Geneva Academy

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Channel • 4 Shows

Society & Culture

Society & Culture

Updated 22/02/2024
Society & Culture

Society & Culture

Updated 18 Mar
Society & Culture

Society & Culture

Every two weeks
Society & Culture

Society & Culture

Monthly

06/02/2024

Women in International Law – Episode 01 – Lucy McKernan

The Women in International Law podcast, presented by the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and the ATLAS Network, showcases women with diverse experiences and career paths in the field. Together, we explore their journeys, pivotal moments and challenges, and gain valuable insights and advice. Each episode will focus on the guest’s career and stories, uncovering the inner workings of the international legal profession. In this episode Lucy McKernan, Deputy Director for United Nations at Human Rights Watch’s office in Geneva, discusses her career in Human Rights Advocacy with Nathalie Mivelaz Tirabosco, Head of Communication and External Relations at the Geneva Academy.
18 Mar

Human Rights Uncovered: Inside our brain: neurotechnologies and the new human rights frontier

In the first episode of the Human Rights Uncovered podcast’s mini series on neurotechnologies and human rights, host Clémence Enjelvin is joined by Dr Jonathan Andrew, lawyer and former Research Fellow at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and Dr Karen Herrera Ferra, neuroethicist and Founder and former President of the Mexican Association of Neuroethics, to introduce neurotechnologies and examine why their growing use raises fundamental human rights and ethical concerns. This podcast episode is part of a research project financed by the Swiss Network for International Studies (SNIS) and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA).
08/12/2022

In and Around War(s): Season 1, Episode 4: Business And War

The worst forms of business-related abuses often happen in the context of war or in conflict-affected areas. In Episode 4 of the podcast �In and Around War(s)�, the co-hosts � Paola Gaeta and Ana Srovin Coralli � discuss some burning legal issues in relation to business and war with S� Benjamin Traore, who is an Assistant Professor at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University in Rabat, Morocco, and an alumnus of the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. They focus in particular on the African context, and examine the role of businesses in the perpetration of international crimes, business complicity in the commission of war crimes, and whether international humanitarian law and international human rights law impose obligations on businesses during wars. Links - UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights : https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/GuidingPrinciplesBusinessHR_EN.pdf - Protocol on Amendments to the Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights (�Malabo Protocol�): https://au.int/en/treaties/protocol-amendments-protocol-statute-african-court-justice-and-human-rights - Lafarge case: Cour de cassation (France), judgment of 7 September 2021, overturning the 2019 lower court decision that dismissed charges against Lafarge for complicity in crimes against humanity and the charges over endangering the lives of others: https://www.dalloz.fr/documentation/Document?id=CASS_LIEUVIDE_2021-09-07_1987367&ctxt=0_YSR0MD1sYWZhcmdlIGNyaW1lcyBjb250cmUgbCdodW1hbml0w6nCp3gkc2Y9c2ltcGxlLXNlYXJjaA%3D%3D&ctxtl=0_cyRwYWdlTnVtPTHCp3MkdHJpZGF0ZT1GYWxzZcKncyRzb3J0PSNkZWZhdWx0X0Rlc2PCp3Mkc2xOYlBhZz0yMMKncyRpc2Fibz1UcnVlwqdzJHBhZ2luZz1UcnVlwqdzJG9uZ2xldD3Cp3MkZnJlZXNjb3BlPUZhbHNlwqdzJHdvSVM9RmFsc2XCp3Mkd29TUENIPUZhbHNlwqdzJGZsb3dNb2RlPUZhbHNlwqdzJGJxPcKncyRzZWFyY2hMYWJlbD3Cp3Mkc2VhcmNoQ2xhc3M9#texte-integral Follow and contact us at: https://www.geneva-academy.ch/; https://twitter.com/Geneva_Academy. Copyright: Credits for the production go to Tatiana Avanthay, Nathalie Mivelaz Tirabosco and Antonio Coco.
22/12/2022

In and Around War(s): Season 1, Episode 5: Practising International Humanitarian Law

International law provides for a distinct set of rules that fighters must abide by in war, known as �international humanitarian law�. How to effectively promote respect for such rules and ensure humanitarian protection for victims of war? And how to reconcile the aspiration to peace with the acceptance of rules regulating war? In this episode, the co-hosts Paola Gaeta and Antonio Coco discuss the challenges and rewards of practising international humanitarian law with Nishat, an alumna of the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights who has worked for years with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), including in conflict areas. They talk � among other things � about the ICRC�s mandate, the practice of talking to people involved in the war and the need for confidentiality. Links � What does the ICRC do: https://www.icrc.org/en/what-we-do � Q&A on the ICRC�s practice of confidentiality: https://www.icrc.org/en/document/confidentiality-q � ICTY, Prosecutor v Simic et al., �Decision on the Prosecution Motion under Rule 73 for a Ruling concerning the Testimony of a Witness�, 27 July 1999 (on the right to non-disclosure of information relating to the ICRC�s activities in the possession of its employees in judicial proceedings): https://www.icty.org/x/cases/simic/tdec/en/90727EV59549.htm Follow and contact us at: https://www.geneva-academy.ch/; https://twitter.com/Geneva_Academy. Copyright: Credits for the production go to Tatiana Avanthay, Nathalie Mivelaz Tirabosco and Ana Srovin Coralli.
2 Jul

