DÉOGRATIAS NIYONZIMA, Member of the Executive Committee, Arusha Peace Agreement for Burundi, under United Nations’ authority, 2000–2005 Currently a teacher at Oak Ridge Military Academy in Greensboro, N.C., Niyonzima has served as a professional interpreter, assisting refugees from various African countries, as a Latin and French Teacher at Co-vina School in Nairobi, Kenya, Africa, and as Principal of High School in Bujumbura, Burundi. As a Member of the Executive Committee for Arusha Peace Agreement for Burundi, he assisted with implementing and monitoring the peace process under the authority of the Special Repre-sentative of the General Secretary of the United Nations in Burundi. He holds a Masters in Theology from West African Catholic University, Ivory Coast, and a Bachelors Degree in Theology from Catholic University of Kinshasa, D.R. Congo.

TAFADZWA PASIPANODYA, International Litigation and Arbitration, Foley Hoag LLP, Washington, D.C.Pasipanodya’s legal and policy work relates to international disputes, human rights, natural resources, health, and development strategies. She has advised sovereign States in disputes before international fora such as arbitral tribunals and the International Court of Justice (ICJ), as well as in proceedings before U.S. courts. She advises multinational corporations on the integration of human rights, labor and environmental standards into their management systems. She has worked with non-profit organizations, governments and the U.N. on the prosecution of alleged genocidaires in Rwanda; natural resources and conflict in Angola; caste discrimina-tion in Nepal and India; U.S.-Africa policy; Roma and prisoner health in Romania; and post-conflict reconstruction in Sri Lanka. She holds a J.D. from New York University, and M.P.A. from Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of International and Public Affairs, and a B.A. from Macalester College.

WILLIAM PETERS, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice, SUNY PlattsburghPeters has litigated more than 50 felony level cases in the U.S. and over-seas, serving in positions as chief prosecutor and senior defense counsel. He served as assistant professor, course director of international law, and deputy director of the Law of Armed Conflict Center at the United States Military Academy, West Point. In the 1990s, he deployed as legal advisor to military commands frequently, twice for UN relief missions in the Sub-Saharan failed state of Somalia. He holds an LL.M. in Interna-tional Law, the University of Virginia School of Law, an LL.M. in Military Law, the Judge Advocate General’s School, a J.D. (with honors), Northern Illinois University, and an A.B. in Political Science and Russian Studies, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

THOMAS PORTER, Professor of History, North Carolina A&T State UniversityPorter has published dozens of scholarly articles about Russian political, military, and cultural history, including: “Patterns of Economic Reform in Modern Russian History,” in The Geography of Russia, J. Quam ed., College of DuPage Press, forthcoming; “The Zemstvo in Late Imperial Russia: Social and Political Change in the Countryside,” in Russian and Soviet History, S. Usitalo and W. Whisenhunt, eds., Rowman & Littlefield, 2008; and “The Reconstruction of Russian National Identity After the Collapse of the Soviet Union,” The Journal of the North Carolina Association of Historians, Vol. 13, April 2006.

STEVEN O. SABOL, Associate Professor of History, The University of North Carolina at CharlotteSabol (Ph.D., Georgia State University) is the author of Russian Coloniza-tion and the Genesis of Kazak National Consciousness (Palgrave-Macmillian, 2003) and is currently completing the book, ‘The Touch of Civilization’: Comparing American and Russian Colonization of the Sioux and Kazakhs. He has published numerous scholarly articles and book chapters in his areas of interest, including Central Asian and Russian History, First World War, Nationalism and National Identity, Soviet and Post-Soviet Nationalities Policy, Imperialism and Colonialism, and American West. He is co-editing a book in the Russia’s Great War and Revolution series and another called North Carolina During the First World War, 1914–1922.

