LAW - 739B Ethnic Identity and International Law Seminar

(3 hrs.)

Considers the ways in which international law and international organizations have been and could be utilized to address ethnic and national tensions. The course examines pertinent international legal standards and machinery, including human rights standards prohibiting discrimination and relevant implementation machinery; standards and experience with the use of “hate laws” to repress racial and ethnic hatred; criminal law and procedures relating to genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity; and legal standards related to the rights of indigenous peoples. Students will explore international laws concerning the cultural and political rights of distinct communities within a nation and the resulting conflicts; principles of humanitarian law and intervention governing situations of national, ethnic, and clan conflict; humanitarian responses to situations of massive displacement caused by such conflict; and the impact of ethnic- and nationalist-driven independence movements on international law related to the recognition of states and the right to self-determination. Orentlicher