Speaker Series #1: Bonnie Docherty

“Bombs Away: Humanitarian Disarmament and the Making of International Law”

Humanitarian disarmament is a people-centered approach to governing weapons that focuses on human, rather than national, security. It seeks to prevent future arms-inflicted harm and remediate that which has occurred. In her talk, Bonnie Docherty will explain this groundbreaking approach to disarmament and discuss the process of creating new international law. Drawing on her 20 years in the field, she will share first-hand experiences, which range from documenting civilian casualities in Afghanistan and Iraq to negotiating international treaties banning cluster munitions and nuclear weapons. She will also address current challenges in humanitarian disarmament, such as autonomous weapons systems (“killer robots”) and incendiary weapons. Finally, Docherty will describe how her Harvard Law students and the Armed Conflict and Civilian Protection Initiative she directs have helped advance the humanitarian disarmament movement.

Our first speaker is Bonnie Docherty, Senior Researcher for Human Rights Watch, Harvard Law School; Associate Director of Armed Conflict and Civilian Protection and a Lecturer on Law at the International Human Rights Clinic.