HEATHER SCAVONE, Clinical Practitioner in Residence, Humanitarian Immigration Law Clinic, Elon University School of LawPrior to joining Elon in 2010, Scavone directed the statewide Immigra-tion Legal Services program of Lutheran Family Services in the Caroli-nas, which provided representation to hundreds of refugees and political asylees each year. She chaired the North Carolina State Refugee Office’s Immigration Committee from 2005–2011. During its first semester of operation, Spring 2011, Elon Law students under supervision of Scavone and other faculty, represented clients in more than 270 federal immigra-tion cases. She is a cum laude graduate of North Carolina Central Univer-sity School of Law, where she earned a J.D., and from Guilford College, where she earned a B.A. in French.

GARY D. SOLIS, Professorial Lecturer in Law, The George Washington University Law School, Adjunct Professor of Law, Georgetown Law Solis is a graduate of San Diego State College (B.A.), the University of California at Davis (J.D.), The George Washington University Law School (LL.M.), and The London School of Economics & Political Science (Ph.D.). He served 26 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, including tours of duty in Vietnam, where he was a company commander. He has served as a Marine judge advocate and military judge, and as a member of the law faculty of The London School of Economics and the U.S. Military Academy’s Department of Law. For six years he headed West Point’s law of war program. His books are Marines and Military Law in Vietnam; Son Thang: an American War Crime; and The Law of Armed Conflict.

JESSICA YAÑEZ, Chapman Law Firm, Greensboro, N.C.An attorney specializing in immigration law, Yañez handles removal- defense cases, family-based cases, VAWA (Violence Against Women), U visa cases, and derivative citizenship cases. She graduated cum laude from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a B.A. in Spanish. She obtained her J.D. from Elon University School of Law, where she served for two years on the North Carolina Pattern Jury Instruction Committee. She also was a member of the Moot Court team, as well as a case project manager for the Innocence Project.

SPONSORED BY THE FOLLOWING SCHOOLS, DEPARTMENTS, PROGRAMS AND ORGANIZATIONS OF ELON UNIVERSITY:

School of Law, the College of Arts and Sciences, Phi Beta Kappa, the Departments of History & Geography, Political Science, Black History Month, and the Programs in German Studies, International Studies, Law & Humanities, and Prelaw.

Conference on International Law: War Crimes, Human Rights,

and Immigration

Saturday, February 25, 2012

www.law.elon.edui

8:00–8:30 a.m. REGISTRATION | Continental Breakfast Buffet

WELCOMING REMARKS: DAVID CROWE, Professor of Legal History, Elon Law, and Professor of History, Elon University, and CATHERINE DUNHAM, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law, Elon University School of Law

8:30–10:00 a.m. PANEL ONE: Human Rights and Asylum in Today’s WorldChair: HELEN GRANT, Professor of Law and Faculty Director, Humanitarian Immigration Law Clinic, Elon University School of Law

“From Asylum to VAWA: How U.S. Immigration Laws Can Protect Victims of Domestic Violence” JESSICA YAÑEZ, Chapman Law Firm, Greensboro, N.C.

“Justice for Asylum Seekers in the US: Protecting the Most Vulnerable Among Us” HEATHER SCAVONE, Clinical Practitioner in Residence, Humanitarian Immigration Law Clinic, Elon University School of Law

“My Role in Combating Human Rights Abuses in Burundi” DÉOGRATIAS NIYONZIMA, Member of the Executive Committee, Arusha Peace Agreement for Burundi, under United Nations’ Authority, 2000–2005

10:00–10:30 a.m. COFFEE BREAK

10:30–12:00 p.m. PANEL TWO: Human Rights, Corruption, and PovertyChair: AMY JOHNSON, Assistant Professor of History and General Studies, Elon University

“Will the Poor Always Be With Us? How to Give Meaning to Economic and Social Rights” TAFADZWA PASIPANODYA, International Litigation and Arbitration, Foley Hoag LLP, Washington, D.C.

“Of Thieves and Repressors: The Relationship Between Public Corruption and Human Rights Violations” DAVID FUHR, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Washington, D.C.

