The fifth Annual Senator George J. Mitchell Peace Lecture was delivered on 13 February 2024 by Professor Neta Crawford FBA, Montague Burton Professor of International Relations at the University of Oxford, where she discussed The Fate of Civilians in War: The Effects and Effectiveness of International Conventions.

In the wake of several episodes of mass atrocity in the twentieth century, the international community articulated new legal conventions designed to prevent deliberate harm to civilians and other noncombatants in international and civil conflicts.  These include the Genocide Convention (1948); the four Geneva Conventions (1949); the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Convention (1977) and the Responsibility to Protect (2005).

In this Lecture, Professor Neta Crawford explored:

• What impact, if any, have those conventions had in either preventing or reducing the harm that civilians have suffered? 
• Why are civilians still dying in large numbers in war? 
• Who is morally responsible for those deaths and for the long term harm to civilians that occurs as a consequence of the destruction of infrastructure?

The Senator George J. Mitchell Peace Lecture Series celebrates and recognises Senator Mitchell’s contribution to the Northern Ireland peace process and to conflict resolution in the Middle East.  His aim of transforming conflict and promoting social justice in Northern Ireland and across the world is shared by our Institute.  The Lecture Series was inaugurated in 2018 by President Mary Robinson and previous speakers include Dr Mamphela Ramphele (2019), Professor Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela (2020) and Mr Nader Nadery in 2022.

Read more here.