Lyal S. Sunga is a well-known specialist on international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international criminal law.[1]

Photo of Lyal S. Sunga, Former Investigator, UN Security Council

Career

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Lyal S. Sunga is adjunct professor at John Cabot University in Rome, Italy, where he teaches courses on International Criminal Law, Human Rights, Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism, Public International Law, and Genocide at Masters and undergraduate levels.[1] He is also Affiliated Professor at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in Lund University, Sweden.[2] Previously, he served as visiting professor in Peace Studies and International Relations and Global Politics at The American University of Rome,[3] visiting professor at the Strathmore University School of Law[4] in Nairobi, Kenya, and RWI visiting professor and doctoral supervisor at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia,[2] and in 2006 he taught a human rights masters course at the Peking University Law School in Beijing, China at a time when there were few if any other such masters programs being offered in mainland China. In addition, Sunga has been a lecturer, senior lecturer or visiting professor in faculties of law at McGill University, Carleton University, Helsinki University, Padjadjaran University, University of Geneva,[5] and from 2001 to 2005, he served as Associate Professor at the University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law and Director of the Master of Laws in Human Rights.[6] In 2014, Sunga developed a human rights masters curriculum for nine universities in Russia and trained professors from these institutions at the Patrice Lumumba Peoples' Friendship University of Russia in Moscow. From 2015 to 2021, Sunga gave masters-level human rights classes in UN-sponsored summer programs at Kazan Federal University,[7] Patrice Lumumba Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, Perm State University,[8] Voronezh State University[9] and Ural State Law University in Yekaterinburg.[10] Sunga has also given lectures on international law and human rights in 2008, 2009 and 2012 in Minsk, Belarus, at Belarus State University, the Belarusian National Technical University and Belarus State Economic University.[5] He has also provided extensive training and lectures to academics, civil servants and NGO personnel on human rights in armed conflict and international humanitarian law in Kyiv, Ukraine in May and August 2006 at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and with civil society organizations in September 2015 and May 2016.[11] Sunga has conducted training for judges, prosecutors and criminal justice personnel in Armenia, Azerbaijan, China, Ethiopia, France, Indonesia, Kenya, Laos, Morocco, The Netherlands, Sweden and Uzbekistan,[12] and lectures, training and capacity building on monitoring, investigation and reporting in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Ethiopia, France, Kenya, Indonesia, Italy, Laos, Morocco, The Netherlands, Russia, Rwanda, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, and Uzbekistan.[13]

In late August 1994, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights José Ayala Lasso called upon Sunga to bolster the UN Security Council's investigations into the massive violations of human rights and International humanitarian law perpetrated during the 1994 Rwandan genocide.[14] He served as Human Rights Officer in the United Nations as a staff member from 1994 to 2001, working mainly on problems relating to serious human rights and humanitarian law violations, genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, terrorism and counter-terrorism,[15] and on practical issues involving war and recovery from post-conflict situations through fact-finding,[16] monitoring, investigation and reporting. Since leaving the UN as a staff member, Sunga has served as expert consultant for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations University, United Nations Development Program,[17] International Labour Organization, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, European Union, Council of Europe, International Development Law Organization, and National Human Rights Commissions in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Nepal, Nigeria, Russia, Turkey and Uganda.[18] In May 2012, he launched a major study on the role of national human rights institutions in federal States which he prepared for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Moscow at a conference with representatives of more than 60 national human rights institutions of the Russian Federation.[18] He is also a former Head of the Rule of Law program at The Hague Institute for Global Justice in the Netherlands,[19] and former Special Advisor on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at the International Development Law Organization in Rome, Italy.[20]

Sunga holds a Bachelor of Arts from Carleton University, a Bachelor of Laws from Osgoode Hall Law School, a Master of Laws in International Human Rights Law from the University of Essex and a Ph.D. in International Law from the Graduate Institute of International Studies. Before joining the Raoul Wallenberg Institute he was a member of the faculty at the University of Hong Kong where he taught classes in law and served as Director of the Master of Laws Program in Human Rights (2001–2005).[21] He has given university courses, lectures, training or conference presentations in approximately 55 countries.[22] Sunga's work has been published in numerous scholarly academic journals and he has authored two influential books on international criminal law.[23] He has given lectures and moderated panels at the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda,[24] the International Criminal Court,[25] the T.M.C. Asser Instituut,[26] the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies[27] and The Hague Institute for Global Justice, among other places.[24]

