My Challenges and Progress in Ethiopia

B3 Tokiwa Takahashi

             From the 11th to the 15th of March 2024, the members of the Fujii Seminar stayed in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, as a field trip of the Fujii Seminar. We visited the African Union, European Union, United Nations, NATO, the Ambassador residence of the Misson of Japan to the African Union, AMANI AFRICA, The Institute for Peace and Security Studies, the Ethnological Museum, and the Red Terror Martyrs’ Memorial Museum. In this article, I would like to share my memories, such as what I felt and learned from this trip.

On the first day, we arrived in Ethiopia and went sightseeing in places such as ENTOTO Park and the Ethnological Museum. I felt more nervous than excited when I arrived in Ethiopia because this was my first trip to Africa. Seeing the city inside the taxi was refreshing and exciting, but the carsickness was a hurdle. We took many pictures, I especially like the photo taken at the photo spot “Ethiopia” attached. At the Ethnological Museum, the guide explained Ethiopian history and culture. It was a lovely time to look around nature and the museum.

             On the second day, we visited several international and regional organizations. It was challenging to come up with what I would like to ask people from such backgrounds. However, by researching their backgrounds and mandates, I enjoyed getting a better understanding of what the experts were talking about in conversation with us. In specific, I struggled to ask questions and to use appropriate vocabulary to get precise information that I would like to know from them. During the fieldwork in Ethiopia, I was frustrated because I felt that my English skills, especially speaking and listening, were lacking and I needed to get an enough information about the institutions before we visited. However, amidst that the instructions given to us by Professor Yamane who kindly joined our field trip and specializes in international relations at Hiroshima University, were very enlightening, and I taught students the principal fieldwork methods. I learned that we need to create a flow of topic when I ask questions to the person so that we can conduct an interview with a good manner. Thanks to his advice, we were able to prepare and ask questions more concretely. This experience of overcoming language barriers was a significant achievement for me, and it inspired me to continue improving my communication skills.  

             We went to the Red Terror Martyrs’ Memorial Museum on the final day. In the museum, not only the photographs and clothing of the victims at the time but also their real skeletons and replicas of torture were exhibited. In particular, real skeletons displayed in glass cases were unexpected. The display of real skeletons represented the brutality of the massacre. I felt that visiting the museum and seeing the display of real skeletons gave me a more serious impression of the massacre than just learning from the book. Also, it taught me again the importance of international law and peace-building processes. 

             In conclusion, I sincerely thank Professor Fujii for giving us this wonderful opportunity. This trip had many challenges, but I felt a sense of worth and achievement. This trip was a valuable opportunity to improve my ability to understand Africa. I would like to keep in mind the reflections, and insights I have gained from this experience for my studies in the future. The guidance and support of Professor Fujii were instrumental in making this trip a success, and I am truly grateful for his mentorship.

Reflecting on My First Challenge: Navigating and Participating in the International Humanitarian Law Moot Court Competition

Hitomi HANATSUKA (B2)

On December 10th, 2023, the semifinals of the International Humanitarian Law Moot Court Competition, hosted by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), took place at Waseda University. This essay will provide an overview of the moot court competition hosted by the ICRC and explain the preparation process over approximately six months leading up to the event. In this competition, teams use the rules of IHL applied on the ground in armed conflicts to argue cases set within conflict scenarios, dividing into prosecution and defense sides, competing in logical thinking and creativity. I had the opportunity to participate in this prestigious event during my second year at university despite having little knowledge and experience with moot court.

Since July 2023 I have attended study sessions on IHL alongside senior members of the Fujii's Seminar. Though I had only basic knowledge, I sought guidance from Professor Fujii and senior members to deepen my understanding. Starting in October, I began working on our memorial. Proving Article 28 of the Rome Statute was challenging. The Bemba case illustrated the difficulty in holding superior officers criminally responsible when they were geographically distant from their subordinates’ criminal acts. The September discussion with Judge Akane in the Netherlands highlighted the difficulty of proving Article 28. This experience enhanced my insight.

