Focusing on human rights and justice issues connected to the Syrian Civil War, Benjamin Brockman-Hawe will be the focal point for three public events focused on related hot-button issues in the Middle East, including an update on the Arab Spring movement and prosecuting terrorism crimes. Brockman-Hawe has also served as an attorney with the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (War Crimes Chamber).

Brockman-Hawe, currently a civil rights attorney with the Bosman Law Firm in New York, will be the keynote speaker for a 6:30 to 8 p.m. event, Tuesday, Oct. 30, in the East Asian Room of the Chester Fritz Library. There he is slated to discuss" Human Rights and The Syrian Civil War: Prospects for Intervention and Justice."

On Thursday, Brockman-Hawe will be part of a panel on "The Arab Spring: One Year Later," which will include local people with ties to the Middle East: College of Engineering and Mines Dean Hesham El-Rewini, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering Naima Kaabouch, Associate Professor of Neuroscience Othman Ghribi, and local businessman Hussam Al-Kayali, originally from Iraq. Also included on the panel will be Associate Professor of Political Science Brian Urlacher, an expert on civil wars. The panel discussion will run from 12:15 to 1:10 p.m. at the School of Law’s Baker Courtroom.

Both the keynote address and the panel discussion will be free and open to the public.

From 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 2, Brockman-Hawe will participate in a faculty/student workshop in Swanson Hall Room 17, with the theme of  "Prosecuting Terrorism at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon."  A free lunch will be served at the workshop, which is open to all faculty and students.

While here, Brockman-Hawe will also guest-lecture to an International Human Rights class at the School of Law and take part in a KFJM radio interview.