a project within the armed conflict workstream of the Human Rights for Future Generations Programme
The HRFG and the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict (ELAC) hosted a two day transatlantic workshop with the International Committee of the Red Cross, titled "Symmetries: International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law". The final report is now available. The purpose of this workshop was to generate trans-Atlantic dialogue relating to the applicability of human rights law in time of armed conflict between academics and government officials.
Chaired by Dapo Akande, Co-Director of ELAC and HRFG, the workshop was attended by leading academic lawyers, government officials (from the UK Foreign Office, US State Department and the US Defence Department) and by the International Committee of the Red Cross. Attendees also included senior military lawyers (serving and retired) from UK Army & Navy, the US Army, and Canadian Armed forces, including the current chief of international law in the British Army, the current chief of international law in the US army and a former head of the legal division of the Canadian Army. For each session, one person from the UK and one person from the US prepared a short briefing paper. Topics covered in the workshop include classification of conflicts, targeting the use of force, detention, joint military operations and new military technologies.
