Doing Justice: International Investigations and the Path to Accountability
Mr Hanny Megally, Senior Fellow at New York University's Center on International Cooperation and Commissioner with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, will deliver the 2020Annual Justice Lecture, hosted by Lawyers for Justice in Libya (LFJL) and the Centre for Human Rights Law at SOAS, University of London.
The Lecture, entitled 'Doing Justice:International Investigations and the Path to Accountability,' will take place online at 16.00 BST on Tuesday 13 October, and will be delivered in English. It is the second in a series of lectures designed to explore questions of justice related to Libya or using Libya as a case study.
This year's lecture examines lessons learned from past Commissions of Inquiry and the key elements of a successful investigative mechanism to facilitate accountability. This is particularly timely given the increased use of investigative mechanisms to pursue accountability including, most recently, the establishment of the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya (FFM). The FFM will document human rights and international humanitarian law violations and abuses committed in Libya since 2016 and ensure the preservation of evidence with a view to holding perpetrators accountable.
Mr Megally previously served as Chief of the Asia, Pacific, Middle East and North Africa Branch at the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and Vice-President for Programs at the International Center for Transitional Justice. He has over forty years of experience in the field of human rights, transitional justice and conflict resolution. He began his professional career at the International Secretariat of Amnesty International in 1977, and from 1984 to 1994 he headed the organisation's Middle East Research department. He later ran the Ford Foundation's social justice program in the Middle East, based in Cairo, and from1997 to 2003 he was the Executive Director of the Middle East and North Africa Division of Human Rights Watch.
LFJL Director Elham Saudi said: "We are delighted to welcome Hanny Megally to deliver the second Annual Justice Lecture. We're confident that his considerable expertise on this year's theme will contribute not only to a fascinating event, but to the success of future investigative mechanisms."
Dr Lutz Oette, Director of the Centre for Human Rights Law at SOAS, said: "Hanny Megally's forthcoming lecture could not be more timely given the increasing importance of Commissions of Inquiry and investigative mechanisms to ensure accountability for serious human rights violations. We greatly look forward to welcoming him to deliver this year's Annual Justice Lecture as part of our ongoing conversation and efforts to strengthen human rights protection in Libya and elsewhere."
(Source: LFJL)
