Conference 2022

First Inaugural International Conference

Day 1: June 1, 2022

First Day of Concurrent Panels

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Moderator: Timothy Jemal

President, GlobalArm

Introduction: Gassia Apkarian 

California Superior Court Judge, USA 

 

David L. Phillips

Director,

Program on

Peace-building

and Rights at the Institute

for the Study of Human Rights

Columbia University 

New York, 

Michael Rubin

Senior Fellow,

American

Enterprise Institute

Washington D.C., USA

 

Concurrent Panel 1:

Moderator: Meline Mailyan, Esq

Armenophobia: The Ugly Truth, Prevention of Racial Hatred and Discrimination, & the ODIHR Mandate 

Ani Tatoyan 

CFTJ Law Clinic 

Alumna (2021-2022)

Yerevan, Armenia 

Artak Beglaryan 

State Minister

Republic of Artsakh

Stepanakert, Artsakh

John Tehranian

Professor,

Southwestern Law School

Los Angeles, CA, USA

Christie Edwards

Deputy Head, Tolerance and 

Non-discrimination

OSCE Office for Democratic

Institutions and Human Rights

Warsaw, Poland 

 

Concurrent Panel 2: 

Moderator: Anoush Bagdassarian 

Study of Law and Genocide and Victims’ Narratives 

Luis Moreno Ocampo

Founding ICC Chief

Prosecutor

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Stanley Goldman

Professor,

Loyola Law School,

Los Angeles

Los Angeles, USA

Elke Heckner

Professor,

University of Iowa

Iowa City, USA

Concurrent Panel 3: 

Moderator: Ara Ghazaryan, Esq

Gathering Evidence: How to Amplify Voices to Prevent Atrocities and Genocide 

Gegham Stepanyan

Human Rights Ombudsman

of Artsakh,

Stepanakert, Artsakh

Natia Navrouzov

Director of Legal

Advocacy, Yazda

Erbil, Iraq

Maria Mingo

Partnership Advisor,

eyeWitness to Atrocities

London, UK

Concurrent Panel 4:  

Moderator: Arpine Esmailian, Esq 

The Importance of Being Sorry: Forced Displacement and Transitional Justice to and From Armenians 

Armen Ghazaryan

Head of Migration Service

of the Republic of Armenia

Yerevan, Armenia

Vicken Cheterian

Professor, 

Webster University

Geneva, Switzerland

Ruben Carranza

Director, Reparative

Justice Program

International Center for

Transitional Justice (ICTJ)

New York, USA

Day 2: June 2, 2022

Second Day of Concurrent Panels

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Introduction: Arsine Grigoryan, Esq

Geoffrey Robertson, QC 

Human Rights Barrister, 

Founder of Doughty 

Street Chambers 

Sydney Australia

Concurrent Panel 1:

Moderator: Lori Yeni-Komshian, Esq

Universal Jurisdiction Over Serious International Law Crimes and Atrocities 

Anahit Muradyan 

CFTJ Law Clinic 

Alumna (2021-2022) 

Yerevan, Armenia 

Gurgen Petrossian

Head of International 

Criminal Law Research 

Group, University of 

Erlangen-Nurnberg 

Heidelberg, Germany 

Rajika Shah 

Deputy Director, 

Center for the Study of 

Law and Genocide, Loyola 

Law School 

Los Angeles, USA 

Maria Armoudian

Politics Senior Lecturer, 

University of Auckland 

Auckland, New Zealand 

Concurrent Panel 2: 

Moderator: Arameh Vartomian

Corporate Responsibility For Human Rights and Humanitarian Abuses 

Sharmagh Mardi 

Lawyer, CFTJ Law 

Clinic Associate 

Yerevan, Armenia 

Mary Hansel

Attorney and 

Legal Scholar 

Los Angeles, USA 

Genevieve Zing 

Board Member, 

Yazidi Legal 

Network – Iraq 

Baghdad, Iraq 

HONARARY SPEAKER

Moderator: Armine Esmailian, Esq 

Arman Tatoyan 

Human Rights 

Defender, Republic of 

Armenia (2016-2022) 

Yerevan, Armenia 

Concurrent Panel 1:

Moderator: Christina Pisikian, Esq

The Fight For International Human Rights in Canada 

Izabella Khachatryan 

CFTJ Law Clinic 

Alumna (2021-2022) 

Yerevan, Armenia 

Kelsey Gallagher 

Researcher, 

Project Ploughshares 

Waterloo, Canada

Phillipe Larochelle

Partner, 

Larochelle Advocats 

Montreal, Canada

Christopher Waters 

Professor, 

University of Windsor

Ontario, Canada 

Concurrent Panel 2: 

