PalestineCenter

Hisham B. Sharabi Memorial Lecture “Apartheid and Occupation under International Law” with Professor John Dugard Former U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory Visiting Distinguished Professor of Law, Duke University 26 March 2009 While the international community continues to posture and push for a settlement to the decades-long Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territory, international legal institutions are positioned to offer insights based on developed international treaties and customs. They are underutilized to the detriment of peace. Drawing on his experience as the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Professor John Dugard, who returned from a fact-finding mission to Gaza early this month, will discuss how international law and the institutions charged with upholding it can enable a break in the Israel-Palestinian impasse. Professor Dugard is a member of the Institut de Droit International. Since 1997, he has been a member of the U.N. International Law Commission and was, from 2000 to 2006, the Special Rapporteur on Diplomatic Protection to the Commission. From 2002 to 2008, he was a judge ad hoc in the International Court of Justice. From 2001 to 2008, Dugard served as Special Rapporteur to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. His present principal interests are international criminal law and diplomatic protection.