War WATCH: Episode 6 - Ukraine: The Human Cost of Drones

This is the final episode of War Watch, our series exploring armed conflicts and the laws that seek to limit their impact. In 2024 and 2025, the UN Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine documented systematic drone attacks on civilians in southern Ukraine—attacks the Commission concluded constitute crimes against humanity. But this isn't a story about military strategy or territorial control. It's about how commercially available technology—the same drones used for racing and photography—is being weaponized to terrorize civilians. Real-time video feeds allow operators to see exactly who they're targeting. Telegram channels broadcast the attacks like video games, with threatening messages telling people "there is nowhere to hide." The result: over 3,000 civilian homes destroyed, entire populations displaced, infrastructure collapse, and a climate of terror that makes daily life impossible. This episode examines three dimensions: how drones enable systematic war crimes and raise new legal questions; how physical terror from above combines with psychological warfare online to create forced displacement; and what role private companies—from DJI to Telegram—play in enabling these attacks. Joining us are Commissioner Pablo de Greiff from the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, who led the investigation documenting these violations, and Anna Greipl, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Geneva Law Faculty specializing in emerging technologies and international humanitarian law. Anna exceptionally serves as our legal adviser on this episode. Reports referenced: "They are hunting us: systematic drone attacks against civilians in Kherson Province" (May 2025 UN General Assembly Report on Ukraine (October 2025) Both available at: ohchr.org Resources: Explore Ukraine violations on the War Watch portal: warwatch.ch Learn more about the Geneva Academy: geneva-academy.ch
23/03/2023

In and Around War(s): Season 2, Episode 1: Engaging with Armed Groups

Armed groups and de facto authorities are key players in today�s armed conflicts: they directly impact civilian populations and pose an increasing global challenge. Non-governmental organizations such as Geneva Call engage and speak to them, in order to induce them to comply with the rules of international humanitarian law to enhance the protection of the civilian population caught in the midst of armed conflicts. But does engaging with these groups and authorities actually make a difference to how the wars in which they participate are eventually being carried out? In this first episode of the second season of 'In and Around War(s)�, Ezequiel Heffes, currently Director of the organisation called Watchlist, shares with us his rich experience of engaging with armed groups to ensure respect for international humanitarian law with the co-hosts Paola Gaeta and Ana Srovin Coralli. Links - Geneva Call, organisation engaging with armed groups to increase respect for IHL: https://www.genevacall.org/ - International Committee of the Red Cross, Restoring family links programme: https://www.icrc.org/en/what-we-do/restoring-family-links - Watchlist, network of organisations that advocate for children in war zones: https://watchlist.org/ - Detention by Non-State Armed Groups under International Law, Cambrige University Press, January 2022: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/detention-by-nonstate-armed-groups-under-international-law/64639EE42DAEF7CA410127E217F73D25 Follow and contact us at: https://www.geneva-academy.ch/; https://twitter.com/Geneva_Academy. Credits for the production go to Margherita Capacci, Nathalie Mivelaz Tirabosco, and Antonio Coco.
31 Mar

War WATCH: Episode 4 - Haiti: Crossing the Threshold

In the fourth episode of the War Watch podcast, a six-episode series from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, a joint centre of the University of Geneva and the Geneva Graduate Institute, host Juliette Graf meets Diego Da Rin, Haiti specialist with the International Crisis Group, and Stuart Casey-Maslen, Special Adviser to the Geneva Academy's IHL in Focus project. Haiti's crisis has been years in the making. But in February 2024, something shifted. Two rival gang coalitions merged into a single alliance - Viv Ansanm - and launched coordinated attacks that brought Port-au-Prince to a standstill and toppled the government. The Geneva Academy formally classified Haiti as a non-international armed conflict: the violence was too organised, too sustained, and too deadly to be treated as anything else. Diego Da Rin explains how Haiti's gangs got here and what their territorial control looks like on the ground. Stuart Casey-Maslen unpacks what the classification actually changes: for accountability, for the Gang Suppression Force now deploying, and for the civilians caught in the middle. The episode also walks through what the War Watch project documented between 2024 and 2025: hospitals attacked, schools burned, mass killings, and sexual violence used deliberately and systematically. Haiti is one of the conflicts we track on the War Watch portal, where you can find the full legal analysis and documented violations. Find out more at: War Watch portal – Haiti: warwatch.ch/situations/non-international-armed-conflict-in-haiti Geneva Academy of IHL and Human Rights: geneva-academy.ch ICG report - Undoing Haiti's Deadly Gang Alliance (December 2025): https://www.crisisgroup.org/sites/default/files/2025-12/110-haiti-deadly-gang-alliance%20%281%29.pdf OHCHR - Human rights situation in Haiti: ohchr.org/en/countries/haiti UNICEF - Children in Haiti: unicef.org/lac UN Security Council Resolution 2793 (2025): docs.un.org/en/S/RES/2793(2025) Human Rights Watch – Drone strikes in Haiti (March 2026): hrw.org/news/2026/03/10/haiti-drone-strikes-put-residents-at-risk
22/02/2024