From 1994 to 2001 Sunga worked for the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, first to investigate facts and responsibilities relating to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda for the UN Security Council's Commission of Experts on Rwanda, to draft the Commission's report recommending the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and then on the establishment and operation of the UN Human Rights Field Operation in Rwanda.[14] He also has practical experience and expertise relating to the International Criminal Court including having served as OHCHR representative to the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court[28] that adopted the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, on terrorism, redress for violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, impunity, the death penalty, human rights defenders, the administration of justice, the role of UN special procedures and human rights NGOs in fact-finding,[29] and on the relation between national truth and reconciliation commissions and criminal prosecutions. In February 2001, he served as Secretary for the Asian Regional Preparatory Conference convened in Tehran, Iran that preceded the World Conference against Racism 2001 in Durban, South Africa.[30]

From September to December 2007 Sunga took leave from the Raoul Wallenberg Institute to act as Geneva-based coordinator of the UN Human Rights Council's Group of Experts on Darfur, mandated to assess the Government of the Sudan's implementation of UN recommendations concerning serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law committed during the war in Darfur.[31]

Sunga has commented on breaking news stories for Voice of America,[32] CNN affiliate N1 in Sarajevo,[33] PBS,[34] China Global Television Network,[19] The Guardian,[35] Indus News,[36] Metro International,[37] Legal Talk Network,[38] Australian Broadcasting Corporation,[39] New Delhi TV,[40] South China Morning Post,[41] RT,[36] Agence France-Presse, TV5 Monde,[42] O Estado de S. Paulo,[43] Estado de Minas,[44] Business Standard,[45] El Periódico de Catalunya,[46] Hindustan Times[47] and others.[36] He also contributed to the discussion of ICTY rulings related to the Srebrenica Massacre, in his review of Yugoslavia: Peace, War, and Dissolution, edited book by Noam Chomsky and Davor Džalto.

Published works[23]

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Books

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  • The Emerging System of International Criminal Law: Developments in Codification and Implementation, Kluwer (1997) 508 p.
  • Individual Responsibility in International Law for Serious Human Rights Violations, Nijhoff (1992) 252 p.

