40th San Remo Roundtable on IHL

About the author(s):

Katharine Fortin is an Associate Professor at Utrecht University where she teaches IHL and IHRL. Before joining Utrecht University, she worked at the ICTY, ICC and Norton Rose Fulbright. She is the author of The Accountability of Armed Groups under Human Rights Law (Oxford University Press, 2017) which won the 2018 Lieber Prize. She has written widely about the framework of law that applies to armed groups in non-international armed conflicts and is one of the editors of the Armed Groups and International Law blog.

The provisional programme for the 40th San Remo Roundtable on IHL has been released and is reproduced below. The roundtable will mark the 40th anniversary of the two Additional Protocols and will focus on the topic of the protection of civilians and gender violence during both armed conflict and internal violence.

It is jointly organized by the International Institute of Humanitarian Law and the International Committee of the Red Cross and will take place in Sanremo from 7 to 9 September 2017. To register for the roundtable, follow the link here.

PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME

Wednesday 6 September

16.00 – 17.45 REGISTRATION OF PARTICIPANTS

18.00 – 19.00 WELCOME COCKTAIL

Thursday 7 September

08.30 – 09.00 REGISTRATION OF PARTICIPANTS

09.00 – 10.45 OPENING SESSION

WELCOME ADDRESS

  • Alberto Biancheri, Mayor of Sanremo
  • Fausto Pocar, President of the IIHL
  • Message of the President of the ICRC, Ambassador Peter Maurer
  • Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Dr. Miguel DE SERPA SOARES, Legal Counsel and Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, United Nations, New York

SESSION I

11.00 – 13.00

THE SCOPE OF APPLICATION OF THE ADDITIONAL PROTOCOLS: A SETTLED PROBLEM?

Chair: Prof. Yoram Dinstein, Emeritus Professor, University of Tel Aviv; President of the United Nations Association of Israel – Council Member, IIHL

Defining armed conflicts under the Additional Protocols: is there a need for further clarification? Prof. Andrew Clapham, Professor of International Law, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva

When do international armed conflicts end?

Prof. Vaios Koutroulis, International Law Centre, Université Libre de Bruxelles

Additional Protocol II and threshold of application

Judge Raul Pangalangan, International Criminal Court

Discussion  12.00 – 13.00

SESSION II

14.00 – 16.00

CONDUCT OF HOSTILITIES

Chair: Lt. General (ret.) Giorgio Battisti, former Commanding General of Italian Army Training and Doctrine Command, Italy; Member, IIHL

Focus on the principle of distinction

Ms Camille Faure, Deputy Head of Legal Services, French Ministry of Defence (TBC)

A closer look at the prohibition of indiscriminate attacks and disproportionate attacks

Prof. Jasmine Moussa, IHL expert

Considering the principle of precautions

Col. (ret.) Noam Neuman, former Head, International Law Department, Military Advocate General’s Corps, Israel Defence Forces

Discussion 15.00 – 16.00

SESSION III

16.00 – 18.00

FUNDAMENTAL GUARANTEES AND THE TREATMENT OF PERSONS DEPRIVED OF THEIR LIBERTY

Chair: Dr. Nils Melzer, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; Member, IIHL (TBC)

Content and customary nature of Article 75 of Additional Protocol I

Prof. Marina Mancini, Associate Professor of International Law, Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria; Member, IIHL

How are persons deprived of their liberty in relation to non-international armed conflicts protected under Additional Protocol II?

Mr. Tilman Rodenhauser, Legal Adviser, ICRC

Detention in relation to armed conflicts: what is the relationship between international humanitarian law and international human rights law?

Major General (ret.) Blaise Cathcart, former JAG, Canadian Armed Forces (TBC)

Discussion 17.00 – 18.00

Friday 8 September

SESSION IV

09.00 – 11.00

SEXUAL AND GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE IN ARMED CONFLICT

Chair: Ambassador Marie Jacobsson, Principal Legal Adviser on International Law, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Stockholm – Council Member, IIHL

How do the Additional Protocols address the issue of sexual and gender-based violence in armed conflicts?

Prof. Sandesh Sivakumaran, University of Nottingham

Legal developments in prosecuting sexual and gender-based violence in armed conflicts: a focus on the extension of war crimes to victims of the same armed forces

Prof. Patricia Sellers Viseur, Special Advisor for Prosecution Strategies to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court

Gender-based violence: the case of peacekeeping

Col. Nathalie Durhin, Head of Legal Office, Inspector-General for the French Air Force

Discussion 10.00 – 11.00

SESSION V

11.00 – 13.00

THE PROTECTION OF MEDICAL PERSONNEL, FACILITIES AND TRANSPORTS

Chair: TBC

Protecting medical personnel, facilities and transports and providing access to health care for civilian populations in armed conflicts

Prof. Jann Kleffner, Swedish Defence University

Debating the notion of “acts harmful to the enemy” and its relevance to the protection of military medical personnel

Mr. Laurent Gisel, Legal Adviser, ICRC

What are the rules on the protection of medical ethics and the respect of medical activities? How to ensure their implementation?

