Ref: 78/2010

From 15 – 17 October, 2010, the Palestinian Centre for Human
Rights (PCHR) will organize a rule of law and universal jurisdiction conference
in Malaga, Spain. The conference will address issues relating to the
enforcement of international humanitarian and human rights law, with particular
focus on both universal jurisdiction and the International Criminal Court. The
purpose of the meeting is to assess, evaluate, and use, all available legal
mechanisms in the pursuit of universal justice.

This event builds on a previous conference organized by PCHR
in Malaga, in 2006. This conference – which was the first of its kind – brought
together lawyers, human rights activists, and representatives of national and
international NGOs, with experience of universal jurisdiction spanning four
different continents. This conference and its conclusions provided the basis
for numerous universal jurisdiction cases in the intervening years.

Four years after the first conference, PCHR wishes to
reconvene in Malaga to discuss and evaluate what has been achieved and learned,
what are the specific challenges of today and to strategically plan legal
actions and concerted efforts for the future. The aim of Malaga 2010 is to
address the entire spectrum of worldwide activity surrounding universal
jurisdiction work; in effect to establish a basis for a better and more
efficient legal strategy in the fight against impunity for the commission of
international crimes.

The principle of universal jurisdiction in the Israeli and
Palestinian context will be at the core of the conference; however, this is
explicitly not the sole focus of the conference: it is essential that universal
jurisdictions be placed within the global context, as part of a comprehensive
legal strategy against impunity and towards the achievement of universal
justice

The conference will be attended by a number of leading
universal jurisdiction practitioners, academics, NGO representatives, and human
rights activists from throughout the world.