Conference on International Justice and Darfur Feb. 6 at YLS

WATCH THE VIDEO OF THE PANEL, "THE ROLE OF JUSTICE"

WATCH THE VIDEO OF THE PANEL, “NEGOTIATING IN LAW’S SHADOW:  PROGRESS?”

On Friday, February 6, 2009, Yale Law School will host a conference titled “The Pursuit of International Criminal Justice: The Case of Darfur.” Policymakers, scholars, and civil society leaders from around the world will consider the role that international criminal prosecution should play in the strategy to end the violence in Darfur and in other massive conflicts. The conference will take place as judges of the International Criminal Court consider whether to issue an arrest warrant charging Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir with genocide. The Sudanese government has renounced the jurisdiction of that Court, and countries have divided on the question of whether the United Nations Security Council should compel the ICC to defer its work.

“Darfur is today's most prominent example of the inability of the international community to induce or compel a State to protect the basic rights of its own population,” said Yale Law School Dean Harold Hongju Koh. “This conference will explore the challenge of closing the gap between the growing global commitment to international justice and the reality that millions continue to suffer from the perpetration of serious human rights abuses.”

The conference will begin at 9:30 a.m. with a keynote speech by Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. The two roundtable discussions that follow will examine “What Would Peace Look Like in Darfur?” and “The Role of Justice.” Dean Koh will moderate the discussions. Participants include Richard S. Williamson, U.S. Special Envoy to Darfur; Amre Moussa, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States; Jean-Marie Guéhenno, former head of U.N. Peacekeeping Operations; Daniel Bethlehem, Legal Adviser to the U.K. Foreign Office; and Jerry Fowler, President of the Save Darfur Coalition. The morning keynote address and the two roundtable sessions are free and open to the public.

The “Case of Darfur” conference is the third in a series of four regional conferences on international justice supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. It is sponsored by the Orville H. Schell, Jr. Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School. For more information about the conference, visit www.law.yale.edu/darfurconference. If you have any questions, contact Pascale Mathieu at pascale.mathieu@yale.edu.

The Orville H. Schell, Jr. Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School coordinates a diverse program of human rights activities that serve students and scholars at Yale and contribute to the development of the human rights community locally and internationally. The Schell Center promotes activism through summer post-graduate fellowships; supports the Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Project and the Yale Human Rights and Development Law Journal; and conducts the Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation supports creative people and effective institutions committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. In addition to selecting the MacArthur Fellows, the Foundation works to defend human rights, advance global conservation and security, make cities better places, and understand how technology is affecting children and society. Specifically, MacArthur seeks to further the development of an international system of justice and advance human rights around the globe, with a special focus on Mexico, Nigeria, and Russia. More information is available at http://www.macfound.org/.