International humanitarian law in practice

In the second Science Café Freedom Edition, on Tuesday, June 10 in Hotel De Wereld, guests will be Professor Thea Hilhorst (ISS, Erasmus University) and Karel Hendriks MSc, director of Doctors Without Borders. The subject is International Humanitarian Law in practice.

The evening revolves around the humanitarian dimension of the law of war, with questions such as: which rules must a country at war adhere to when it comes to humanitarian aid?
Is banning and blocking aid to civilians a war crime? Can access for care providers be enforced if governments do not cooperate? How do humanitarian organizations deal with this in practice?

This second Science Café Freedom Edition will take place on Tuesday, June 10 from 8:15 PM in Hotel De Wereld at Meiplein 1 in Wageningen. The evening starts with presentations by the two speakers. After a break there will be a Q&A with those present. Note: English spoken.

Professor Thea Hilhorst, professor of humanitarian studies, will speak first. She studies the issues of aid in conflict areas and war situations at the International Institute of Social Studies (Erasmus University Rotterdam). According to Hilhorst, in the event of blocking aid supplies, the international community should set clearer boundaries. Issue an ultimatum: open the border to aid, otherwise economic and diplomatic ties will be severed: no trade, no weapons and no diplomatic support for countries that are willing to starve citizens for war purposes.

Second Karel Hendriks MSc, director of Doctors Without Borders, will speak about blocking aid as a weapon of war. Hendriks: “What we see is that attacking and cutting off aid appears to be becoming a basic tactic of warfare worldwide.” And not just in Gaza: “We also see in Sudan and Ukraine that aid is being blocked or attacked, we have seen it a lot in Syria and Myanmar.”

The evening starts at 8:15 PM and admission is free. A cup of coffee with a cookie too.

Today, the law of war, also known as international humanitarian law, is the focus of attention, 400 years after the founder Hugo Grotius, published his famous work De Iure Belli ac Pacis (On the Law of War and Peace) in 1625.

In a series of lectures we examine the history of ‘law of war’. From the ideas of Hugo Grotius up to the situation in current conflicts and what this means for the future. This series is organized by the National Freedom Quarter in collaboration with Science Café Wageningen, Slot Loevestein and the Freedom Museum Groesbeek.