HUMAN RIGHTS AND ACCOUNTABILITY:

THE AFTERMATH OF WAR

June 1-3, 2022

Yerevan, Armenia

Hosted by the American University of Armenia

The Center for Truth and Justice invites you to the First Annual International Conference on Human Rights to be held in Yerevan, Armenia, June 1-3, 2022. The Conference is hosted at the American University of Armenia.

Please join us in person or virtually by registering for this first-of-its-kind international conference to bring together scholars, survivors, and activists in the field of accountability for crimes and gross human rights violations during and after the 44-day war in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), and Armenia.

Scholars and law experts from 16 different countries will be joining us. See below for the tentative program, which will be updated regularly.

Register Now!

 

REGISTRATION 

Due to COVID-19 and travel restrictions, some of our speakers will be presenting virtually, and are designated with (V) in the program. Panels have been scheduled to best accommodate the various time zones.

REGISTRATION is required whether you attend in person, or virtually.

English and Armenian interpretation will be provided to all those attending in person or virtually.

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CONFERENCE PROGRAM (Information will be updated regularly)

June 1, 2022

Welcoming Remarks: Justice Arman Dilanyan, President of the Constitutional Court of Armenia

Panel 1: Armenophobia: The Ugly Truth, Prevention & ODHIR

• Minister Artak Beglaryan, State Minister, Republic of Artsakh (Stepanakert, Artsakh)
• John Terhanian, Professor, Southwestern Law School (Los Angeles, CA, USA)   (V)
• Christie Edwards, Tolerance and Non-Discrimination   OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (Warsaw, Poland)

 Panel 2: Study of Law and Genocide and Victims’ Narratives 

• Luis Moreno Ocampo, Founding ICC Chief Prosecutor (Buenos Aires, Argentina)  (V)
• Elke Heckner, Professor, University of Iowa (Iowa City, IA, USA)
• Stan Goldman, Professor, Loyola Marymount University (Los Angeles, CA, USA)

Panel 3: Gathering Evidence: How to Amplify Voices to Prevent Atrocities and Genocide

• Gegham Stepanyan, Human Rights Defender (Stepanakert, Artsakh)
• Natia Navrouzov, Director of Legal Advocacy, Yazda (Erbil, Iraq)
• Maria Mingo, Partnership Advisor, eyeWitness to Atrocities (Lodon, UK)

Panel 4: The Importance of Being Sorry: Forced Displacement and Transitional Justice Lessons for and from Armenians

• Armen Ghazaryan, Head of Migration Service of the Republic of Armenia (Yerevan, Armenia)
• Ruben Carranza, Director, Reparative Justice Program, International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), (New York, NY, USA)
• Vicken Cheterian, Professor, Webster University (Geneva, Switzerland) (V)

Keynote Speakers

• Michael Rubin, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute (Washington, D.C., USA)
• David Phillips, Director, Program on Peace-building and Rights at the Institute for the Study of Human Rights, Columbia University (New York, NY, USA) (V)

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June 2, 2022

Keynote Speaker: Geoffrey Robertson QC, Human Rights Barrister, Founder of Doughty Street Chambers (Sydney, Australia)  (V)

Panel 1: Universal Jurisdiction Over Serious International Law Crimes and Atrocities

• Rajika Shah, Deputy Director, Center for the Study of Law and Genocide, Loyola Law School (Los Angeles, CA, USA) (V)
• Maria Armoudian, Politics Senior Lecturer, University of Auckland (Auckland, New Zealand)
• Gurgen Petrossian, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg (Heidelberg, Germany) (V)

Panel 2: Corporate Responsibility for Human Rights and Humanitarian Abuses

• Genevieve Zingg, Board Member, Yazidi Legal Network - Iraq (Baghdad, IRAQ)
• Mary Hansel, Attorney and Legal Scholar (Los Angeles, CA,USA) (V)

Honorary Speaker: Arman Tatoyan, Human Rights Defender, Republic of Armenia 2016-2022 (Yerevan, Armenia)

Panel 3: The Fight for International Human Rights in Canada

• Kelsey Gallagher, Researcher, Project Ploughshares (Waterloo, Canada)
• Christopher Waters, Professor, University of Windsor (Ontario, Canada)
• Philippe Larochelle, Partner, Larochelle Avocats (Montreal, Canada)

Panel 4: Reparations and Restitution: The Role of the International Legal Community 

• Sheila Paylan, Independent Consultant, International Law & Human Rights (Yerevan, Armenia)
• Talin Hitik, Principal, Law Office of Talin A. Hitik (Chicago, IL, USA)
• Siranush Sahakyan, Path of Law, Faculty, American University of Armenia (Yerevan, Armenia)

Panel 5: Prisoners of War: Conditions of Captivity & Avenues of Repatriation

• Julia Grignon, Professor, Laval University (Laval, Canada) (V)
  
• Michael Strauss, Professor, Centre d'Etudes Diplomatique et Strategiques (Paris, France)
  
• Milena Ansari, International Advocacy Officer, Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association (Ramallah, Palestine)

Panel 5: Reparations and Restitution: The Role of the International Legal Community 

• Sheila Paylan, Independent Consultant, International Law & Human Rights (Yerevan, Armenia)
• Talin Hitik, Principal, Law Office of Talin A. Hitik (Chicago, IL, USA)
• Siranush Sahakyan, Path of Law, Faculty, American University of Armenia (Yerevan, Armenia)

Panel 6: Information Wars and Human Rights (V)

• Lilia Arakelyan, Professor, Florida International University (Miami, FL, USA)  (V)
• Hanna Samir Kassab, Professor, East Carolina University (Greenville, SC, USA)  (V)
• Florentina Andreescu, Professor, University of North Carolina Wilmington (Wilmington, NC, USA)  (V)

June 3, 2022

Presentation: Yeghishe Kirakosyan, Representative of Armenia on International Legal Matters (Yerevan, Armenia)

Panel 1: Self-Determination and Resilience: Indigenous Struggle for Human Rights

• Sarah Babaian, Founder, Sarah Babaian Negotiation & Conflict Consulting (Hamburg, Germany)
• Eric David, Professor, Brussels Free University, President of the Centre for International Law (Brussels, Belgium)
• Karnig Kerkonian, Partner, Kerkonian Dajani LLP, Professor, Artsakh State University (Chicago, IL, USA) (V)

Panel 2: Story-Telling and Human Rights

• Elke Heckner, Professor, University of Iowa (Iowa City, IA, USA)
• Arpi Melikyan, Ph.D. Student, University of California, Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA USA)  (V)

Alexander Lapshin, Russian-Israeli Blogger and Journalist (Jerusalem, Israel)  (V)

Keynote Speaker: Vahe Grigoryan, Justice of the Constitutional Court of Armenia (Yerevan, Armenia)

Panel 3: Quasi-Legal Advocacy Strategies for Addressing Human Rights Abuses

• Thomas Becker, Senior Clinical Supervisor, University Network of Human Rights (Boston, MA, USA)
• Anoush Baghdassarian, Juris Doctorate Candidate (2022), Harvard Law School (New York, NY, USA)

Panel 4: Cultural Heritage at Stake: How to Preserve, Mitigate Damage, and Punish 

• Simon Maghakyan, Lecturer, University of Colorado (Denver, CO, USA) (V)
• Alexander Herman, Director, Institute of Art and Law (London, UK) (V)
• Yelena Ambartsumian, Founder, ORIGEN (Milford, CT, USA)

Closing Keynote: Judith Chomsky, Counsel, The Center for Justice and Accountability (Philadelphia, PA, USA)

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This conference is made possible thanks to:              

in partnership with: 

         

 

with support from: