400 years Law of War: past, present, future

Today, law of war, also known as international humanitarian law, is back at the center of attention, 400 years since Hugo Grotius in 1625 published his well-known work on the law of war ‘De Iure Belli ac Pacis’. When is war allowed? What is allowed when states wage war, and what isn’t? What do they need to do to protect civilians? Who can enforce these rules when they are violated?

In a series of lectures we explore these and other questions, from the history of the idea of “law of war” to current challenges and what this means for the future. This series of Science Café -Freedom Edition is organized by the National Freedom Quarter in collaboration with Science Café Wageningen, Slot Loevestein and the Freedom Museum Groesbeek,

The first of three Science Café Freedom Editions will take place on Monday evening, May 19 from 8:15 PM in Hotel De Wereld on the 5 Meiplein in Wageningen. Two speakers discuss, first, the background to the idea of “war of law” and how it has developed, and next, the way this idea – and the institutions to defend it- are currently under pressure.

The two presentations are followed by a Q&A with the audience.

First to speak is Ir. Ed Dumrese, currently director of Slot Loevestein, the famous castle from which legal scholar Hugo Grotius escaped in 1621, hidden in a book chest, after being sentenced to ‘eternal prison’ in 1619.

Dumrese will illuminate the subject from a historical perspective. Who was Hugo Grotius anyway? What made him so influential? What are the most important basic principles of international law that Hugo Grotius described in De Iure Belli ac Pacis? Furthermore, which laws do we still find in the Geneva Treaties, which were established 76 years ago and signed by all countries? Laws that form the basis for humanitarian law and protect people who are not fighting, such as civilians and wounded soldiers.

Second speaker is Dr. Katherine Fortin, associate professor at the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM) at the Faculty of Law, Economics, Governance and Organization of Utrecht University. Professor Fortin will speak on current challenges and developments around civilian protection. Recent moves by certain states to withdraw from the Landmine Convention, dismantling of the Civilian Harm Programme in the US, current humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and instrumentalization of the laws of war in that, double standards vis-à-vis Gaza and Ukraine, rebel governance and civilian protection and the role of state silence. She will also discuss what this all means for the future and where it is leading us.

Ir. Ed Dumrese was born and raised in West Germany near the East German border during the Cold War. He served two years of alternative service in Israel for reconciliation between Jews and Germans when the first Intifada began. In 1991, he came to the Netherlands to study development studies (tropical agriculture) at Wageningen University. He became director of Wageningen-based National Committee for the Commemoration of the Capitulations in 1945, combining his interest in history with contemporary issues of peace, freedom and justice. He is active in a number of foundations related to these issues. One of these is the Israeli-Palestinian peace initiative Neve Shalom – Wahat al Salam, where he is currently chairman of the Dutch Friends Association. Today he is the director of Loevestein Castle, the museum and memorial site dedicated to using its heritage to raise awareness and educate about peace, freedom and justice.

Dr. Katherine Fortin is Associate Professor at Utrecht University where she teaches International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law. Before joining Utrecht University, she worked for the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Court and Norton Rose Fulbright. Fortin is the author of The Accountability of Armed Groups under Human Rights Law (Oxford University Press, 2017) with which she won the 2018 Lieber Prize. She has written widely about the framework of law that applies to armed groups in non-international armed conflicts and is one of the editors of the Armed Groups and International Law blog.