The City Law School students invited to Parliament to discuss the targeting of religious minorities in India

On 21 November 2023, third year law students from The City Law School were invited to an exclusive meeting at UK Parliament on the subject of ‘The Targeting of Religious Minorities in India and the Question of Genocide.’

The meeting was part of a Parliamentary Series commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the Genocide Convention. The event was jointly organised by the British Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the International Bar Association Human Rights Institute and the Coalition for Genocide Response.

The law students who attended are currently studying International Criminal Law, a third-year module led by Dr Aldo Zammit Borda, a Reader in International Law at City. In this module, students cover the history and institutions of international criminal justice, as well as the elements of core international crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

During the parliamentary meeting, participants discussed the pressing issue of genocide and conflict between the Kuki and Meitei communities in Manipur. The discussion was led by Fiona Bruce MP, the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief, Lord Alton of Liverpool, a member of the House of Lords, David Campanale, award-winning producer and television news reporter, and Dr Ewelina Ochab, lawyer, human rights advocate, and author, amongst others.

Qamar Cabdinur, one of the students who attended, shared:

Despite diplomatic efforts to defuse tensions in India, global political relationships and economic interests repeatedly influence how foreign leaders respond to human rights violations and other abuses against minorities like the Kuki and Meitei communities in Manipur.

The meeting enabled me to gain valuable insights into the real-world application of International Criminal Law concepts learnt in my third-year module. The discussion on the conflict between the Kuki and Meitei communities in Manipur gave me a practical understanding of the complexities surrounding genocide, deepening my appreciation for the role of international legal frameworks in addressing contemporary issues and broadening my comprehension of the subject beyond theoretical knowledge.

In class, we learn and discuss the theory of international criminal law, including the definitions and interpretation of international crimes,” he said, “but in Parliament students could see why this subject is so important and why it truly matters in practice, for real people and their communities facing the imminent threat of genocide.