SECOND EDITION OF THE REGIONAL MOOT COURT COMPETITION IN INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW AND HUMAN RIGHTS

For the second time in a row, Initiatives for Peace and Human Rights (IPHR) in partnership with Comité pour le Concours Grands Lacs (CCGL) has organized a training on international humanitarian law and human rights for university students and lecturers of Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda.
During this competition two students representing respectively each university confronted their knowledge in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights around the theme: « Sexual Violence in period of armed conflict: What responses from the International Humanitarian law and Human Rights? ». In final, Universite Libre des Pays des Grands Lacs based in Goma (DR Congo) won the competition after a tough pleading battle against Universite Lumiere de Bujumbura – Kinindo Campus.

Group photo of all participants in the opening ceremony - (c) IPHR-IPDH

In total, fourteen (14) universities, namely University of Burundi, Université Lumière de Bujumbura (Kinindo Campus), Université Lumière de Bujumbura (Mutanga Campus), Université du Lac Tanganyika, Université des Grands Lacs, Université Libre des Pays des Grands Lacs, Université d’Uvira et des Grands Lacs, Université Catholique de Bukavu, Université Officielle de Bukavu, Université de Kisangani, Université de Kinshasa, University of Rwanda, Kigali Independent University (ULK – Kigali Campus) and Kigali Independent University (ULK – Gisenyi Campus) have participated in an intensive three-month training which is completed by a moot court competition in Kigali on 26 – 30 May 2014 in the buildings of Kigali Independent University (ULK-Gisozi). 
The organisation of this training/competition is itself a very big contribution in the efforts to enhance peace in the Great Lakes region, torn by multiple armed conflicts sine 90s, since it has not only equipped law lecturers and students with necessary knowledge to face the unfortunate legacy of these armed conflicts but also it has evidenced that academics from this region can work together for a noble cause. Furthermore this competition has also offered to students an opportunity of exposure and competitiveness at the international level. It is in this framework that, for instance, the two winners of the first edition (2013) were automatically admitted and offered a scholarship of about fifteen thousand American dollars each to pursue an advanced masters programme in international humanitarian law and human rights at the world-renowned Academy of the International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights of Geneva in the Switzerland. The automatic admission of these students in this world-class university, which receives an annual average of one thousand applications from all over the world for only forty available positions, as a consequence of their outstanding performance during the competition is a clear acknowledgment of the rigor and high level of this event.
This competition is now organized on an annual basis in rotation between these three countries where IPHR is already legally operating. Accordingly, the third edition will be held in Bujumbura (Republic of Burundi) on 11 - 15 May 2015. The second edition was funded by the City of Geneva and the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs with a logistical support from the International Committee of the Red Cross and Kigali Independent University (ULK). 

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