Book sections

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  • Redress for Victims of Terrorist Acts in a Deteriorating International Political Climate, co-authored with Ilaria Bottigliero, in Research Handbook on Int’l Law and Terrorism, (ed. Ben Saul), Elgar Publishers (2020) 479-491.
  • Review of Noam Chomsky, Yugoslavia: Peace, War & Dissolution, Davor Džalto (ed.), PM Press, Oakland, (2018)in 30(3) Philosophy & Society (Filozofija i Društvo) (2019):433-442.
  • Can Human Rights NGOs Be Trusted in the Corridors of the United Nations and International Criminal Justice Institutions?, in Partnerships in International Policy-Making, Palgrave (2017) 107-129.
  • Has the ICC Unfairly Targeted Africa or Has Africa Unfairly Targeted the ICC?, in The ICC in Search of Its Purpose and Identity, Routledge (2015) 147-173.
  • Victims' Redress amidst Terrorism’s Changing Tactics and Strategies, in Research Handbook on Terrorism and International Law, Elgar Publications, (co-authored with Ilaria Bottigliero) (2014) 538-552.
  • Can international criminal investigators and prosecutors afford to ignore information from UN human rights sources? in Bergsmo (ed.) Quality Control in International Fact-Finding (2013) 359-401.
  • The Human Rights Council, in An Institutional Approach to Responsibility to Protect: Cambridge (2013) 156-178.
  • Humanitarian Space in the Arab Spring, in Humanitarian Space: Webster University (2011) 282-320.
  • What Should Be the UN Human Rights Council’s Role in Investigating Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity? in New Challenges for the UN Human Rights Machinery (2011) 319-349.
  • What Makes Democracy Good? in "Making Peoples Heard", Martinus Nijhoff Publishers (2011) 81-98.
  • Does the Concept of 'Human Security' Add Anything of Value to International Legal Theory or Practice? in “Power and Justice in International Relations” Ashgate (2009) 131–146.
  • What Effect If Any Will the UN Human Rights Council Have on Special Procedures? in International Human Rights Monitoring Mechanisms (2nd ed.)(2009)169–183.
  • Ten Principles for Reconciling Truth Commissions and Criminal Prosecutions, in The Legal Regime of the ICC, Brill (2009) 1071–1104.
  • Is Humanitarian Intervention Legal?, on“e-international relations website” 13 October 2008.
  • Dilemmas of NGO Involvement in Coalition-Occupied Iraq, in Bell and Coicaud, Ethics in Action: The Ethical Challenges of International Human Rights Nongovernmental Organizations, United Nations University (2007) 99–116.
  • The Role of Humanitarian Intervention in International Peace and Security: Guarantee or Threat? Int’l Progress Organization & Google Books (2006) 41–79.
  • NGO Involvement in International Human Rights Monitoring, in International Human Rights Law and Non-Governmental Organizations, Bruylant (2005) 41–69.
  • International Criminal Law Protection of Minority Rights, in Skurbaty (ed), Beyond a One-Dimensional State: An Emerging Right to Autonomy? Brill (2004).
  • Independence and Fairness of the ICC, in Study on Major Issues Relating to the International Criminal Court (People's Court Press) (2003) 24–30 (in Putonghua).
  • US Anti-Terrorism Policy and Asia's Options, in Johannen, Smith and Gomez, (eds.) September 11 & Political Freedoms: Asian Perspectives (Select) (2002) 242–264.
  • Full Respect for the Rights of Suspect, Accused and Convict: from Nuremberg and Tokyo to the ICC, in Henzelin and Roth (eds), Le droit pénal à l’épreuve de l’internationalisation, (Bruylant) (2002) 217–239.
  • The Special Procedures of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights: Should They Be Scrapped?, in Alfredsson (ed), International Human Rights Monitoring Mechanisms (Kluwer) (2001) 231–275.
  • A Competência Ratione Materiae da Corte Internacional Criminal: Arts. 5 a 10 Do Estatuto de Roma, in Ambos and Choukr (eds.) Tribunal Penal Internacional (Editora RT) (2000) 191 – 219 (in Portuguese).
  • La Jurisdicción ratione materiae de la Corte Penal Internacional (parte II, arts. 5° a 10°), in Ambos (eds.) El Estatuto de Roma: de la Corte Penal Internacional (Universidad externado de Colombia) (1999) 233–268 (in Spanish).

