On Monday and Tuesday, we had truly engaging lectures and discussions. Monday was the first day of class with students from all over the world who are participating in the first two weeks of class with us. Monday morning’s lecture entitled “Fear’s Legal Dimension: Counterterrorism and Human Rights” was given by Dr. Andrea Bianchi, a professor of international law at the Graduate Institute. The afternoon workshop on Post-Conflict Justice was led by Dr. Pierre Hazan, a journalist and human rights consultant, working currently for the U.N. High Commission for Human Rights. He held fellow positions in D.C. and at Harvard Law School, and prior to that was a journalist covering international crises including those in Afghanistan, the Balkans, the Great Lakes region of Africa, the Ingushetia–Chechen border, the Middle East, Somalia, and Sudan.
Students had a welcome cocktail reception afterwards, and enjoyed a chance to talk with other stduents from the first day of classes.
Today, Prof. Andrew Clapham gave a fantastic talk on non-state actors under international law and the issue of talking to terrorists. Prior to teaching at the Graduate Institute, he was the Representative of Amnesty International at the United Nations in New York. He has worked as Special Adviser on Corporate Responsibility to High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, and Adviser on International Humanitarian Law to
Sergio Vieira de Mello, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Iraq. Students were especially engaged in the topic, and they brought experiences from their diverse backgrounds and viewpoints (Afghanistan, South Africa, Brazil, Suriname, just to name a few..) into the discussion.
In the afternoon, students attended lectures given by professionals at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