“Progressive Islam and Its Role in Women’s Rights in Modern Moroccan Society” JESSICA FALKNER, Stetson University College of Law

12:15–1:45 p.m. LUNCH Speaker: RAFAEL MARQUES DE MORAIS, Director, Maka Angola, and Visiting Scholar, African Studies Department,

Johns Hopkins University

“Diamond Extraction and Crimes Against Humanity in Northeast Angola”2:00–3:30 p.m. PANEL THREE: War and the Question of Command Responsibility

Chair: STEVEN O. SABOL, Associate Professor of History, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte

“Losing Medina: Evolution of the Legal Standard for Conviction on the Basis of ‘Command Responsibility’ ” GARY D. SOLIS, Professorial Lecturer in Law, The George Washington University Law School, Adjunct Professor of Law, Georgetown Law

“Command Responsibility in the West German Operation Reinhard Trials” MICHAEL BRYANT, Associate Professor of History and Social Sciences, Bryant University

“Article 37 and Command Responsibility for War Crimes—Unlawful Command Influence as (Rogue) Elephant in the Room” WILLIAM PETERS, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice, SUNY Plattsburgh

3:30–4:00 p.m. COFFEE BREAK

4:00–5:30 p.m. PANEL FOUR: The Global Dimension of War Crimes and Genocide Chair: DION FARGANIS, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Elon University

“Hitler’s Rassenkampf in the East: The Fate of Soviet POWs” THOMAS PORTER, Professor of History, North Carolina A&T State University

“Was Srebrenica Genocide?” RYAN ASH, Blackburn, Conte, Schilling & Click, P.C.

“Testing the Law: Sri Lankan War Crimes” ELIZABETH LEMAN, Elon University Lumen Scholar

5:30–5:45 p.m. CLOSING REMARKS

RYAN ASH, Blackburn, Conte, Schilling & Click, P.C., Richmond, VAAsh was raised in Richmond, Virginia and educated at Hampden-Sydney College (Bachelor of Arts–History) and Elon University School of Law (Juris Doctorate). He has a civil and criminal litigation practice in all regional courts. He is currently a member of the Virginia State Bar.

MICHAEL BRYANT, Associate Professor of History and Social Sciences, Bryant UniversityBryant earned a Ph.D. and M.A. in Modern European History at The Ohio State University, an M. T. S. and J.D. at Emory University, and a B.A. in English Literature cum laude at The Ohio State University. He has served as Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at University of Toledo, Visiting Professor of History at The Ohio State University, and Assistant Staff Judge Advocate, United States Air Force. He has published dozens of scholarly articles in the following areas: Critical Theory, Ethics, German History, History of Law, History of the Holocaust, Human Rights, International Humanitarian Law, Law and Society, Modern European History, and World History.

DAVID CROWE, Professor of Legal History, Elon Law, Professor of History, Elon University Crowe (Ph.D., The University of Georgia) is the recipient of the South-ern Conference on Slavic Studies’ 2010 Richard Stites Senior Scholar Award and Elon’s Distinguished Scholar Award. He has authored numer-ous books, including, ‘May Justice be Done!’: Soviet Legal Traditions and the Nuremberg IMT Trial (University of Pittsburgh Press, forthcoming 2013), War Crimes, Genocide, and Justice: A Global History (Palgrave Macmillan, forthcoming 2012), and Crimes of State, Past and Present: Government- Sponsored Atrocities and International Legal Responses (Routledge, 2010). He is President Emeritus and chairman of the Advisory Board of the Association for the Study of Nationalities (ASN) at Columbia University.

CATHERINE DUNHAM, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law, Elon University School of LawDunham came to Elon from The University of Virginia School of Law, where she compiled and analyzed research exploring social psychology and legal education. Her scholarship includes works examining aspects of procedural law, advocacy and gender equality. She serves on the faculty of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy. She is the recipient of the American Bar Association’s E. Smythe Gambrell Award for teaching professionalism. Dunham earned a B.A. and M.A. from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a J.D. from Campbell University, and an LL.M. from The University of Virginia.

