Damascus: Syria team wins the Regional Humanitarian Law competition for students from Arab universities

Syrian team from the University of Damascus won on Thursday, 30 March, the first prize in the first-ever Regional International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Competition organized in Cairo, Egypt, by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for students from Arab universities.

The team composed of Ms. Hala Dayoub, Ms. Alaa Farah Chekh Elhara, Mr. Ihab Kassibeh and Dr. Ahmad Omar from the Faculty of Law at the Damascus University went ahead of five other university teams representing Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Algeria, and the United Arab Emirates. During two days, the Damascus University team conducted four legal IHL dissertations with Morocco, Algeria, and Egypt including the winning one with Morocco team in the final.

The competition aimed at challenging and testing participants' legal skills in humanitarian law and spreading the IHL knowledge throughout the region and beyond. The judging panel included distinguished judges and lawyers from Arab countries.

"The competition is designed to promote in-depth discussion among students on the proper interpretation and application of IHL, a body of law that is vital for millions of people affected by armed violence all over the world", said Marianne Gasser, Head of the ICRC delegation Syria. "We are proud to see that Syrian students, the future, and essence of the country, not only passed this important test of legal skills but also showed passion and commitment in humanitarian affairs and values while presenting their vision on how exactly the IHL should be applied to protect people's lives in reality."

The ICRC’s support for Syrian students and universities comes in the light of the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Damascus, and wider discussions with the Ministry of Higher Education, to promote the teaching of IHL in Syria.

“Through such successes, we are seeing the result of our joint work and hope that similar achievements will pave the way to greater involvement of students and professors from other universities across Syria in promoting the values of IHL”, Ms. Gasser said.

The ICRC is a neutral and independent humanitarian organization mandated to raise awareness of and promote respect for IHL. Moot court competitions are among the many initiatives undertaken with this aim.

For further information, please contact:

Ingy Sedky, ICRC Damascus, +963 930 336 718