Showcase of the International Review of the Red Cross: Organized Crime

Join Australian Red Cross for an event to launch the Organized Crime edition of the International Review of the Red Cross.

Established in 1869, the International Review of the Red Cross (IRRC) is one of the world’s leading peer-reviewed academic journals, which provides an important platform for the examination of international humanitarian law (IHL), policy and action from a multi-disciplinary perspective.

The current edition of the IRRC (No. 923) has a thematic focus on organized crime. Organized crime deeply undermines peace and security by contributing to armed violence all around the world, in the context of both armed conflict and other situations of violence. The human and humanitarian costs are astronomical: countless lives lost and disappeared, not to mention lost livelihoods, restricted access to essential services, and corrosion of institutions. 

This edition of the IRRC examines the intersections of organised crime, armed conflict and other situations of violence, looking at the vexing legal, ethical and operational questions this nexus raises. Alongside the articles that address the thematic focus of organized crime, the current edition of the IRRC features a series of articles that represent cutting-edge IHL scholarship, examining other legal and policy challenges raised by contemporary conflict.

This event will highlight a selection of articles from the current edition of the IRRC and provide audience members with an opportunity to engage with speakers in a meaningful Q and A session.

Guests are encouraged to attend the event in-person. The event is being held at Testing Grounds Emporium, 432-438 Queen St, Melbourne. From 14-26 November, Testing Grounds is hosting the International Committee of the Red Cross’ War in Cities Exhibition. Guests arriving before 5pm can visit the Exhibition, which provides an audio-visual representation of the staggering toll of urban warfare on people, particularly civilians, the humanitarian needs that arise as a result, and the resilience of conflict-affected communities. Audience members who are unable to attend in person can join the event online.

This event will be held in hybrid format. When you register for a ticket, please select either 'in-person' or 'online only'. If you register for an 'online only' ticket you will receive an email with a link to access the event stream 24 hours prior to the event.

MEET THE PANELLISTS

Yvette Zegenhagen

Yvette leads the International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Department at Australian Red Cross, having first joined the organisation in 2011. She also serves as the Chair of Australia’s National IHL Committee. In 2021, she was appointed as a member of the Editorial Board of the International Review of the Red Cross. Yvette works closely with stakeholders that implement, apply, and interpret IHL in Australia, and assists Australian organizations with operations in conflict zones to understand and utilize these laws and related humanitarian policy issues.

Dr Carrie McDougall

Carrie holds a PhD in international criminal law and is a Senior Lecturer at Melbourne Law School. Carrie served as a Legal Specialist and Assistant Director of the International Law Section at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, where she provided advice on the jus ad bellum, international criminal law, international humanitarian law, the responsibility to protect and the protection of civilians. Carrie also served as the Legal Adviser at Australia’s Mission to the United Nations in New York. Carrie is a contributing author to the Organized Crime edition.

Dr Rebecca Mignot Mahdavi

Rebecca is Assistant Professor of Law at Sciences Po Law School. Her current research is situated in the field of digital security law and governance. Rebecca is an Editor for the Legal theory section of the Leiden Journal of International Law, a co-founder of the ESIL Interest Group on International Law and Technology, and a board member of the Women in International Law Network. She is an Associate Researcher at the TMC Asser Institute and at the International Center for Counter-Terrorism. She holds a PhD in Law from the European University Institute and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales. Rebecca is a contributing author to the Organized Crime edition.

Carlos Arevalo

Carlos is Professor and Dean of the Law and Political Sciences School of Universidad de La Sabana, Colombia. Carlos holds a Master of Laws in International Legal Studies from New York University. His principal areas of research are Inter-American Justice: Inter-American standards to administer justice and international human rights law. Together with co-author Chiara Redaelli (Research Fellow at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian and Law and Human Rights and Adjunct Professor at the Catholic University of Lille), Carlos is a contributing author to the Organized Crime edition.

With video contributions from Pablo Kalmanovitz Gonzalez and more.

You can read the Organized Crime edition here.

Articles featured as part of this event include:

• The Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force Afghanistan Inquiry Report and the Applicability of Additional Protocol II to Intervening Foreign Forces | Carrie McDougall
• Rethinking direct participation in hostilities and continuous combat function in light of targeting members of terrorist non-state armed groups | Rebecca Mignot Mahdavi
• Can criminal organizations be non-State parties to armed conflict? | Pablo Kalmanovitz Gonzalez 
  
• Targeting drug lords: Challenges to IHL between lege lata and lege ferenda| Carlos Arevalo