'Tragic Perpetrators and Imperfect Victims'

Mark Drumbl is the Class of 1975 Alumni Professor at Washington & Lee University, School of Law, where he also serves as Director of the University's Transnational Law Institute. Mark Drumbl is known for his book Reimagining Child Soldiers in International Law and Policy (Oxford University Press, 2012). This book challenged much of conventional wisdom when it comes to preventing child soldiering, meaningfully reintegrating child soldiers, and engaging with former child solders as vibrant contributors to post-conflict reconciliation.

The Amsterdam Center for International Law (ACIL) and the T.M.C. Asser Instituut invited Professor Drumbl to lecture about the relationship between and roles of victims and perpetrators under the title of 'Tragic Perpetrators and Imperfect Victims', and Professor Kevin Jon Heller (UvA) will act as the discussant. In times of atrocity, victims may come to victimize others. How to speak of the pain they inflict? Where to address the hurt they cause? Drawing from examples of child soldiers and Kapos in the Nazi concentration camps, this presentation unwraps the victim-perpetrator as presented in multiple venues: criminal prosecutions, civil trials, communal courts, literature, and film. Insights abound for many contemporary justice institutions, including the International Criminal Court.

As part of this lecture, professor Drumbl wrote a short blog post highlighting the complex reality of perpetrators and victims. 

When:   4 October 2017, 18 – 19.30hrs 
Where:  T.M.C. Asser Instituut, The Hague

For inquiries, please contact conferencemanager@asser.nl

Mark Drumbl