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AUWCL’s War Crimes Research Office Marks
The War Crimes Research Office (WCRO) at American University Washington College of Law marked a powerful milestone in April, celebrating 30 years at the forefront of international justice with a dynamic global gathering that reflected both its legacy and its lasting impact.
In the early 1990s, the horrors of the Bosnian War and the Rwandan genocide shocked the international community into action, prompting the United Nations Security Council to create new international war crimes tribunals for the first time since Nuremberg and Tokyo.
The WCRO was established in 1995 to support that work, providing high-quality, in-depth legal research and analysis to the fledgling institutions of international justice. “These were the first international tribunals since Nuremberg and Tokyo, prosecuting the first cases of war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity since then, and they came to us for support for rigorous legal research and analysis,” said Susana SáCouto, director of the WCRO.
What began as a one-year project grew into one of the most distinctive offices of its kind in the world. “To my knowledge, there is no real equivalent of the War Crimes Research Office anywhere else in the world,” said Aryeh Neier, former president of the Open Society Foundations. “It has greatly enhanced the entire process of holding accountable those who are responsible for the commission of such crimes.”
The WCRO’s model, which integrates rigorous legal research with opportunities for students to engage in real-world accountability projects, is a hallmark of experiential legal education and a defining feature of AUWCL’s global reputation.
That legacy and continued influence were on full display at a landmark event, co-sponsored by the International Commission of Jurists. The two-day symposium brought together scholars, practitioners, alumni, students, and advocates from across the globe to reflect on the arc of international justice and recognize the WCRO’s enduring contributions to the development and enforcement of international criminal law.
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From leſt to right: Prof. Susana SáCouto, Leila Sadat, David Scheffer, and Prof. Emerita Diane Orentlicher at the WCRO's 30th anniversary keynote address.
The discussion featured Leila Sadat, James Carr Professor of International Criminal Law and director of the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute at Washington University School of Law, and David Scheffer, former U.S. ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues. The conversation was moderated by AUWCL Professor Emerita and WCRO Faculty Founder Diane Orentlicher.
Speakers across both days acknowledged that the WCRO’s work is as urgent as ever, and perhaps more so. Richard Goldstone, first chief prosecutor of the U.N. Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, noted the significance of the WCRO’s 30th anniversary.
“We are presently at a point when international law is being largely ignored by powerful states,” he said. “The work of
30 Years of International Justice Two-day symposium discussions brought together leading voices in international criminal law
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