University Events Jan. 27 and Feb. 3 to Focus on War Crimes Tribunals

January 25, 2012 — The University of Virginia is hosting two discussions on the activities of war crimes tribunals, on Jan. 27 and Feb. 3, touching on activities in Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia, Cambodia and Sierra Leone.
 
On Friday, Nancy Combs, vice dean, professor of law, and director of the Human Security Law Center at the College of William & Mary Law School, will present "The Problematic Evidentiary Foundations of International Criminal Convictions" at 11:30 a.m. in Cocke Hall, room 114.
 
The discussion is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be provided.
 
On Feb. 3, former U.S. Ambassador for War Crimes, David Scheffer, will speak at the School of Law about contemporary issues in war crimes and will provide a historical overview of war crimes tribunals.
 
Scheffer, who served for four years as the first U.S. ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues, is a law professor and director of the Center for International Human Rights at the Northwestern University School of Law. He speaks from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Withers-Brown Hall, room 104, at the Law School.
 
As ambassador from 1997 to 2001, Scheffer led American initiatives on war crimes tribunals, including the establishment of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the International Criminal Court and the Special Court for Sierra Leone.
 
Scheffer also led U.S. negotiators in talks at the United Nations to establish the International Criminal Court.
 
Scheffer is author of the 2011 book, "All the Missing Souls: A Personal History of the War Crimes Tribunals." Following his talk, Scheffer will sign copies of his book, which will be available for purchase.
 
The book's publisher, Princeton University Press, describes the book as "an insider's account of the international gamble to prosecute those responsible for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, and to redress some of the bloodiest human rights atrocities in our time."
 
Both talks are sponsored by the Page-Barbour Initiative on Forced Migration and the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. Combs' talk is additionally sponsored by the Center for International Studies, while Scheffer's talk is additionally sponsored by the Law School's Human Rights Law Program and the J.B. Moore Society of International Law.
 
— By Jane Kelly

Media Contact

Jane Kelly

Office of University Communications