Law journal articles

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  • Two Years On, Why Hasn't Anyone Been Prosecuted for Domestic Terrorism for the January 6, 2021 Capitol Attack? International Affairs Forum (2023) 50-60.
  • Чи вбʼє війна Росії верховенство права в Україні та Європі?, Verfassungsblog (Dec 2022) (in Ukrainian).
  • Will Russia’s War Kill the Rule of Law in Ukraine and Europe?, Verfassungsblog (Dec 2022).
  • Why Sweden and Finland are right to seek to join NATO, Australian Broadcasting Corp. (July 2022).
  • Can War Crimes Trials in Ukraine Convince Russians to Stop Supporting the War? Opinio Juris (June 2022).
  • How Should UN Standards Guide International Judicial Training in Post-Conflict Situations?: Personal Reflections Twenty Years after the Rwandan genocide, 2 Int’l Org. for Judicial Training (2014).
  • Does Climate Change worsen Resource Scarcity and Cause Violent Ethnic Conflict? 21 International Journal of Minority and Group Rights (2014) 1-24.
  • Commentary on Judgement of the ICTR's Case of Prosecutor v. Zigiranyirazo, 32 Annotated Leading Cases of International Criminal Tribunals (2011) 240-258.
  • Does Climate Change Kill People in Darfur? 2(1) Journal of Human Rights and the Environment (March 2011) 64-85.
  • How Can UN Human Rights Special Procedures Sharpen ICC Fact-Finding? 15(2) The International Journal of Human Rights (2011) 187-204.
  • Introduction to the “Lund Statement to the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Human Rights Special Procedures” 76 Nordic Journal of International Law (2007) 1–20.
  • The Kordic and Cerkez Trial Chamber Judgment: A Comment on the Main Legal Issues 7 Series of Annotated Leading Cases of International Criminal Tribunals (2004) 490–511.
  • The International Community's Recognition of Certain Acts as ‘Crimes under International Law’, International Review of Penal Law (Erès) Proceedings of the International Conference held in Siracusa, Italy, 28 November – 3 December 2002, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of ISISC (2004) 303–315.
  • Can International Humanitarian Law Play an Effective Role in Occupied Iraq? 3 Indian Society of International Law Yearbook of International Humanitarian and Refugee Law (2003) 1–21.
  • Musings on ‘The Future of International Criminal Justice’, (Review Article) 11(2) Asia Pacific Law Review (2003) 217–232.
  • Will the International Criminal Court be Fair and Impartial?, 2 (1) Article 2 (February 2003) 9–20.
  • The Attitude of Asian Countries Towards the International Criminal Court, 2 Indian Society of International Law Yearbook of International Humanitarian and Refugee Law (2002) 18–57.
  • The United Nations System for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights with Special Reference to South Korea and the New National Human Rights Commission, 4 Sang Saeng (Summer 2002) 45–50.
  • The Celebici Case: A Comment on the Main Legal Issues in the ICTY's Trial Chamber Judgement, 13 Leiden Journal of International Law (2000) 105–138.
  • The Crimes within the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court: (Part II, Articles 5 – 10), 6/4 European Journal of Crime, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice (1998) 377–399.
  • The First Indictments of the ICTR, 18 Human Rights Law Journal (1997) 329–340.
  • The Comm’n of Experts on Rwanda and Creation of the ICTR 16 Human Rights Law Journal (1995) 121–124.

Selected reports for the United Nations, European Union, International Development Law Organization and National Human Rights Institutions

