Weekly Blog # 3

This week I have broadened my perspective of my field of study tremendously. For my research, I made an effort to focus on specific subcategories of human rights (i.e the international crime of genocide). Focusing my research on a specific type of international human rights law allowed me to deepen my understanding of human rights as a whole, because I was able to gather and evaluate real life instances of human rights violations around the world, and develop my own perspective on the application of international law on these crimes.

As a result of synthesizing information from these articles, I have been able to develop a few questions. For example, Is it more effective to allocate the responsibility to prevent and punish genocide to the state, or is it more effective for the UN or another entity of international government to enforce it? To which I expressed my own belief that this evaluation is dependent on the extent of the sanctions/punishments enforced by these independent entities.

This week, I felt that I excelled in drawing connections between my previous knowledge and my research for my chosen field of study. Although, I felt that I initially experienced a challenge in interpreting the language used in legal documents. However, as I read more documents outlining international human rights law, my comprehension gradually increased.

Overall, I believe that after reading articles focused on the subcategories of international human rights law, my passion for the field has become significantly more enriched. I hope that through conducting more research, I am able to acquire an even greater interest and understanding of the international human rights lawyer profession.