Human Rights and Conflict Essays in Honour of Bas de Gaay Fortman

This festschrift examines the fate and role of human rights before, during, and in the aftermath of violent conflicts. It brings together both scholars and practitioners from different parts of the world and from different disciplines, including law, anthropology, history, conflict studies, development studies, and international relations. The roles of international organizations, non-governmental organizations, governments, and corporations in realizing human rights are discussed. The book thus reflects the 'de-approach' to human rights research that has been advocated and pioneered by Bas de Gaay Fortman: 'de-legalize,' 'de-Westernize,' and 'de-State-ize,' together with the view that human rights research should not just be about norms, but as much, if not more, about the economic, political, social, and cultural aspects of the distinct environments in which these rights have to be realized.

Ineke Boerefijn (LL.M. and PhD in International law of human rights, 1985 at the University of Utrecht) was associate professor at the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM), Utrecht University (1986-2012). She was a visiting research fellow at the Faculty of Law of the University of New South Wales and the Australian Human Rights Centre. She has held the ‘Opzij Chair’ at the Centre for Gender and Diversity, Maastricht University, where she focused on the human rights aspects of violence against women. From 2012 till 2013 she was advisor at the Dutch Equal Treatment Commission in Utrecht. At the moment she is coordinating Policy advisor at the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights (since 2013).