The Human Rights Podcast

In this episode of the Human Rights Podcast, LLM student Eduarda Boni speaks with Dr Alexander Gilder, Associate Professor of International Law and Security at the University of Reading and Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. Together, they explore Dr Gilder’s newly published research on developing an evidence‑based framework for NATO’s Human Security approach, informed by his recent work with NATO’s Allied Rapid Reaction Corps.

The episode examines how the framework emerged, why it matters for NATO at this moment, and what enhanced human security means for international law and military operations. This research, co‑authored with Daniel Linsdell, appears in the Scandinavian Journal of Military Studies and will feature in the forthcoming Oxford Handbook on Human Security.

The podcast was produced by Eduarda Boni, Gráinne McGrath and Kirsten Larson. Intro Music: 'Smarties Intro -FMA Podcast Suggestions' by Birds for Scale (Attribution - ShareAlike 4.0 international License). Outro Music 'Smarties Outro -FMA Podcast Suggestions' by Birds for Scale (Attribution - ShareAlike 4.0 international License).

This episode features an interview with the current Ambassador of Germany to Ireland, David Gill, about his experiences and reflections as a key member of the movement in the early 1990s that preserved and ensured disclosure of the Stasi Records.

Ambassador Gill held the positions of Chairman of Normannenstraße Citizens' Committee at the Headquarters of the Ministry of State Security (1990); Head of Administration, Parliamentary Special Committee for the Dissolution of the GDR Ministry of State Security / Office of National Security (1990); and Spokesman and Head of Division of the Federal Commissioner for the Files of the State Security Service of the former GDR (1990-1992).

Ambassador Gill is interviewed by Dagmar Hovestädt, Adjunct Professor at the Irish Centre for Human Rights and an internationally recognised expert on archives, human rights, and transitional justice, with over two decades of experience in journalism, strategic communications, and archival research. Formerly Head of Outreach and Research at the Stasi Records Archive in Berlin, Dagmar led major initiatives on public engagement, international collaboration, and the role of archives in addressing past human rights abuses.

Dr Maeve O'Rourke, Senior Lecturer at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, also joins the discussion to consider the relevance of the Stasi Records Act to truth-telling in Ireland - particularly in relation to institutional and family separation abuses, the records of which remain largely inaccessible to affected people.

In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Mais Qandeel to discuss annexation, occupation, and the challenges of enforcing international law. The conversation also highlights themes explored in her forthcoming textbook co-authored with Professor Michael Lynk.

The podcast was produced by Gráinne McGrath and Philippa Pitt. Intro Music: 'Smarties Intro -FMA Podcast Suggestions' by Birds for Scale (Attribution - ShareAlike 4.0 international License). Outro Music 'Smarties Outro -FMA Podcast Suggestions' by Birds for Scale (Attribution - ShareAlike 4.0 international License).

In this episode, LLM student Marlene Kulmus speaks to Ðermana Kurić, a research associate at the BILQIS project at the Irish Centre for Human Rights and former adviser on combatting racism, xenophobia and discrimination, about the intersections of Islamophobia and sexism and its impact on Muslim women’s access to justice.

The conversation centres around the case of Emela Mujanović, a Bosniak Muslim woman and member of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina who was denied the ability to wear her headscarf with her uniform and has faced adverse and discriminatory treatment since she started wearing her headscarf. This includes being prevented from advancing through the military ranks, facing intrusion to her privacy, and even being transferred to barrack located 90km away from her place of residence and her family. She has sought various legal avenues over the past thirteen years, including a case before the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and culminating in a case brought before the European Court of Human Rights, and has faced setbacks in the form of rulings which uphold the ban.

Ðermana Kurić provides the insightful framework of intersectionality, a concept coined within academia by Kimberlé Crenshaw, and explains how this applies to the experiences of discrimination many Muslim women face. She further gives relevant background information into the regional context of this case, taking place in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The conversation is based on a lecture given by Ðermana Kurić at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, titled: ‘Exploring Intersectionality: Headscarf in the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina’, which was part of a lecture series on Gender and Human Rights. She has also explored this topic in some of her academic works, including her article: ‘Blaming Muslim Women: Intersectionality and the Headscarf in the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina’, published in 2023.

This podcast episode was produced by Gráinne McGrath, the team of CELT Recording Studio, and Marlene Kulmus.
Intro Music: 'Smarties Intro -FMA Podcast Suggestions' by Birds for Scale (Attribution - ShareAlike 4.0 international License). Outro Music 'Smarties Outro -FMA Podcast Suggestions' by Birds for Scale (Attribution - ShareAlike 4.0 international License).

In this episode of the Human Rights Podcast, LLM student Eduarda Boni speaks with Dr Justina Uriburu, Assistant Professor in International Law at the University of Manchester and Co‑Director of the Manchester International Law Centre. Together, they examine the unfolding crisis in Venezuela, focusing on the events surrounding the 3 January military operation and the apprehension and extraction of President Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores.

Dr Uriburu unpacks the political, legal and human rights implications emerging from these developments, offering insight into what they mean for international law and the broader regional landscape. The discussion builds on her recent article, Trump’s Illegal Attack on Venezuela and Its Consequences, published on the Blog of the European Journal of International Law: https://www.ejiltalk.org/trumps-illegal-attack-on-venezuela-and-its-consequences/

The podcast was produced by Gráinne McGrath and Eduarda Boni. Intro Music: 'Smarties Intro -FMA Podcast Suggestions' by Birds for Scale (Attribution - ShareAlike 4.0 international License). Outro Music 'Smarties Outro -FMA Podcast Suggestions' by Birds for Scale (Attribution - ShareAlike 4.0 international License).