Co-Chair
Wajiha Ahmed
Co-Chair
Shirley Pouget
Human Rights Law Committee
The Human Rights Law Committee (HRLC) aims to promote human rights in all areas of the legal profession, as well as in the broader community. We welcome your contributions, either through newsletter article submissions, becoming an officer, or presenter at conferences. The value of membership is most enhanced through active participation, so please get involved.
Latest news
Law, Ethics and Armed Conflict
14 May 2025, Kuwait City, Kuwait.
Battle of Solferino, Carlo Bossoli, 1859.
On any given day, international armed conflict, civil war and belligerent occupations threaten the lives of civilians. The IBA Human Rights Law Committee, in partnership with the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate of Operation Spartan Shield, Advocates Group Academy, the IBA Business Human Rights Committee and academic partner organisations, is organising an international legal symposium that will explore how international law can be used to mitigate the adverse impacts of armed conflict on civilians.
This symposium will feature a series of panels that will examine corporate accountability for war crimes, trade in armaments, human rights, refugee/asylum issues and arms control. Entitled 'Law, Ethics and Armed Conflict,' the conference will be held in Kuwait City on Wednesday 14 May 2025.
For more information and to register for the symposium, please click here.
The following panels will feature international lawyers from militaries the United Nations, international NGOs, foreign ministries, the ICRC, academic institutions and international tribunals:
- Session 1: Ethics in Armed Conflict: The Martens Clause, the Principle of Humanity, and Dictates of Public Conscience (09:00-09:50)*
- Session 2: The Crime of Aggression: From World War II to the Present (10:00-10:50)†
- Session 3: The Law of Armed Conflict from the Perspective of Public International Law and the Islamic Laws of War (11:00-12:00)‡
- Session 4: The Laws of Targeting and the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict (13:00-13:50)*
- Session 5: The Intersection of International Criminal Justice and Islamic Law (14:00-14:50)‡
- Session 6: Corporate Liability for War Crimes (15:00-15:50)**
- Session 7: Negotiating with Militant Groups Towards Humanitarian Assistance and Protection (16:00-16:50)*
* CLE Accreditation for Ethics pending in NY
† CLE Accreditation for Skills pending in NY
‡ CLE Accreditation for Diversity, Inclusion and Elimination of Bias pending in NY
** CLE Accreditation for Areas of Professional Practice pending in NY
We look forward to seeing you in Kuwait.
John Balouziyeh
Treasurer, IBA Human Rights Law Committee
Wajiha Ahmed
Co-Chair, IBA Human Rights Law Committee
Shirley Pouget
Co-Chair, IBA Human Rights Law Committee
Call for content
Wajiha Ahmed and Shirley Pouget are pleased to be the co-chairs of the committee for 2024-2025. At this time the committee is considering its priority areas and we will be announcing these in the near future.
In the meantime if there are any proposals from committee members, please do not hesitate to reach out to our committee chairs, via their emails linked above, with such ideas.
Forthcoming conferences and webinars View All Conferences
Cross-sectoral approaches to poverty eradication: law, environmental sustainability and gender
16 May 2025 1700 - 1800 BST
Webinar
To simplify or not to simplify: implications and reflections on the EU Omnibus Package
28 May 2025 1300 - 1400 BST
Webinar
IBA Annual Conference Toronto 2025
02 Nov - 07 Nov 2025
Toronto , Canada
Publications
Review of Ukrainian war crimes judgments
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Ukrainian judiciary has been inundated with war crimes cases, requiring immense resources and specialised training.
Released on Apr 03, 2025
IBA highlights ongoing work promoting fundamental rights on UN Human Rights Day
The International Bar Association (IBA) is commemorating the United Nations Human Rights Day by highlighting its ongoing work in protecting and promoting fundamental human rights for all people. The IBA Committees play an integral part in the Association’s continued support of the global legal community…
Released on Dec 11, 2024
Strategic litigation panel
On 19 September 2024, at the IBA Annual Conference in Mexico City, the IBA Human Rights Law Committee hosted a strategic litigation panel entitled ‘Financial and personal costs of human rights litigation: how to go the distance?’
Released on Sep 19, 2024
The 2024 INTERPOL Repository of Practice: the unresolved tension between facilitating police cooperation and upholding human rights
Few institutions wield as much influence over global law enforcement as International Criminal Police Organisation otherwise known as INTERPOL. With its notices and diffusions systems linking 196 member countries (three more than the United Nations), INTERPOL plays a critical role in facilitating international cooperation to combat serious crime. However, this unparalleled reach is not without risks. In recent years, authoritarian regimes have increasingly misused INTERPOL’s systems, particularly red notices and diffusions, as tools of transnational repression (TNR).
Webinars
- Human trafficking and the rights of trafficked persons, January 2024
- Fair trial rights and the prosecution of alleged atrocities in Ukraine, November 2023
- The relevance and role of human rights mechanisms in times of crisis, February 2023
- Human rights in the maritime industry, December 2021
- The impact of human trafficking and modern slavery on lawyers and their clients, December 2020
Podcast and film
Podcast: The Human Rights Law Committee podcast series looks at both obvious and overlooked aspects of litigating and documenting torture, in an ‘A-Z’ format. Although the obligations under the Convention against Torture are of a jus cogens nature, the scope of these obligations, and the range of physical and psychological torture/cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, tend to be understood or construed narrowly. Listen here
Film: The Committee's interview series with prominent human rights lawyers and advocates highlights the challenges of protecting human rights in the 21st century. Interviewees include former UN and ICC representatives among others. Watch here.
Projects
Human Rights Conference, 5-7 April 2024, Tokyo
The IBA, in partnership with the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, held its inaugural Human Rights Conference from 5-7 April 2024, in Tokyo.
Centered on the theme Climate, Justice, and Law – Challenges and Opportunities, the event brought together legal experts and advocates to address urgent global issues, including LGBTIQ rights, gender-based violence, arbitrary detention, migration, business and human rights, modern slavery, and the challenges faced by lawyers in high-risk environments. Discussions also explored the social impacts of climate change, the role of the death penalty in justice, Myanmar’s post-coup legal landscape, and initiatives to establish a chemical weapons tribunal.
Conference Co-Chair Makoto Saito emphasised the significance of the event, stating, 'As a Japanese human rights lawyer, I am excited to have the first-ever IBA Human Rights Conference in Tokyo. The conference presents a fantastic opportunity for lawyers from various jurisdictions to gather in one place and exchange views on the special topic of ‘Human Rights.'
Marking the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the conference reaffirmed the commitment of the IBA and the Japan Federation of Bar Associations to advancing human rights and the rule of law worldwide.
Persecution Prevention Project - report series on Yazidi Genocide
The Persecution Prevention Project was established in 2019. It is a pro bono project supported by the IBA Human Rights Law Committee and Yale University’s Genocide Studies Program.
Film screening: War and Justice
On 18 September 2024, at the IBA Annual Conference, the IBA Human Rights Law Committee, in partnership with the IBA War Crimes Committee, the Mexico Bar Association and the IBA Foundation, hosted a screening of War and Justice, a documentary about the International Criminal Court.
Subcommittees and other groups
The Human Rights Law Committee also coordinates the activities of the following subcommittees/working groups.
- Crimes Against Women Subcommittee
- Human Rights Law Committee Advisory Board