Exploring Genocide: From Ukraine to Gaza

In this episode of Conversations on Genocide, Emily delves into the complex topic of genocide with special guest William Schabas, a leading scholar on genocide and international human rights law. They discuss the legal definitions and interpretations of genocide, particularly in relation to Ukraine and Gaza, and the ongoing debates among scholars and professionals. They also explore the new special tribunal for the crime of aggression in Ukraine, its jurisdictional basis, potential challenge.Professor William A. Schabas is professor of international law at Middlesex University in London. He joined the Middlesex University faculty in 2011 after a distinguished career as a practising lawyer (member of the Québec bar) and academic, have previously been professor of law at the Université du Québec à Montréal and the University of Galway.Professor Schabas is also emeritus professor at Leiden University and the University of Galway, honorary chairman of the Irish Centre for Human Rights, and invited visiting scholar at the Paris School of International Affairs (Sciences Po). Prof. Schabas is a ‘door tenant’ at the chambers of 9 Bedford Row, in London.He has appeared as counsel before several international and national courts and tribunals including the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights and the Supreme Court of Canada. Professor Schabas was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2006. He was elected a member of the Royal Irish Academy in 2007. He has been awarded the Vespasian V. Pella Medal for International Criminal Justice of the Association internationale de droit pénal, the Gold Medal in the Social Sciences of the Royal Irish Academy, and he holds several honorary doctorates.Professor Schabas served as one of the commissioners of the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission, from 2002 to 2004. In 2014, he was appointed by the president of the United Nations Human Rights Council as chairman of the International commission of inquiry to investigate all violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, particularly in the occupied Gaza Strip, in the context of the military operations conducted since 13 June 2014. From 2009 to 2011, he was Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation in the Field of Human Rights.Professor Schabas has prepared the quinquennial reports of the Secretary-General of the United Nations on the status of capital punishment for 2010, 2015 and 2020.