Professor Susana Sanz Caballero’s Fulbright Schuman postdoctoral fellowship continues to progress at the College of Staten Island, part of the City University of New York (CUNY), in New York City.
Among the extracurricular activities she participated in during April and May, one of the highlights was the organization of the conference “New Trends for Accountability for International Crimes,” held on the Staten Island campus and delivered by Dr. Ana Peyró Llopis, Principal Legal Officer at the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs. Dr. Peyró has also served as the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for the prosecution of crimes committed by the Islamic State/DAESH.
Formally invited by Professor Jane Marcus-Delgado, Dr. Peyró shared with faculty and students at the College of Staten Island her firsthand experience in Iraq as the Secretary-General’s representative, investigating international crimes and gathering evidence related to mass killings committed in the region following the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime.
As a conclusion to her academic activity for the semester, Professor Sanz Caballero also delivered a lecture titled “Exploring the U.S. and Spanish Legal Frameworks for Human Rights Protection” at Stevens Institute of Technology, a private STEM-focused university in New Jersey. In her talk, she compared the legal approaches of the U.S. and Spain, highlighting their differing perspectives on social rights and the provision of public services.
Additionally, she joined Professor Marcus-Delgado’s class “People of New York” for a visit to the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, as part of an activity aimed at exploring the history of New York City— a city shaped by the integration and efforts of immigrants from around the world.
Among Professor Sanz’s most noteworthy activities in May was her participation in the workshop “The European Challenge,” organized by CEU Fernando III University and the Las Casas Institute for Social Justice at the University of Oxford. The event, directed by Professor Carlos Espaliú, featured Professor Sanz presenting her work in progress titled “The Fragility of Human Rights in Times of Rule of Law Erosion: Europe and America.” In her presentation, she emphasized the inseparable link between the rule of law and human rights, arguing that one cannot exist without the other. The workshop will conclude with a final session in November and will result in the publication of the presentations in a special issue of an international academic journal.
