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The Irish Centre for Human Rights at University of Galway is pleased to announce the latest seminar in the Let’s Talk Research series, taking place on Tuesday, 2 December.

PhD student Parisa Zangeneh will deliver a presentation titled:

“The humanization - and dehumanization - of international humanitarian law”

Speaker Biography:

Parisa Zangeneh is a PhD student at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, University of Galway. She received her BA from McGill University, her LLM in International Law from the School of Oriental and African Studies, and her LLB from the University of Edinburgh. She previously served as a consultant at the Cornell Center for the Death Penalty Worldwide, where she researched the developments in the law and application of the death penalty in countries around the world. Parisa also completed internships in Chambers at the International Criminal Court, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the Special Court for Sierra Leone, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, and the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals.

Abstract:

This thesis critically analyses the removal of the si omnes clause and its impact on what Judge Theodor Meron calls ‘the humanization’ of international humanitarian law (IHL). In historical IHL treaties, the si omnes clause determined which parties to a conflict could be bound by the rules and when they applied. Through an analysis of three case studies, Common Article 1, Common Article 3, it shows that the grave breaches regime, the gradual abandonment of the si omnes clause reduced the divide between states and peoples historically lacking in IHL protection in NIAC and colonial contexts but did not eliminate reciprocity in its entirety.

Date: 2nd December 1-2pm

Venue: Irish Centre for Human Rights Seminar Room