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Human Rights And Genocide: The Work Of Lauterpacht And Lemkin In Modern International Law, Part I, Ana Filipa Vrdoljak

Ana Filipa Vrdoljak

2008 marked the sixtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Genocide Convention and Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the UN General Assembly. These two instruments adopted and proclaimed by then newly formed world body on successive days, 9 and 10 December 1948 respectively, represent two sides of one coin. Born of the horrors of the 1930s and 40s, the United Nations Charter speaks of human rights and to the importance of the rule of law. The Genocide Convention and UDHR are integral to the pursuit of these aims.

The work of two international lawyers, Hersch Lauterpacht and Raphael Lemkin, …

Cultural Heritage In Human Rights And Humanitarian Law, Ana Filipa Vrdoljak

Ana Filipa Vrdoljak

The public outcry in response to the looting of the Baghdad Museum following the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the bombardment of the historic city of Dubrovnik in 1991 are contemporary examples of international condemnation of attacks upon cultural heritage during armed conflict and belligerent occupation. This international concern has manifested itself since the earliest codification of the laws of war which provided cultural heritage with a protection regime distinct from other civilian property, and state categorically that violations shall be subject to legal sanctions. These general international humanitarian law instruments are augmented by a specialist multilateral framework which governs …