The International Crime Cluster focuses on the study of serious violations of international law, including war crimes, crimes against peace, and crimes against humanity and genocide. Through interdisciplinary approaches, this cluster explores legal, political, and ethical dimensions of violence, accountability, and justice in the global arena.
The War Crimes Cluster focuses on in-depth studies of serious violations of international humanitarian law that occur during armed conflicts, both international and non-international. Research in this cluster covers issues such as genocide, crimes against humanity, the use of prohibited weapons, targeting of civilians, and the dynamics of international legal accountability for perpetrators.
We explore the historical, political, legal, and ethical dimensions of war crimes through an interdisciplinary approach, including security studies, international law, and critical international relations. In addition, this cluster also highlights the role of international institutions such as the International Criminal Court (ICC), the UN Security Council, and transitional justice mechanisms in responding to and preventing war crimes.
The Crimes Against Peace Cluster focuses its studies on acts of state aggression that threaten or destroy the order of international peace. Included in this category are the planning, preparation, initiation, or execution of acts of aggression that violate international law, as well as violations of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.
Research in this cluster examines the political and legal dynamics behind decisions to go to war, including unilateral military interventions, territorial expansion through armed force, and other forms of unauthorized use of military power. In addition, the focus is given to the accountability of state actors and political elites in maintaining or undermining global peace.
The Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide Cluster delves into various forms of systematic and widespread violence directed against civilian groups, both in the context of armed conflict and in peacetime situations. The main research focus is on practices of torture, enforced disappearances, modern slavery, ethnic cleansing, and acts of genocide—namely, the attempt to destroy, in whole or in part, a group based on ethnicity, religion, race, or nationality.
Research in this cluster combines approaches from international law, human rights studies, and international relations to examine the structural roots of mass violence, mechanisms of perpetrator accountability, as well as efforts for victim reparation and recovery. We also highlight the role of international institutions such as the International Criminal Tribunal and the International Criminal Court, as well as the involvement of non-state actors in the process of transitional justice.
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