Policy Practicum: Human Rights & International Justice

Atrocities continue to ravage our planet¿in Syria, Iraq, Myanmar/Burma, North Korea, Xinjiang China, and Yemen, to name a few. And yet, the international community is increasingly divided when it comes to advancing the project of international justice. Whereas earlier armed conflicts have inspired the establishment of international or hybrid tribunals (such as the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and the Special Court for Sierra Leone) or were referred to the International Criminal Court (such as the situations in Sudan and Libya), today¿s conflicts have been met with a pervasive tribunal fatigue and geopolitical impasses. The U.N. Security Council in particular has been hamstrung by the propensity of Russia, sometimes with China in tow, to veto (or threaten to veto) robust accountability proposals that have been put forward. As a result, advocates have looked to other organs and institutions within and without the United Nations to respond to the commission of international crimes. The General Assembly, the Human Rights Council, and even the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons have thus all become engines of accountability, in part because they are not subject to the veto. In addition, civil society actors (such as the Commission on International Justice & Accountability and the Afghanistan Human Rights and Democracy Organization) have stepped up to undertake investigative functions that would ordinarily be performed by sovereign states or international prosecutors. This lab will support several of these institutions and organizations in their efforts to move justice processes forward. A number of civil society and non-governmental organizations are conducting thorough criminal investigations and forming detailed dossiers on potential perpetrators in an effort to jumpstart national proceedings, including those proceeding under extraordinary bases of jurisdiction, and to lay the groundwork for international prosecutions when¿and if¿an opening appears. Such organizations are also working to support multilateral and unilateral sanctions regimes, such as the United States¿ Global Magnitsky Act. New digital technologies and techniques¿such as big data analytics, artificial intelligence, digital forensics, and blockchain¿are enabling and supporting more searching open source investigations into these atrocities situations. With this lab, students will conduct both factual and legal research on behalf of partner organizations and participate in advocacy efforts to build a more robust international justice architecture. They will also contribute to efforts at other academic institutions to connect students to this work. Students enrolled in Section 01 may receive EL credit and students enrolled in Section 02 may receive PW credit. Elements used in grading: Attendance, Performance, Class Participation, Written Assignments. CONSENT APPLICATION: To apply for this course, students must complete and submit a Consent Application Form available on the SLS website (Click Courses at the bottom of the homepage and then click Consent of Instructor Forms). See Consent Application Form for instructions and submission deadline.