On 1 December, Dr Viviane Dittrich, Deputy Director of the Academy, participated in expert meeting on international humanitarian law (IHL), the “Roundtable of IHL Academics in Europe”, organised by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the University of Ljubljana. At the outset, Etienne Kuster, ICRC Senior Advisor for Relations with Academic Circles, highlighted the current polarisation (erosion of shared values and consensus on IHL rules), dehumanisation (normalisation of harmful rhetoric and disregard for the suffering of affected communities and disenchantment (perceived double standards and the lack of accountability). A focus was on the importance of teaching IHL in multicultural settings and education as key to promoting compliance and accountability.
The programme consisted of three panels: Session 1 on “Ensuring commitment to IHL in a polarized world”, Session 2 on “Challenges to IHL compliance related to weapons treaties, how can academics be part of the solution?” and Session 3 on “The updated Commentary of the Fourth Geneva Convention”. The roundtable brought together more than 30 experts in the online meeting with speakers from Ukraine, Egypt, South Africa, France and Poland. (vd)