News
View AllProf. Claire Finkelstein underscores the Center for Ethics and Rule of Law’s recommendations to close Guantánamo Bay: Newsweek
January 14, 2022
Rangita de Silva de Alwis discusses how countries use loopholes to undermine laws against child marriage: CFR.org
October 15, 2018
Assoc. Dean Rangita de Silva de Alwis writes on what the mapping of family laws globally reveals: IPS
August 21, 2018
Mass Atrocity Crimes in Myanmar
May 22, 2018
The United Nations (UN) has long characterized the Rohingya as the world’s most persecuted population. Historically, the Burmese viewed the ethnic and religious minority as illegal immigrants permitted entry by their former British colonizers. Such historical context informs contemporary views of the group as “foreigners.” And that has helped justify decades-long persecution by both private and public actors culminating in the Rohingya’s legal exclusion as citizens and other discrimination codified as law. Despite the group’s pre-colonial ancestral ties to the land, messaging that Rohingya are “outsiders,” “Bengalis” and even, “terrorists,” has helped the government justify mass atrocity crimes. The current humanitarian and human rights crises also implicate national security.
My Experience at the 62nd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women
March 27, 2018
This year’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) proved to be a historic one where member states gathered to discuss the substantial progress made in favor of gender equality. While each country addressed areas still in need of work, each event of the CSW offered an inspirational promise of hope. The excitement was palpable whenever discussing the significant progress already made—how women’s voices have been amplified and legitimized through legal reform and political activism.
Rangita de Silva de Alwis on the role of law schools in shaping global gender justice: Inter Press Service
March 14, 2018
The Global Compact on Migration: The Opportunity for Constructive Engagement Remains
January 9, 2018
In 2017, the UN and its members, as well as intergovernmental and non-governmental agencies, committed themselves through regional and international dialogue to developing a new framework to address the challenges confronted in and by migration. As the world recognized the need for greater international collaboration, the Trump Administration moved the United States towards a more isolationist approach while implementing restrictive and enforcement-oriented policies and practices, in a notable shift from prior administrations. As we head into 2018, the United Nations and its members have set out to draft and agree upon an international cooperative framework for managing migration, while also ensuring that the rights of migrants are respected, protected and fulfilled. 2018 will be the year to see whether the political resolve exists to meet this goal, with or without the United States’ participation.