War Crimes Research Office

The War Crimes Research Office, Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, and Women and the Law Program are thrilled to partner with UN Women on the “Documenting Good Practice on Accountability for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in Guatemala” Project.

The War Crimes Research Office (WCRO) and Ferencz International Justice Initiative of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum will host a screening of The Prosecutors on March 20, 2019 at 12:00 PM at American University Washington College of Law. The film follows the lives of three prosecutors in Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Bosnia and Herzegovina who have dedicated their lives to prosecuting perpetrators of sexual violence in conflict. The event will feature introductions by WCRO Director Susana SáCouto and the film’s director, Leslie Thomas, followed by a screening of the film. Kelley Currie, head of the Office of Global Criminal Justice at the U.S. Department of State, will offer reflections following the film. Leslie Thomas, Professor SáCouto, and Ferencz Initiative Director Anna Cave will then take questions from the audience. This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Please RSVP at https://www.wcl.american.edu/secle/registration

As part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign, the Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law and the War Crimes Research Office of American University Washington College of Law reaffirm their commitment to end impunity for sexual violence in conflict and other situations of violence in Latin America.

On April 4, 2018, the WCRO and Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law hosted the launch of Professor Diane Orentlicher's new book, "Some Kind of Justice: The ICTY's Impact on Bosnia and Serbia," featuring a panel discussion with moderated by NPR's Tom Gjelten with Professor Orentlicher, Ivana Cvetkovic Bajrovic of the National Endowment for Democracy, and Dapo Akande of the University of Oxford.

War Crimes Research Office (WCRO) Director Susana SáCouto was honored as part of the Women's Initiatives for Gender Justice's unveiling of the Gender Justice Legacy Wall at an event that coincided with the 16th Annual Assembly of States Parties meeting in New York.

In March 2016, the WCRO hosted a conference on Prosecuting Serious International Crimes: Exploring the Intersections between International and Domestic Justice Efforts in celebration of its 20th anniversary to was to broaden the conversation about effective accountability mechanisms between the transitional justice and rule of law communities.

On February 1, 2012, the War Crimes Research Office and the Women and International Law Program co-hosted a conference with the Embassy of The Netherlands on the challenges faced by women in conflict and post-conflict situations.

This two-day conference brought together experts in international criminal law and feminist jurisprudence to examine advances and missed opportunities in the prosecution of sexual and gender-based crimes before the International Criminal Court and the ad hoc and hybrid criminal tribunals.