Human Rights and Int’l Criminal Law Online Forum

The UCLA School of Law has recently launched the Human Rights & International Criminal Law Online Forum.

The Forum is an initiative of the Sanela Diana Jenkins Human Rights Project and the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. It is designed to generate debate about issues of significance for the International Criminal Court.

The first question is whether the ICC prosecutor should have the authority to open an investigation into alleged war crimes committed in the 2008-09 Gaza conflict. The invited experts who submitted opinions were Prof. George P. Fletcher (Columbia Law), Dr. Marlies Glasius (University of Amsterdam), Dr. Michael Kearney, Legal Researcher, Al-Haq, Prof. John Quigley (Moritz College of Law, The Ohio State University), and Prof. Yaël Ronen (Sha’arei Mishpat College).

The second question (open for comments Nov. 15, 2010) will address the genocide charges filed against Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir. The third topic will address gender crimes under ICC jurisdiction, in particular those in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kivu Provinces, and Darfur.