International Justice Lab Fellows Published Articles in Foreign Policy and Washington Post
On March 4, 2022, Foreign Policy published an article written by International Justice Lab (IJL) Fellows Zoha Siddiqui ‘23, Nathan Liu ‘22, Daniel Posthumus ‘24, and Government Professor Kelebogile Zvobgo on the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into the war in Ukraine. Professor Zvobgo is the founder and director of the International Justice Lab at the Global Research Institute.
In the two months since, each student has published an article with Professor Zvobgo. Liu co-authored an article in the Outlook section of The Washington Post on the overlapping, yet still distinct, mandates and jurisdictions of the ICC, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), as they each seek to hold Russian personnel accountable for serious abuses in Ukraine. Posthumus coauthored an analysis of the ICJ’s ruling that Russia must cease military operations in Ukraine in The Monkey Cage section of the Washington Post. Siddiqui coauthored a piece on Russia’s expulsion from the Council of Europe and likely consequences for cases at the ECtHR, also in The Monkey Cage. The team of four has since come together to coauthor a forthcoming essay for Smerconish.com on the importance of Ukraine also prosecuting war crimes cases, even with these international developments.
Siddiqui explains the most difficult part of the publishing process for her. Writing a piece about an ongoing conflict can be challenging, she says, due to how much can change within a few days. “In writing about the Council of Europe…there were amendments released by the Council on its decision to expel Russia just a day or two after we finished the first draft of our piece.”
Liu describes being grateful to Professor Zvobgo and the Global Research Institute for the opportunities to publish his writing. “I know that such advocacy on behalf of students does not happen everywhere,” Liu said. He also describes the most challenging aspect of the publishing process: the back-and-forth conversation with the editors. “Don't take me the wrong way, working with the editors was not frustrating or unpleasant. But the editors certainly had a different perspective on what the angle of the piece should be. Did you know that we, the authors, don't choose the title of our article? Relinquishing that control is challenging.”
Congratulations to all the students and Professor Zvobgo on their incredible achievement!
