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As the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) moves into its implementation phase, the proposal to create a victim assistance and environmental remediation trust fund has generated much discussion among states parties and other stakeholders. The TPNW trust fund could offer significant value to the implementation process as a mechanism that would bolster the humanitarian purpose of…

This week, Olivia Klein from the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs published a feature on IHRC’s return to in-semester international travel. Check out the spotlight on two clinical trips: one to Dublin for the signing of the Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated…

In a new article for the International Review of the Red Cross, Bonnie Docherty, lecturer on law and director of the Clinic’s Armed Conflict and Civilian Protection Initiative, examines the evolution of the concept of victim assistance and the impact of its implementation. Co-authored with Alicia Sanders-Zakre, the article analyzes the contributions of three treaties—the Mine Ban Treaty, the Convention…

Lecturer on Law and Senior Clinical Instructor Salma Waheedi’s latest article in the American University in Beirut’s Al-Abhath explores constitutional review in Arab Gulf States, as part of a volume analyzing the promise of constitutionalism in the Arab Gulf. The article examines the constitutional frameworks of Kuwait and Bahrain and the main features of their judicial review models, with a…

This article was first published on Just Security. p { line-height: 1.5em; } Last week, more than 80 countries endorsed a new international commitment to address one of the greatest threats to civilians during armed conflict: the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. Explosive weapons include aircraft bombs, artillery, rockets, and missiles, and their use in cities, towns, and…

Editor’s Note: This OpEd first appeared in Prishtina Insight. Written by Anna Bower JD ’23, Beatrice Lindstrom, Scarlett Park JD ’24 and Jake Soria JD ’24. It is high time the UN accepted responsibility for the lead poisoning of Roma camp residents back in 1999 and compensated them, say a group of Harvard researchers and Roma activists who have been tracking the case.

On November 1, 2022 the International Human Rights Clinic hosted an event with Navi Pillay, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Judge at the ICC and President of the ICTR. Watch the recording of the event below.

New Report Identifies More Effective Routes to Protecting Civilians, Avoiding Insecurity  Governments should move the stalled discussions of a treaty on autonomous weapons systems, known as “killer robots,” to a new international forum, Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic and Human Rights Watch said in a new report. Such weapons systems operate without meaningful human control, delegating life-and-death decisions…

New report from Harvard Law Clinic, Opre Roma Kosovo spotlights urgent need for remedies  (November 9, 2022, Pristina, Kosovo; Cambridge, MA) —The UN has failed to implement a decision by its own human rights panel finding it responsible for remedies to Roma victims of lead poisoning, leaving them to suffer ongoing injuries, according to a report released today by Harvard…