After completing the memorial, we conducted weekly practice sessions for our oral arguments. Speaking fluently and passionately in English without relying on a script was a new experience, and I practiced diligently at home. The online qualifiers on December 2nd were nerve-wracking, especially responding to questions from the judges. However, we managed to secure second place overall. In the week leading up to the semifinals on December 10th, we intensified our training to improve our responses to the judges’ questions. Despite feeling nervous until the last moment, I confidently presented our arguments.

Although the results were somewhat disappointing, these six months of studying to win the competition have been an invaluable experience for me, and I would like to express my deep gratitude for the opportunity to participate in this truly remarkable and rewarding competition, which is something I would not usually have the chance to experience. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to participate in such a meaningful event and extend my gratitude to Professor Fujii and all members of the Fujii's Seminar. I will continue learning and strive for victory in the next competition!

Student research as a member of UIPJ 2023

B2 Miyu Suzuki

On 19th January, 2nd-grade students of UIPJ conducted a presentation of student research in front of Mr. Hidehiko FURUMOTO, who is an expert in the humanitarian aid field, and students who took Professor Fujii's international law class. In this essay, I would like to write down what I felt and experienced through student research at UIPJ.

Firstly, I briefly explained UIPJ and introduced my colleague. UIPJ, Utsunomiya International Peace and Justice, is the name of the club that we aim to study deeply regarding international law or related human rights topics and some practical activities by using the knowledge we learn. As an example of works, we take a workshop on the Rights of the Child and issue the importance of human rights. Members consisted of 1st and 2nd-grade students, and this research was engaged in 2nd-grade students, Miyu SUZUKI, Haruka YOKOI, Nonoka SATOU, and Kaito TATCHIBANA.

Around September of this summer, we began to search for research topics and talked about what we were interested in. Even though there were some differences among our opinions, we discovered a common keyword: peace activities and started reading documents to determine more detailed contents of our research. After sharing each piece of information, we decided to focus on humanitarian aid from the perspective of peace. Then, we found a curious relationship between peacekeeping and humanitarian aid space, what is called a civil-military relationship, and kept gathering information for the mid-term presentation in mid-December that showed progress in getting senior students' opinions. Our research question was, "In what frameworks and methods can UN peacekeeping operations contribute to humanitarian assistance?" However, it was indicated that improper and vague topics to conduct student research and senior students gave us various perspectives. In addition, Prof. Fujii gave us objective advice to improve the quality of the research. He also told us that we needed to narrow the range of topics, such as limiting countries as cases, what kinds of peace activities we would research, etc. As a result, we changed our research question to "Consideration of the relationship between UN peacekeeping operations and emergency humanitarian assistance operations ~ Why does the ICRC not cooperate with peacekeeping operations? In comparison with UNHCR ~" We also did a final presentation several days before an actual presentation. Finally, we could make a presentation about student research on 19th January and receive some questions and advice from Mr. Hidehiko FURUMOTO.

After the presentation of student research, I also had an opportunity to have a conversation with him and ask him some questions about his career path. It was impressive that he has passion and enjoyment even though he had some difficulties in his duties. Since working at an international institution or field of international corporation attracted me, it was a precious chance to get information. Once again, I respect people who do their jobs in humanitarian assistance and feel I would be active around the world like them.

Lastly, we went to a restaurant at Utsunomiya where we could eat gyoza and talked roughly with him. He was so friendly and rooted for us to keep having an interest in international topics, including the humanitarian aid field.

Through the experience of student research, I could learn important things. First, managing and communicating with members is significant to success. In this research, having the same motivation and reorganization of knowledge was challenging. However, producing environments to proceed with all member's agreements made sense. This lesson is also applicable when we work in the future. Second, one research topic that I am fascinated with is a complex but valuable heritage of knowledge, and how to proceed with the research is crucial rather than results. The research confused me because I was unsure how to advance the flow of research. But thanks to guidance from Prof. Fujii and advice from senior students and members of the Lab, I gradually learned how to do my research. Although it was my last work at UIPJ, what I learned, including this research from UIPJ, was valuable in my life.

This student research gave me self-confidence and motivation to keep researching this topic and what I pursue relating to international law and human rights. From now on, I want to challenge myself more actively and try to learn many things.

Ultimately, I again appreciate the guidance of Prof. Fujii and the people who support our student research!