Women in International Law – Episode 02 – Jelena Aparac

The Women in International Law podcast, presented by the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and the ATLAS Network, showcases women with diverse experiences and career paths in the field. Together, we explore their journeys, pivotal moments and challenges, and gain valuable insights and advice. Each episode will focus on the guest’s career and stories, uncovering the inner workings of the international legal profession. In this episode Jelena Aparac, Head of Policy, Advocacy and Research at Legal Action Worldwide, discusses her career in Human Rights Advocacy with Paige Morrow, Co-Chair of ATLAS Geneva and Senior Legal Advisor to the UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression.
09/07/2024

In and Around War(s): Season 3, Episode 2: The Prosecution of Ecocide and Other Environmental Crimes

The latest episode of our 'In and Around War(s)' podcast follows on from the IHL Talk 'The Prosecution of Ecocide and Other Environmental Crimes: State of the Law and Way(s) Forward' which took place in April. In the episode our Research Fellow, Eugénie Duss, speaks to Jelena Aparac, from UN SWTP, and Stavros-Evdokimos Pantazopoulos, from of the Erik Castrén Institute at the University of Helsinki. The discussion covers the recent and ongoing proceedings addressing climate change outside the criminal framework, focusing in particular on the case of Verein Klimaseniorinnen Schweiz and others v. Switzerland. It also covers the request for an advisory opinion on climate change before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, and also the worrying tendency of the investor-state dispute settlement system to award large compensations to investors against states that adopt stricter environmental and climate change measures.
29/06/2023

In and Around War(s): Season 2, Episode 4: War and the Cyberspace

Cyberspace is increasingly used for war related purposes. But does international humanitarian law apply to cyber operations? In the season�s 2 last episode, Paola Gaeta and Ana Srovin Coralli host a very special guest � Antonio Coco, a Lecturer in International Law at the Essex University and an alumnus of the Geneva Academy � and an usual co-host of this podcast. They discuss inter alia which kind of cyber operations may be carried out in war, when a cyberattack can amount to an armed attack against a state, and whether there is a need for new rules which would be better placed to address the realities and challenges brought about by attacks in cyberspace. Links - Essex Award for Outstanding Early Career Researcher: Antonio Coco discussed his work https://vimeo.com/830392101 - The Oxford Process on International Law Protections in Cyberspace https://www.elac.ox.ac.uk/the-oxford-process/ - United Nations Open-ended Working Group I https://disarmament.unoda.org/open-ended-working-group/ - United Nations Open-ended Working Group II https://meetings.unoda.org/meeting/57871/documents - The Digitalization and Armed Conflict: a research project of the Geneva Academy https://www.geneva-academy.ch/research/our-clusters/digitalization-and-new-technologies/detail/78-the-digitalization-of-armed-conflict - Societal Risks and Potential Humanitarian Impact of Cyber Operations https://www.geneva-academy.ch/joomlatools-files/docman-files/working-papers/Societal%20Risks%20and%20Potential.pdf - Protecting Societies: Anchoring a New Protection Dimension in International Law in Times of Increased Cyber Threats https://www.geneva-academy.ch/joomlatools-files/docman-files/working-papers/Protecting%20Societies%20-%20Anchori.pdf - The Future Digital Battlefield and Challenges for Humanitarian Protection: A Primer https://www.geneva-academy.ch/joomlatools-files/docman-files/working-papers/The%20Future%20Digital%20Battlefield%20.pdf Follow and contact us at: https://www.geneva-academy.ch/; https://twitter.com/Geneva_Academy. Credits for the production go to Margherita Capacci, Nathalie Mivelaz Tirabosco and Antonio Coco.

The Geneva Academy provides postgraduate education, conducts academic legal research and policy studies, and organizes training courses and expert meetings. We concentrate on branches of international law that relate to situations of armed conflict, protracted violence and protection of human rights.

Website

Geneva Academy

Top Shows

Women in International Law – Episode 01 – Lucy McKernan

Human Rights Uncovered: Inside our brain: neurotechnologies and the new human rights frontier

In and Around War(s): Season 1, Episode 4: Business And War

In and Around War(s): Season 1, Episode 5: Practising International Humanitarian Law

War WATCH: Episode 6 - Ukraine: The Human Cost of Drones

In and Around War(s): Season 2, Episode 1: Engaging with Armed Groups

War WATCH: Episode 4 - Haiti: Crossing the Threshold

Women in International Law – Episode 02 – Jelena Aparac

In and Around War(s): Season 3, Episode 2: The Prosecution of Ecocide and Other Environmental Crimes

In and Around War(s): Season 2, Episode 4: War and the Cyberspace

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