Assessing human rights and justice in transitional Syria: one year on

John Balouziyeh is a Partner at the international law firm Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP. Acting for sovereign states, the U.N., corporations and NGOs, he specializes in human rights, public international law, foreign investment and international disputes. John previously served as a Human Rights Officer, Legal Officer and International Consultant with the United Nations in Iraq, where he was responsible for training Iraqi prosecutors and judges on international criminal law, drafting public reports, preparing case assessments and monitoring trials in Iraq’s terrorism courts. He is a Senior International Humanitarian Law Instructor in the American Red Cross’s IHL program and has served as a Judge Advocate with the U.S. military, holding a variety of billets, including Chief of International Law, Chief of National Security Law, Defense Counsel and Prosecutor (trial counsel). He has held assignments at the Guantánamo Bay war crimes tribunals, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and across the Middle East. His most recent book, Public International Law: Conventions, Cases and Commentary (Kluwer Law International, 2025), has been acclaimed as a “solidly researched and intensely readable exposition of international law.” John serves as Treasurer of the IBA Human Rights Law Committee and as a Member of the Advisory Board of the IBA War Crimes Committee.

Baroness Kennedy is one of the country’s most distinguished lawyers. Born and brought up in Glasgow, she is a member of the Bar, a King’s Counsel, a Bencher of Gray’s Inn, an Honorary Writer to the Signet and the recipient of 42 Honorary Degrees from many universities including those of Glasgow and Edinburgh in recognition of work on women and the law and on widening participation in higher education. She has also been honoured by the Governments of France and Italy for her considerable work on women’s rights. She was created a life peer in 1997 and has been a strong advocate for social justice and the rule of law in the House of Lords. She has recently been awarded the Order of the Thistle, the highest honour in Scotland. Over the last thirty years she has been at different times Chancellor of Oxford Brooke’s University, Chancellor of Sheffield Hallam University, President of the School of Oriental and African Studies and Principal of Mansfield College Oxford. She was also Founder of the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights at Oxford in 2018. Helena Kennedy’s public service has covered many fields. She was a Commissioner on the Education Commission from 1992-4 and led a government inquiry in Further Education from 1994 – 1997, producing the seminal report, Learning Works.  She was Chair of the British Council from 1998 – 2004, Chair of the Human Genetics Commission from 1998- 2008. She has chaired many public inquiries including in 2004 the Inquiry into Sudden Infant Death for the Royal Colleges of Pathology and of Paediatrics and in 20012 an Equality and Human Rights Commission Inquiry in Scotland addressing Human Trafficking. She also led the recent Scottish Parliamentary Inquiry into Misogyny. She is President of Justice; the law reform think tank and currently is director of the International Bar Association’s Institute of Human Rights. Helena Kennedy has authored a number of groundbreaking books on women and the law. She is President of the Helena Kennedy Foundation which gives bursaries to disadvantaged students. In 2021, when Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, Baroness Kennedy evacuated 102 women judges and prosecutors who were on death lists (with their families so the total number was 508) by raising the funds, securing safe houses,  chartering planes, and resettling the women around the world. She is currently working for the President of Ukraine on war crimes and trying to recover the thousands of children who have been abducted from Ukraine by Russian forces. 

Marissa is an international criminal and human rights lawyer. She works on strategic litigation on behalf of survivors of atrocity crimes and human rights violations, including dissidents, political prisoners, and survivor-communities. She currently serves as Legal Advisor with Project Expedite Justice’s Ukraine program, and has a strong pro bono practice advising NGOs on investigating and prosecuting atrocity crimes. She is also admitted to the International Criminal Court's List of Assistants to Counsel. Marissa has worked on rule of law initiatives relating to conflicts in Iraq, Syria, Ukraine, Russia, Libya, Iran, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Seychelles. She previously led a truth commission's Reparations Unit and worked in the ICC's Office of the Prosecutor. She zealously seeks justice and healing through victim-centered and trauma-informed practices.