Course Content

The main objective of this course is to expose participants to the core concepts, theories in international humanitarian law. The course seeks to highlight the interface between IHL and international relations. Running throughout this course is the somewhat oxymoronic yet binding notion of humanitarianism that underpins the whole rubric of international humanitarian law. Despite wanton violence with untold suffering, pain, destruction and death during armed conflict, combatants are morally obliged to submit to laws of engagement and treat their adversaries and non-combatants humanely. Short of this, they invite sanction through accountability mechanisms through which those responsible for apex crimes must be brought to justice. In a word, IHL is meant to ensure that armed conflicts are conducted civilly. These issues will be fleshed out through rigorous analysis of some of the ongoing and previous conflicts across Africa and beyond.  

 

Mode of Delivery

The course is virtual and is organized around weekly seminars, guest lectures, and group presentations with an emphasis on the problem-based learning (PBL) approach. Emphasis is placed on critical discussion of the week’s required readings. Advance preparation and active participation during these sessions are indispensable. Students are expected to be in class on time and to have read the relevant readings before each class. In addition to the texts recommended, other relevant readings can be sourced from journal articles on JSTOR, that can be accessed online. Students have to familiarize themselves with this data base (and others such as SCIENCEDIRECT) for subsequent research projects. It is the student’s responsibility to search for readings from the library and online.