PROSPECTS FOR JUSTICE: THE U.S. AND ATROCITY CRIMES
April 19, 12 pm pt (virtual)

When mass atrocities occur, what options do victims have to seek justice through the U.S. judicial system and possibly elsewhere? What are the U.S. policies on supporting international justice mechanisms in cases of genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity? This discussion was with Esti Tambay, Senior Counsel of the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch and Kristin Smith, Director of the Atrocity Crimes Initiative at the American Bar Association's Criminal Justice Section, on the possibilities and limitations of accountability for atrocity crimes through a U.S. lens. 

Kristin J. Smith is the director of the Atrocity Crimes Initiative, a group of projects (including the International Criminal Court Project) focused on atrocity prevention, response and accountability and jointly supported by ABA’s Criminal Justice Section and the Center for Human Rights. She also serves as a Staff Attorney for the ABA’s Criminal Justice Section. Prior to the ABA, she worked on issues of gender equality, reproductive rights and justice for sexual and gender-based crimes as a Legal Fellow at the Global Justice Center in New York. She also previously supported the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute’s international research and educational initiatives as a Fellow (including the Crimes Against Humanity Initiative), and worked prior as a legislative analyst and criminal prosecutor in Oregon. She is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. 

Esti Tambay is currently a senior counsel in the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch, focusing on institutional issues related to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and U.S. policy toward the court, as well as accountability in several African countries. She previously worked at the Coalition for the ICC, conducted research for the International Center for Transitional Justice in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and worked on several U.S. litigations seeking corporate accountability pursuant to the Alien Tort Statute. For almost a decade at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, she specialized in international arbitration and complex cross-border litigation. She has also advised the United Nations’ Office of Legal Affairs on legal claims raised against the UN. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.

This event is part of the Rising Up for Human Dignity Series for Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month. Sponsoring Organizations include: Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education, Never Again Coalition, PSU’s Holocaust and Genocide Studies Project, WorldOregon, Oregon Historical Society and Kol Shalom Community for Humanistic Judaism