Call for Papers: Human Rights and the ‘Forever War’—Columbia HRLR Symposium

 

Human Rights and the ‘Forever War’

The Columbia Human Rights Law Review (HRLR), in collaboration with the Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute (HRI), is publishing a symposium edition about the relationship between the U.S. ‘War on Terror’, sometimes referred to as the ‘Forever War,’ and human rights law. We invite proposals on topics of your own framing consistent with the symposium’s general purpose of advancing scholarship and critical analysis regarding human rights law and its relationship with international humanitarian law and jus ad bellum during and after the ‘Forever War.’

The following are suggestions for possible themes and issues:

1) To what extent have practices, policies, and legal interpretations of the United States and partner countries associated with the ‘Forever War’ affected the content, structure, or scope of application of human rights law? Where have human rights been strengthened, and where weakened or displaced?  Have U.S. and partner country abuses during counter-terrorism and military operations—practices such as torture, extraordinary rendition, indefinite detention, mass surveillance, and unlawful killings—changed the landscape of human rights law, including its relationship with international humanitarian law?   Has the ‘War on Terror’ led to positive developments in human rights law, such as best practices or new jurisprudence?  What effects might the U.S. ‘War on Terror’ have on human rights law for the foreseeable future?

2) How are legal developments in international humanitarian law, the jus ad bellum, and human rights law interacting in the context of the ‘Forever War’? Are old categories bleeding into each other or evolving in new ways?  

3) How might a pre-war legal landscape be restored, and should it be? How can long-fought-for human rights protections best be maintained during and after current counter-terrorism approaches and armed conflicts?

4) What are the prospects for accountability and compensation for human rights abuses and/or international humanitarian law violations in the ‘War on Terror’? What are the legal and policy underpinnings of accountability and compensation mechanisms, and what should they look like?

5) What are the international impacts of U.S. actions? How are other countries reacting to U.S. actions and policies? To what extent have U.S. ‘war’-related policies and legal interpretations relating to torture, rendition, targeted killings, or mass surveillance influenced international relations, including state-to-state relations?

Proposed papers may address these issues at a general level or in application in a specific context. The symposium issue has both scholarly and practical objectives. We are seeking articles that examine both the short-term and long-term challenges that arise from the relationship between the ‘Forever War’ and human rights law, and are particularly interested in papers that seek to strengthen the role of human rights law in institutions and policy decisions worldwide. Our target audience includes legal academics, NGOs, and government lawyers and policy makers. We invite papers from both scholars and practitioners, and encourage submissions from outside the United States.

Submission Instructions and Deadlines:

Individuals interested in publishing should submit a prospectus summary of no more than 1000 words describing the paper’s proposed topic, themes, and research methodologies by no later than April 20, 2015. The HRLR, in coordination with HRI, will then select 4–6 papers for presumption of publication. Please submit abstracts to <[email protected]> under the subject line "HRLR Symposium Abstract."

We anticipate review of several interim drafts over the summer of 2015. As a reference, HRLR submissions generally range from 10,000 to 30,000 words. There may be an opportunity to present papers at Columbia Law School in the fall of 2015. Any major edits to your article must be completed and submitted by October 26, 2015. The article will then undergo our editing process, with anticipated publication in April 2016. 

 

About the Columbia Human Rights Law Review

The Columbia Human Rights Law Review seeks to publish and distribute legal analysis and discussion of civil liberties and human rights under both international and domestic law. The HRLR believes that thoughtful discussion of human rights issues and broad dissemination of information about legal remedies for human rights violations promote human rights around the world.

To this end, the HRLR has published a law review of scholarly articles and commentary covering domestic and international human rights issues since 1968. Due to the journal's expansive view of human rights, HRLR articles cover a wide range of topics and are considered a valuable resource for academics and practitioners alike. In addition, the HRLR enjoys a wide circulation-our subscribers are individuals, institutions, human rights organizations, and libraries in over forty countries. By virtue of the breadth of HRLR articles, and the wide audience that is reached, the Human Rights Law Review has a profound impact on the field of human rights.

 

About the Human Rights Institute

The Human Rights Institute sits at the heart of human rights teaching, practice, and scholarship at Columbia Law School. Founded in 1998 by the late Professor Louis Henkin, the Institute draws on the Law School’s deep human rights tradition to support and influence human rights practice in the United States and throughout the world. The activities of the Human Rights Clinic are included in the Institute’s work, enabling us to multiply our impact on the field and engage students more fully in our efforts.

Over the years, the Institute has deepened its expertise along three primary axes: (i) Human Rights in the United States, (ii) Counterterrorism, Armed Conflict, and Human Rights and (iii) Human Rights and the Global Economy.  Our U.S.-oriented work builds upon Louis Henkin’s commitment that human rights must be honored at home, not simply abroad. Our counterterrorism and armed conflict work seeks to ensure that basic rule of law protections are honored in the search for domestic and global security.  And our global economic work seeks to ensure that the benefits of natural resources are justly shared by all. We have developed distinct approaches to work in each area, building bridges between scholarship and activism, developing capacity within the legal community, engaging governments, and modeling new strategies for progress.  Our tools vary according to circumstances, and include expert meetings, clinical projects, scholarship, teaching, expert reports, and collaborations with a wide range of individuals and advocacy groups.