The Asian International Justice Initiative wishes to announce that applications are now open for its third annual Summer Institute for International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and Human Rights (Summer Institute 2010).  Summer Institute 2010 will be held in collaboration with the Indonesian National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) in Bali and will be followed by an optional field trip to Aceh, Sumatra.

This two-week workshop is designed for participants working across a broad range of fields and disciplines related to IHL and human rights. The workshop is best suited to people working within the Asia Pacific region or with an Asia Pacific focus. Participants from Southeast Asia are strongly encouraged to apply. Lawyers, academics, journalists, non-governmental organization workers, investigators, monitors, government agency workers, as well advanced (graduate level) law students from across Asia and internationally will find the workshop relevant to their work.

This year’s course will focus on an area of study and practice that engages key IHL and human rights issues facing advocates, policy-makers and academics today: the rise of internal (or non-international) conflicts in the latter part of the twentieth century and the first decade of the new millennium, and their impact on both regional and international peace and security. The curriculum will focus both on how conflicts have emerged in the Asia Asia Pacific region as well as conflict resolution, with a specific emphasis on conflicts, past and present, in Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka. The primary country case studies considered during this course will be: Indonesia (particularly focusing on the conflicts in Aceh and Papua); the Philippines (particularly focusing on the conflict between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Mindanao); Sri Lanka; and southern Thailand.     

To inquire about the program, please contact Penelope Van Tuyl at summerinstitute@eastwestcenter.org.

More information and paperwork necessary to apply to SI 2010 can be found here (brochure, application form).