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20 October 2023

International Law Weekend 2023: Crimes Against Humanity, New Offenses, New Frontiers?

Crimes Against Humanity
graphic promoting event, "International Law Weekend 2023: Crimes Against Humanity, New Offenses, New Frontiers?"

This panel will explore recent developments in justice and accountability for crimes against humanity as well as the ongoing efforts to establish a new treaty on crimes against humanity. Recent demands from civil society seek interpretation and possibly amendment of the Rome Statute and other international criminal law texts to fully encompass crimes involving sexual, gender-based, and reproductive violence, the crime of slavery and the slave trade, and crimes against the environment. This suggests that the legal codification of crimes against humanity in the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court may not yet cover the full range of atrocities and victimization experienced by civilian populations in today’s world. Bringing together civil society as well as those engaged in legal codification efforts is critical to address gaps in justice, peace, and equality. The panel will be conducted in an interactive roundtable format.

Moderator:

Leila Nadya Sadat, James Carr Professor of International Criminal Law, Washington University School of Law; Director, Crimes Against Humanity Initiative; Chair, ABILA Board of Directors

Panelists:

  • Pablo Arrocha Olabuenaga, Legal and Sanctions Coordinator, Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United Nations
  • Matthew Gillett, Associate Professor, University of Essex; Vice-Chair, United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
  • Akila Radhakrishnan, President, Global Justice Center
  • Hugo Relva, Legal Adviser, Amnesty International
  • Patricia Viseur Sellers, Special Advisor for Slavery Crimes to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court; Visiting Fellow, Kellogg College, University of Oxford
  • Anna Pála Sverrisdottir, Legal Adviser of Iceland to the United Nations