Sep 30

WHEN:

Sep 30th 11:00am - Sep 30th 12:00pm

U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom

USCIRF Conversation: Accountability for Crimes Against Humanity

Thursday, September 30, 2021
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM ET
Virtual Event

Please join the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for a virtual event exploring opportunities for justice of crimes against humanity.

Governments and non-state actors continue to commit crimes against humanity and other mass atrocities that target religious communities, including Afghanistan, Burma, China, Iraq, and Syria. USCIRF recently held a hearing on Ending Genocide – Accountability for Perpetrators that highlighted specific accountability gaps that make obtaining justice for crimes against humanity particularly elusive. Unlike genocide and war crimes, crimes against humanity are not codified in an international treaty. In addition, there is not a statute in the United States that enables prosecution or immigration consequences for these heinous crimes. This event will highlight ongoing initiatives to promote greater accountability for perpetrators by enacting a U.S. statute and international treaty for crimes against humanity and provide recommendations for how the U.S. government can further promote accountability and prevent mass atrocities.

The discussion will feature USCIRF Chair Nadine Maenza and Commissioner Khizr Khan as well as experts from American Bar Association Center for Human Rights Working Group on Crimes against Humanity Ambassador David Scheffer and Professor Leila Sadat. The event will be moderated by USCIRF Commissioner Anurima Bhargava, followed by questions and answers from attendees. 

Panelists

  • Nadine Maenza, Chair, USCIRF
  • Khizr Khan, Commissioner, USCIRF
  • Ambassador David Scheffer, Northwestern Law School; former Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues, U.S. Department of State
  • Professor Leila Sadat, Special Advisor on Crimes Against Humanity to the International Criminal Court Prosecutor; James Carr Professor of International Criminal Law at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Law; former Commissioner, USCIRF

Moderator

  • Anurima Bhargava, Commissioner, USCIRF

 

This virtual event is open to the public and media. The video recording will be posted on the Commission website. For any additional questions, please contact [email protected].