April at The Promise Institute Europe

Last week, students Aniq, Ellen, Holly and Sanyika had their last class of the Hague semester. They will round up their externships in early May.

Reflecting on the experience, highlights included the 3-day study trip to Geneva at the end of last month, where they got to attend debates at the UN Human Rights Council, meet staff at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and visit the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) museum. They also met with ICRC lawyers, and got a behind-the-scenes peek into work at the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism for Syria and  Médecins Sans Frontières. From negotiating access in humanitarian crises, to preparing dossiers on international crimes and reporting on human rights in Gaza, Mali and Ukraine, the students encountered a whole new spectrum of international legal work.

Thanks to our fantastic research assistants Ava Schuster & John Dover, our annotated bibliography on international criminal law and the protection of the environment is up to date! Check it out to keep track of writing on this subject since 1970.  As Ava explains in this video, the number of articles on this subject has increased exponentially in recent years, accompanied by a broadening of the range of issues covered. 

Two of our favourites so far from 2025 are Matthew Gillett, Georgia Moloney & Anne-Lise Chaber, Proving Ecocide: The Plight of Pangolins as a Case Study for Fusing Ecological Science with International Law, International Criminal Law Review, and Marília de Nardin Budó & Mariana Dutra Garcia, Decolonial Praxis for Postponing the End of the World: an Epistemological Reflection on the Criminalization of Ecocide, Environmental Politics.

The bibliography is a great resource for any practitioner, researcher or student.

In a major step forward, the EU Directive on the protection of the environment through criminal law (ECD), which came into force last year, requires all EU Member States to introduce national laws addressing environmental crimes. These include the most serious cases, the so-called “qualified offences,” which may closely resemble ecocide. 

Member states have just over one year left to implement the Directive. To support the effective implementation of the ecocide-like crime, we have developed a two-page Factsheet on the main points to consider.

The ECD sets minimum standards. We have the opportunity to go further and implement not just stricter but better measures, for the sake of people, planet, and future generations. 

The factsheet supplements the more in-depth Manual for a National Criminalisation of Ecocide which we launched in February. 

Ancient Armenian Graves, picture by Anna Romanova

April 24th marked 𝗔𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗮𝘆, an annual day of remembrance for the victims of the Armenian Genocide of 1915. This tragic chapter in history saw the systematic mass killings and starvation of approximately 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire, motivated by ethnic and religious intolerance.

The Promise Institute was founded in honor of those who perished, to work towards a world in which such atrocities are never repeated. As our founder Eric Esrailian has said:

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘨𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴.”

At times we feel powerless, confronted by the massacre of people in Gaza, Sudan, DRC, Haiti, Myanmar and so many other places around the world. But our long-term commitment to education, research and action for change remains.

Let us take a moment to remember, to learn from history, and to stand with those who continue to face persecution today.

We are delighted to invite you to our upcoming seminar with UCLA Law Professor Hiroshi Motomura  about his most recent book, Borders and Belonging: Toward a Fair Immigration Policy. The seminar is co-hosted with the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) Legal Mobilization Platform and ISS Development Research Seminars and will take place at the ISS premises in The Hague. Amongst other highly topical themes, the book details the interaction (both synergy and tension) between human rights claims and claims that are more grounded in national belonging.

Prof. Motomura’s talk will take place on Thursday 12 June from 16.30-18.00 in the ISS Atrium, in The Hague.

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