JESSICA FALKNER, Stetson University College of LawCurrently a law student at Stetson University in St. Petersburg, Florida, Falkner graduated from Elon University in 2008 with a degree in Inter-national Studies. She then served in the Peace Corps for two years, as Rural Community Health Volunteer in Morocco.

DION FARGANIS, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Elon UniversityFarganis (Ph.D., University of Minnesota and B.A., Vassar College) focuses his current primary research around Supreme Court confirmation hear-ings. He co-developed a method for assessing how forthcoming nominees are during their hearings, a first-of-its-kind technique for assessing nomi-nee candor, which has earned national media attention in outlets such as the New York Times, Congressional Quarterly, National Public Radio, and PBS NewsHour. His findings have been published in Law & Society Review and Hofstra Law Review. He is co-authoring a book on this subject as well. His other research involves the relationship between the Supreme Court and public opinion.

DAVID FUHR, International Litigation, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Washington, D.C.Fuhr (J.D., Duke University School of Law, B.A. in Political Science, Elon University) focuses his law practice primarily on international white collar litigation matters, in particular compliance investigations of multinational corporations alleged to have violated foreign corrupt practices laws. He has written on issues of public international law. His pro bono practice includes the successful representation of individuals in asylum hearings. He has worked on international security policy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. and on criminal law reform with the Sierra Leone Special Court.

HELEN GRANT, Professor of Law and Faculty Director, Humanitarian Immigration Law Clinic, Elon University School of LawGrant joined the Elon Law faculty from the Indiana University Law School-Indianapolis. Previously, she served as Petrilli Distinguished Visit-ing Chair on the faculty of the University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law. A native of Australia, Grant earned a B.A. and LL.M. at Queensland University of Technology and a Ph.D. at University of Queensland. She was the presiding legal member of the Mental Health Review Tribunal in Brisbane, and also spent two years as a legal officer in the Office of the Special Prosecutor in Brisbane, investigating cases of official corruption and prosecuting government officials.

AMY JOHNSON, Assistant Professor of History and General Studies, Elon UniversityJohnson’s areas of research are Pre-colonial West African History, the Atlantic Slave Trade, Early Colonial Caribbean History, and Slavery and Resistance. She received her B.A. in Spanish and African Diasporic Studies from Tufts University, and her Master’s and Doctoral degree in History from Duke University. She holds a certificate in African and African American studies from Duke University. She has served as As-sistant Professor of Africana History at Saint Augustine’s College and Visiting Professor, Department of African and African American Studies, at Duke University.

ELIZABETH LEMAN, member, AmeriCorps Emergency Response Team, St. Louis, MOLeman is a magna cum laude graduate of Elon University, with a B.A. in History & International Studies. An Honors Fellow and Lumen Scholar at Elon, she wrote an Honors thesis on international humanitarian law at Nuremberg, Rwanda, and Sri Lanka. Her senior capstone research focused on the importance of the media versus politics in the outbreak of ethnic conflict. She has studied, interned and contributed to conferences in Germany, India, Morocco, Sri Lanka, and Scotland.

RAFAEL MARQUES DE MORAIS, Director, Maka Angola, and a Visiting Scholar, African Studies Department, Johns Hopkins University Marques de Morais is an Angolan journalist and writer with an interest in Angola’s political economy and human rights. In 2000 he won the Percy Qoboza Award for Outstanding Courage from the National Association of Black Journalists (U.S.). In 2006, he received the Civil Courage Prize, from the Train Foundation (U.S.) for his human rights activities. He has published reports on human rights abuses in the diamond trade in Angola, including “Harvesting Hunger in Angola’s Diamond Fields” (2008), “Operation Kissonde: The Diamonds of Misery and Humiliation” (2006), and “Lundas: The Stones of Death” (2005), co-authored with Rui F. Campos. He holds a M.S. in African Studies from the University of Oxford, and a B.A. in Anthropology and Media from Goldsmiths, University of London.

Program Participants