International Humanitarian Law campaign launches

10/30/2016 11:00 AM

Given the global, national and human security implications of the world’s refugee crisis, it is imperative to raise awareness of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) as it applies to refugees. This is the primary focus of Bradley’s 2016-17 IHL Campaign directed by the campus International Affairs Organization.

The campaign directors chose to emphasize the Syrian case, given the urgency, geopolitical importance, and controversy of the crisis and the millions of refugees it has generated. It kicked off on November 1 with a presentation by Qutaiba Idlbi. Mr. Idlbi is co-founder and Operating Manager of People Demand Change. He also was the research assistant to the Director of Refugee Services at the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, an associate with Caerus Associates, focusing on governance and security developments in Syria, and the associate producer for the “Red Lines” documentary with Spark Media. Qutaiba is a native of Damascus. He was in Syria at the outbreak of protests in March 2011, detained twice by Syrian internal security services, and was eventually forced to leave the country.

Idlbi discussed the peaceful democracy protests in Syria beginning in 2011 in response to the Arab Spring movement, the Assad regime’s subsequent violent crackdown on the protests, and the evolution of the conflict into violence, civil war, and the rise of ISIS. He drew on his personal experience as a democracy protester who was twice detained and tortured by the Assad regime, and also analyzed the role of Russia in the conflict as well as the ensuing refugee crisis.

The lecture was co-sponsored by the Institute, Bradley’s Muslim Student Association and the Bradley Center for Legal Studies. In subsequent IHL programming, the IAO executive board arranged for student training by the Central Illinois Chapter of the American Red Cross on International Humanitarian Law pertaining to refugee rights. These students then conducted training of other interested Bradley students, who in turn made presentations to educate Bradley and ICC classes, area high schools, the Peoria Area World Affairs Council, and the Center for Prevention of Abuse.