Ambassador Beatriz Londoño, Permanent Representative of Colombia to the UN in Geneva

Discussion 12.00 – 13.00

SESSION VI

14.00-16.00

HUMANITARIAN ACCESS

Chair: TBC

Shedding light on the rules on humanitarian access

Prof. Michael Bothe, University of Frankfurt/Main; Member, IIHL

What are the rights and obligations of parties to an armed conflict and of concerned third states? Relief schemes and the delivery of humanitarian relief

Dr. Tristan Ferraro, Senior Legal Adviser, ICRC

 Humanitarian negotiations for access to persons in need of assistance: which role for gender diversity?

Ms Cynthia Petrigh, Director, Beyond Peace; Member, IIHL

Discussion 15.00 – 16.00

SESSION VII

16.00 – 18.00

INTEGRATING A GENDER PERSPECTIVE INTO IHL

Chair: Dr. Helen Durham, Director of International Law and Policy, ICRC

Discussion panel 16.00 – 17.00

In recent years, increasing attention has been placed on gender issues in armed conflict, and States and humanitarian actors have begun to integrate gender perspectives in their operations. Gender is often described as the culturally constructed and prescribed behaviour of men and women, specifically the roles, attitudes and values ascribed to them on the basis of their sex. Save for a few provisions that provide specific protections to women, the majority of IHL rules, including those in the Additional Protocols, are intended to be “gender neutral” in that both women, girls, men and boys are afforded the same protections. This panel will consider what it means to integrate a gender perspective on IHL and whether the APs allow for gender factors to influence the application of the law in today’s armed conflicts. The panel will also consider whether structural inequalities and gender stereotypes in society may lead to the application of IHL rules in a way that is inherently discriminatory, and whether there is a need to clarify or further develop the law to address these effects. Discussants will address issues related to integrating a gender perspective into IHL. Some of the specific questions may also include: should parties to armed conflict integrate a gender perspective into the rules on the conduct of hostilities and, if so, how should they do so? For instance, what room is there for a gender perspective in the protection of “civilians”? What is the impact of a gender perspective in the application of the rules related to the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty? How should gender factors influence the legal review of new weapons pursuant to Article 36 of API? Is there a gender perspective in dealing with children participating in hostilities?

Prof. Gabriella Venturini, University of Milan; Member, IIHL

Prof. Marco Sassoli, University of Geneva; Member, IIHL

Captain Lotta Ekvall, Gender Advisor, OSCE

Discussion 17.00 – 18.00

Saturday 9 September

SESSION VIII

09.00 – 11.00

REINFORCING RESPECT FOR THE ADDITIONAL PROTOCOLS: THE 40th ANNIVERSARY AS AN OPPORTUNITY?

Chair: Ambassador Valentin Zellweger, Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations Office and to the other international organisations in Geneva (TBC)

Discussion panel 09.00 – 10.00

The adoption in 1977 of the Additional Protocols represented a milestone in the regulation of armed conflicts and significantly strengthened the protection offered to victims of armed conflicts on a plethora of issues. As some of the most widely ratified international instruments, the Additional Protocols – together with the Geneva Conventions – have helped to limit or prevent human suffering in past conflicts, and they remain as relevant and as necessary in 2017 as they were forty years ago. The panel will serve to reflect on the wide range of measures that have been adopted, both internationally and nationally, to enhance respect for, and prevent violations of, the APs and discussants will address means to generate respect for the APs and the role that States, components of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the United Nations and other actors can play to ensure the dissemination of IHL and to generate the political will and commitment needed for the respect of this body of norms. Some of the specific questions the panel will consider include: 1) what are some of the existing initiatives to increase respect for IHL, lessons learned and possible ways forward, in particular with regard to non-state armed groups? 2) what methods are there to ensure broad dissemination of IHL (e.g. use of new media technologies)? 3) what role can different actors (e.g. National IHL Committees, national courts, armed forces) play – or already play – in the implementation and promotion of the APs and should multidisciplinary responses be pursued, and if so how?

Prof. Daniel Thuerer, Emeritus Professor, University of Zurich; former Member of the ICRC; Member, IIHL (TBC)

Prof. Bakhtiyar Tuzmukhamedov, Vice-President, Russian Association of International Law, Moscow; Member, IIHL

Mr. Jonathan Cuénoud, Legal Advisor, Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs

Discussion 10.00 – 11.00

CONCLUDING SESSION 11.00 – 11.30

CONCLUDING ADDRESS – Ms Christine Beerli, Vice-President of the ICRC, Geneva

CLOSING OF THE ROUND TABLE – Prof. Fausto Pocar, President of the IIHL, Sanremo

* * * Co-ordinators of the Round Table: Prof. Wolff Heintschel von Heinegg, Chair of Public Law, Viadrina University Ms Helen Obregón, Legal Adviser, ICRC Dr. Jean-François Quéguiner, Head of Unit of Thematic Legal Advisers, ICRC Prof. Michel Veuthey, Vice-Presi

 

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