Education
The Crimes of War Project believes that teaching people about international humanitarian law is the first step towards promoting peaceful resolution of conflict, limiting the scope of war crimes, and punishing those responsible for them. We have developed an education program to promote the teaching of the rules of war to key audiences including professional journalists, university students in journalism, human rights and political science, and high school students.
Journalist Training
A basic understanding of the legal principles that apply in armed conflict and that form the basis of war crimes trials is an essential tool for journalists working in these areas. Drawing on our expertise in journalism and international law, the Crimes of War Project conducts training workshops to help journalists report on war crimes and war crimes trials more effectively.
Since launching our training program, we have held workshops in locations as diverse as the United States, the United Kingdom, Jordan, the Philippines and Indonesia. Sessions have ranged in duration between three hours and two days. Workshops are conducted either directly with media companies or in conjunction with other organizations such as the Reuters Foundation, Internews, Institute for War and Peace Reporting, the Medill School of Journalism, the Cox Center for Journalism and Mass Communications, AKE and the Middle Eastern broadcaster AmmanNet.
The workshops are based around a specially developed training module and are conducted according to the principle underlying all our work: to introduce the main points of the laws of armed conflict through specific incidents or situations that individuals working in conflict zones are likely to encounter. Our educational programs can be tailored to the specific requirements of the journalists involved – ranging from a general introduction to the law, to workshops concentrating on particular issues such as covering terrorism or war crimes trials.
Afghanistan Project
The Crimes of War Project has worked with the independent Afghan media organization The Killid Group to train Afghan journalists in reporting on war crimes, human rights abuses and war crimes trials. Further details about this project are available on the dedicated Afghan training project pages of this website.
High School Education
Human Rights Education Associates: Educator's Guide to Crimes of War
The Crimes of War high school education initiative introduces the important subject of war crimes into the classroom. The Project hopes to provide learners with a base of knowledge so they can participate more fully in the discussion and be better informed consumers of the news by creating reference points for monitoring the watchdogs and governments. To implement our initiative, representatives of the Project enter high school classrooms as guest speakers and present standard-based lessons. Lessons follow national social studies standards that assume at the high school level, students are able to think systematically about personal, national and global decisions, interactions and consequences, including addressing critical issues such as peace, human rights, trade and global ecology.
If you are interested in finding out further information about the training offered by the Crimes of War Project, please contact Marika Theros in our Washington DC office on +1 202 638 0230 or [email protected]
To find out more about the high school education initiative, please call +1 202 638 0230 or [email protected] |