On Thursday 22nd August, UN House Masters Placement Intern Jana Riemslagh hosted a seminar entitled 'The Illegality of Nuclear Weapons: Humanitarian Law and Human Rights' at 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh.
Jana presented her Masters dissertation on how humanitarian law addresses the threat posed by nuclear weapons to human rights. She surveyed the current content of international humanitarian law as it intends to construct the use of nuclear weapons as a violation of human rights, the interpretative nature of this law and its limitations. She argued that legislation which explicitly outlined nuclear warfare as a violation of human rights would help to better protect human rights and solidify opportunities for recourse.
A question and answer period and thoughtful discussion followed.
Jana's presentation is available to download here.