nazi war criminals. A UK-based NGO, African Rights, reports that Oswald Rurangwa, convicted and sentenced in absentia for genocide crimes by the Gacaca courts in Rwanda, has been living in the United States since 1996. The group has revealed that he has changed his name to Oswald Rukemuye and lives in the town of Dayton, Ohio. Continue reading →

ICC News: Fourth DRC arrest warrant unsealed

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child soldier.jpg

By Mel O’Brien

This week the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I made the decision to unseal an arrest warrant issued against Bosco Ntaganda. The warrant was originally issued in August 2006, but for reasons including the risk to victims and the possibility that Ntaganda would flee or go into hiding, the warrant remained sealed until 28 April 2008. The arrest warrant covers allegations of enlistement and conscription of children, and the use of children to participate in hostilities, under article 8 (2)(b)(xxvi), or article 8(2)(e)(vii) of the Rome Statute. Both individual and command responsibility are covered as means of criminal responsibility. Ntaganda’s history goes as far back as the Rwandan Patriotic Front, fighting against the Rwandan government during the genocide in 1994. From 2002 to 2006 he was the military chief of the Forces Patriotiques pour la libération du Congo (FPLC), the military wing of the UPC in Ituri. In 2006 he became the military chief of staff of the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP) in North Kivu. Continue reading →

EIUC Summer School on Cinema & Human Rights

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By Mel O’Brien

I just spent three days at the European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation (EIUC) in Venice attending a PhD seminar where we discussed human rights law methodology and the benefits of inter-disciplinarity. There were three expert speakers/facilitators, and each participant presented their thesis work, which was then discussed by all participants and facilitators. The seminar is a fairly new idea of the EIUC, but it was extemely useful for all involved as a way of getting external feedback on our thesis work. I encourage anyone to apply for the seminar next year! The EIUC is also running a Summer School on Cinema & Human Rights from 21 August to 10 September 2008. This course coincides with La Biennale di Venezia, the famous film festival held in Lido, Venice. The EIUC is also located in Lido, a wonderful location in a former monastery, with easy transport access to the main Venetian islands. The course costs ?1600, and the EIUC has pre-reserved accommodation for participants given the difficulty of finding accommodation at that time (accommodation is at participants’ costs). See the Cinema & Human Rights website for more information.

Melanie O’Brien

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Dr Melanie O’’Brien is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the TC Beirne School of Law, and a Researcher in the Asia-Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, University of Queensland.

Melanie’’s research project is titled From Discrimination to Death: Genocidal Process and Prevention Through a Human Rights Lens, and aims to construct a paradigm of the genocidal process through human rights violations to function as a map to prevent future genocides.

Melanie’s research and supervision areas include international criminal law, human rights law, international humanitarian law (IHL), feminist legal theory, public international law, comparative criminal law, peacekeeping, and military law. She has published in leading academic journals and is on the Editorial Boards of Human Rights Review and Genocide Studies and Prevention. Melanie is a member of the Australian Committee of the Armed Forces Law Association of New Zealand, and the Advisory Board of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS). She has won several prestigious grants such as the Griffith Asia Institute Australia China Futures Dialogues Visiting Fellowship to Peking University, China, and the Gandel Philanthropy Scholarship for the Gandel Holocaust Studies Program for Australian Educators, at Yad Vashem in Israel.

Melanie has previously worked at Anti-Slavery Australia in the Law School, University of Technology Sydney; the ARC Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security at Griffith University; the National Human Rights Institution of Samoa; the Legal Advisory Section of the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court; the International Criminal Justice Unit of the Nottingham University Human Rights Law Centre; the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations; the Raoul Wallenberg Institute; the Australian Law Reform Commission; and the NSW Crown Solicitor’s Office. She is an admitted legal practitioner. For a full profile with publications, see here.