Moderator: Tamara Voskanian, Esq

Reparations and Restitution: The Role of the International Legal Community 

  Maria Gevorgyan

CFTJ Law Clinic 

Alumnus (2021-2022)

Yerevan, Armenia 

 

  Shelia Paylan

Independent Consultant,

International Law

& Human Rights

Yerevan, Armenia

 

  Talin Hitik

Principal,

Law Office of

Talin A. Hitik

Chicago, USA

Siranush Sahakyan

Path of Law

Faculty, American

University of Armenia

Yerevan, Armenia

Concurrent Panel 1:

Prisoners of War: Conditions of Captivity and Avenues for Reparation 

Michael Strauss 

Professor, 

Centre d’Etudes

Diplomatiques et

Strategiques

Paris, France

Milena Ansari

International

Advocacy Officer,

Addameer Prisoner

Support and Human

Rights Association

Ramallah, Palestine

     Julia Grignon

Professor,

Laval University 

Laval, Canada 

Concurrent Panel 2:

Moderator: Harout Topchyan, Esq

Information Wars and Human Rights

Lilia Arakelyan

Professor, Florida

International University 

Miami, USA

Hanna Samir Kassab

Professor,

 East Carolina University

Greenville, USA

Florentina Andreescu

Professor,

University of North Carolina

Wilmington, NC, USA

 Maria Armoudian

Politics Senior Lecturer

University of Auckland

Auckland, New Zealand

Day 3: June 3, 2022

Third Day of Concurrent Panels

PLENARY SESSION

RECOGNITION

Introduction: Arsineh Arakel, Esq

ENFORCING INTERNATIONAL LAW: Challenges and Lessons in International Law

Yeghishe Kirakosyan

Representative of the Republic of Armenia

  before the European Court of Human Rights

Yerevan, Armenia

 

 

Concurrent Panel 1:

Moderator: Garo Ghazarian, Esq

Self-Determination and Resilience: Indigenous Struggle for Human Rights

Karnig Kerkonian

  Partner, 

Kerkonian Dajani LLP

Professor,

Artsakh State University

Chicago, USA

Sarah Babaian

 Negotiation and Conflict

Consulting –

Dr. Sarah Babaian

Hamburg, Germany

Eric David

  Professor,

Brussels Free University

President of the Centre

for International Law

Brussels, Belgium

 

Concurrent Panel 2:

Moderator: Varoujan Avedikian, Esq

Story-Telling and Human Rights 

Arpi Melikyan

 Ph.D Student, University of 

California, Los Angeles

Los Angeles, USA

 Elke Heckner 

Professor, University of Iowa

City of Iowa, USA

RECOGNITION 

Presentation:

Alexander Lapshin 

Russian-Israeli Blogger                                                                                      

and Journalist 

Jerusalem, Israel 

 

 Armen Darbinyan

Prime Minister (1998 – 1999)

Rector, Russian-Armenian

University (RAU)

Yerevan, Armenia

 

 Marianna Kalashyan

Director of the Institute

of Law and Politics

Russian-Armenian

University (RAU)

Yerevan, Armenia

Tigran Ambardaryan

Community Activist

Yerevan, Armenia

 

 

Margarita Karamyan

Community Activist

Yerevan, Armenia

Concurrent Panel 1:

Moderator: Olivia Route

Quasi-Legal Advocacy Strategies For Addressing Human Rights Abuses 

Thomas Becker

Senior Clinical

Supervisor,

University Network

of Human Rights

Boston, USA 

Anoush Baghdassarian

Juris Doctorate

Candidate (2022)

Harvard Law School

New York, USA

Concurrent Panel 2: 

Moderator: Arsine Grigoryan, Esq

Cultural Heritage at Stake: How to Preserve, Mitigate Damage, and Punish Destruction

 Sonya Hambardzumyan

CFTJ Law Clinic

 Alumnus (2021-2022)

Yerevan, Armenia

Simon Maghakyan

Lecturer, University

of Colorado

Denver, USA

 Alexander Herman

Director,

 Institute of Art

and Law

London, UK

 Yelena Ambartsumian

Founder, ORIGEN

Milford, USA

PANEL

Moderator: Anoush Bagdassarian

High-Impact Advocacy for Human Rights: Lessons from Titans of Industry

John Prendergast

Human Rights and

anti-corruption activist,

New York Times

best-selling author

Washington DC, USA

Bonnie Abaunza

Social Impact

producer and strategist

Los Angeles, CA, USA

Closing Keynote Speaker

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

CLOSING KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Introduction: Anoush Baghdassarian 

Judith Chomsky

Counsel, The Center

for Justice and Accountability

Philadelphia USA