U.S. Human Rights, Law Seminar Concludes
Army Officers benefit from U.S. Human Rights and International Law Seminar
At the invitation of the Office of Defense Cooperation, U.S. Embassy Guyana, the U.S. Defense Institute of International Legal Studies (DIILS) presented a two-day seminar in Georgetown on September 28-29, 2009 for members of the Guyana Defence Force. The seminar addressed issues of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, and also included presentations on the usefulness of developing rules for the use of force in performing security/law enforcement functions, and rules of engagement for conducting military operations. The seminar was designed to provide participants with background on relevant legal standards in international agreements and customary international law, and examples of implementing domestic laws with regard to human rights and international humanitarian law. Over the course of the seminar, 25 officers from the Guyana Defence Forces participated in discussion groups as part of the lectures and worked through hypothetical military contingency exercises.
The U.S. presenters were Colonel Rodger Drew, US Air Force, Staff Judge Advocate, US Southern Command; Commander Jon Wagshul, US Navy, Deputy Director, Defence Institute of International Legal Studies; and John T Phelps, Regional Program Director, Defence Institute of International Legal Studies.
DIILS serves as the lead U.S. Department of Defense agency for professional legal programs for international military and civilian government officials, conducting programs on the rule of law, human rights, combating corruption, war crimes investigations, the development of military justice codes, law of armed conflict and other legal topics relevant to the military. Since its founding in 1992, DIILS has educated over 30,000 military and civilian officials from 115 countries.