The War on Terror and Civilian Deaths in Iraq

This seminar is hosted by the Centre for Human Rights and the School of Law Research Seminar Series. Our series offers exciting insights into ongoing research projects within the law school and conducted by our external research partners. We often feature work from our research centres (the Centre for American Legal Studies, the Centre for Human Rights, the Centre for Science, Law and Policy, and the International Business Law Research Group). Our work is often transdisciplinary, dealing with law's relationship with broadly defined social justice, policy-making, science and much more. Join us for invigorating discussion!

In this session, we hear from Dr Lily Hamourtziadou. Dr Hamourtziadou is a Senior Lecturer and Deputy Course Leader in Criminology, Security Studies and Policing. She is the principal researcher and analyst of the NGO Iraq Body Count, twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and editor of The Journal of Global Faultlines. She is the author of Body Count; the war on terror and civilian deaths in Iraq and currently working on an article on drone warfare for the Handbook of International Political Theory. Research areas include security, human rights, nationalism, terrorism and war.

In this session, Dr Hamourtziadou will give the following presentation, followed by an interactive Q&A:

The war on terror and civilian deaths in Iraq

Abstract: Civilian deaths in Iraq following the 2003 invasion by the US-UK coalition: a recounting of the conflict through the counting of its victims; an understanding of war through a recording and comprehension of its casualties, central to our assessment of the costs of war. My work for the NGO Iraq Body Count, twice-nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, will form the basis for this presentation. Casualty recording by non-governmental groups like the Iraq Body Count has contributed to official records or counts of the dead, the allocation of war benefits by the state to the families of people who died, the seeking of compensation, criminal investigations and prosecutions by regional and international courts. Casualty recorders can make a contribution to accountability, justice, the upholding of human rights and the prosecution of those who have violated them. By knowing and understanding who died and why, we can address and redress harm done, and prevent its recurrence.

This seminar has now concluded but it is available on demand here. If you find that you do not have access, you can email the research seminar series leader at iyan.offor@bcu.ac.uk in order to gain access.