On Monday Els Debuf, who completed her PhD in International Law at the Institute last year, was presented the René Cassin Prize in Strasbourg, France for her thesis entitled “Captured in war: A study of the criteria under international law for lawful internment in armed conflict”.

In her acceptance speech at the ceremony that took place at the Council of Europe, Ms Debuf said “The fact that I have been awarded this prestigious human rights prize for a thesis which deals with international humanitarian law is telling of the important influence the development of international human rights law has had on the humanisation of the law of armed conflict”.

“I am very pleased that Els has been recognised for her important work”, said Professor Andrew Clapham, Ms Debuf’s thesis director and Director of the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights.

A Belgian National, Els Debuf is currently Legal Advisor at the International Committee of the Red Cross and was Previously Legal Advisor to Operations and Delegate at the same organisation. In the past she has worked for Lalive and Partners law firm, the Permanent Mission of Belgium to the United Nations and the World Health Organization.

The Jury which chose Els Debuf’s work for the prize was chaired by Antonio Augusto Cançado Trindade (Judge at the International Court of Justice), and composed of the Professors Dinah Shelton (George Washington University), Anne Peters (University of Basel), Jim Murdoch (University of Glasgow) and Sebastien Touzé: (University of Strasbourg, Secretary General of the International Institute of Human Rights).