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References

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  1. ^ a b John Cabot University (2019-09-26). "Championing Human Rights: Meet Professor Lyal S. Sunga". John Cabot University News. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  2. ^ a b "Lyal S. Sunga". The Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. 2016-05-13. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  3. ^ "The American University of Rome appoints acclaimed Human Rights expert Dr. Lyal S. Sunga". The American University of Rome. 2017-10-06. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  4. ^ "Strathmore University School of Law".
  5. ^ a b "University Teaching and Curricular Development". Lyal S. Sunga. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  6. ^ "University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law" (PDF).
  7. ^ "VIII Международная летняя школа Права человека для новых поколений \Международная деятельность - Казанский (Приволжский) федеральный университет". kpfu.ru. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  8. ^ "Лаял С. Санга". VII Летняя школа по правам человека (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  9. ^ Lyal Sunga (2017-11-19). 2017 June 29 Interview of Lyal S Sunga at Ural State Law University in Yekaterinburg Russia. Retrieved 2024-06-09 – via YouTube.
  10. ^ "V Summer School on Human Rights (2017)". riuc.ru. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  11. ^ "International Training and Capacity Building". Lyal S. Sunga. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  12. ^ "Judicial Training and Training of Prosecutors". Lyal S. Sunga. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
  13. ^ "Monitoring, Investigation and Reporting". Lyal S. Sunga. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
  14. ^ a b "ICTR". voicesofthetribunal.org. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  15. ^ "Can international law meet the challenges of today's lawless conflicts?". The Guardian. 2015-11-14. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  16. ^ "Dr. Lyal S. Sunga - How Can UN Human Rights Fact-Finding Sharpen Intl Criminal Prosecutions".
  17. ^ "Professor Lyal S. Sunga Is Lead Expert for Major UN Report, 8 November 2021".
  18. ^ a b "National Human Rights Institutions". Lyal S. Sunga. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  19. ^ a b Lyal Sunga (2022-02-16). 2015 Oct 10 Lyal Sunga Comment on US Bombing of Kunduz Hospital for China Central Television (CCTV). Retrieved 2024-06-09 – via YouTube.
  20. ^ "A Critical Appraisal of Laws Relating to Sexual Offences in Bangladesh". IDLO - International Development Law Organization. 2017-10-16. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  21. ^ "The University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law's Master of Laws in Human Rights Programme Details" (PDF).
  22. ^ "Experience". Lyal S. Sunga. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  23. ^ a b "Publications of Lyal S. Sunga in PDF". Lyal S. Sunga. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  24. ^ a b "Expert Panels / Workshops / Seminars". Lyal S. Sunga. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  25. ^ Sunga, Lyal (15 January 2016). "Dr. Lyal S. Sunga - How Can UN Human Rights Fact-Finding Sharpen Intl Criminal Prosecutions Guest lecture".
  26. ^ "Videos on LACT". www.asser.nl. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  27. ^ Geneva Graduate Institute (2016-06-16). Accountability as a Common Goal: Dialogue between the ICC Prosecutor and Human Rights Actors. Retrieved 2024-06-09 – via YouTube.
  28. ^ "List of Delegations to the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court" (PDF).
  29. ^ "How can UN human rights special procedures sharpen ICC fact-finding?" (PDF).
  30. ^ "Newsletter of the World Conference against Racism Secretariat" (PDF). December 2000.
  31. ^ "United Nations Group of Experts on Darfur Presents its Final Report to the Human Rights Council". December 2009.
  32. ^ Straight Talk Africa. 2016-04-13. Retrieved 2024-06-09 – via www.voaafrica.com.
  33. ^ "lyal sunga najnovije vijesti". N1 (in Bosnian). 2019-07-03. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  34. ^ "ISIS Victims Find Maze of Challenges in Appeals for Justice". FRONTLINE. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  35. ^ Sunga, Lyal S. (2016-01-15). "My journey back to Rwanda: confronting the ghosts of the genocide 21 years later". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  36. ^ a b c "Media Interviews and Commentary". Lyal S. Sunga. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  37. ^ "4 preguntas a Lyal S. Sunga (4 questions to Lyal S. Sunga) Interview on Italian elections scenario in Metro News International (in Spanish) 12 August 2019".
  38. ^ "The Paris Attacks, Terrorism, and International Law". Legal Talk Network. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  39. ^ "Sweden's accession to NATO is both justified and urgent". ABC Religion & Ethics. 2022-07-20. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  40. ^ Lyal Sunga (2019-07-19). 2019 July 17 NDTV Lyal S Sunga on Jadhav ICJ Case India v Pakistan Spying Terrorism Death Penalty. Retrieved 2024-06-09 – via YouTube.
  41. ^ "School's in for new rights champions". South China Morning Post. 2002-06-21. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  42. ^ "VIDÉO. Burundi, Afrique du Sud, Gambie… La Cour pénale internationale navigue en eaux troubles | TV5MONDE - Informations". information.tv5monde.com (in French). 2016-10-28. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  43. ^ Sunga, Lyal (7 April 2019). "25 anos depois (25 years later) - Interview of Lyal S. Sunga on 1994 UN investigations into Rwandan Genocide, in O Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper, Brazil (in Portuguese) 7 April 2019".
  44. ^ Minas, Estado de (2019-04-07). "'Vi um dos piores crimes do mundo'". Estado de Minas (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  45. ^ "Marshalls Island to open nuclear arms battle at top UN court against India, Pakistan and UK, Business Standard, 5 March 2016". 5 March 2016.
  46. ^ Gasparini, Juan (23 May 2000). "Comment in "Garzón reclama por segunda vez la detencíon de 47 militares y un civil en Argentina", El Periodico, Spain, May 2000".
  47. ^ "Marshall Islands to open nuclear arms battle against India, Pak and UK". 5 March 2016.